Lee Nelson is the Patricia R. Zahn Chair in choral conducting and the Director of Choral Activities at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA.  Dr. Nelson conducts the Wartburg Choir, Ritterchor and teaches advanced conducting.  Additionally, he is the artistic director of Christmas with Wartburg which is one of Wartburg College’s oldest and most popular concerts. 

Nelson earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.  He has received graduate instruction from Westminster Choir College and is a Summa Cum Laude graduate from the University of Arizona where he received a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts. 

Dr. Nelson's skills as a conductor were recognized with an invitation from the American Choral Director's Association to compete in the 2005 National Conducting Competition in Los Angeles, CA where he won the competition. In 2001, Nelson was awarded the Outstanding Young Choral Conductor of the Year award given by American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota. Dr. Nelson will make his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in May of 2009.

Prior to his appointment at Wartburg College, Dr. Nelson served on the faculty at St. Cloud State University where he received the SCSU Professional Achievement Award in 2008.  Under his direction the St. Cloud State Choir was invited to perform at the 2007 MN ACDA fall convention and toured throughout the Midwest and Canada.  In May of 2008, the choir toured Germany, France and Switzerland and presented the European premiere of Stephen Paulus’ Holocaust oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp in Natzweil-Struthof.

In addition to his work at Wartburg College, Dr. Nelson also serves as the music director and conductor of the Metropolitan Chorale, a community chorus which consists of approximately 100 voices from the Waterloo metro area.

Having a passion for working with students of all ages, he welcomes the opportunity to continue serving as a clinician and guest conductor both regionally and nationally.  Nelson resides in Waverly, IA with his wife Rachael and his three children Emma, Jonah and Kate.