3.10 - Kira Zeeman Rugen
Dr. Kira Zeeman Rugen is a composer, conductor, academic professor, and professional soprano from Scottsdale, Arizona. Kira currently serves as the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities as a residential faculty member at Scottsdale Community College. Now in her twenty-eighth year as a music educator, she conducts Concert Choir and ArtieVox (Jazz Vocal Ensemble) at Scottsdale Community College and is the music director for Musical Theater. Previously, she worked as the Director of Choral Activities and Musical Director for Musical Theater at Arizona Christian University. Before that, she worked at Grand Canyon University, teaching Music History, Conducting, and Fundamentals of Music and Culture for Diverse Learners. As a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, Kira conducted Choral Union, a 100+-member community choir, and Schola Cantorum, a SATB choir, predominantly for music majors.
As a composer, Kira’s choral compositions (found at the Fred Bock Group/Gentry Publications and MusicSpoke.com, Sheet Music Plus, Direct Music Plus, and JW Pepper) have been performed worldwide. She is a 2022 winner in the HerVoice Music Composition Competition in Chicago and was mentored by Chen Yi as a part of that prize. She was recently named the 3rd Place Winner in The American Prize, professional choral composition division, an Honorary Mention for The American Prize pops division, and a multi-finalist for The American Prize and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for Performance of American Music competition. Kira’s choral compositions have been featured and commissioned by ensembles such as Vancouver Youth Chorus under Carrie Tennant, AdVocem in Poland under Michael Malec, Resonance of Singapore conducted by Toh Ban Sheng, Phoenix Children’s Chorus under Troy Meeker, Phoenix Boys Chorus under Herbert Washington, Reveille Men’s Chorus under Keith Koster, Chandler Children’s Chorus under Aimee Stewart, Northwest Oklahoma State University Singers under Dr. Karsten Longhurst, CU Boulder Chamber Singers under Dr. Greg Gentry, THE CHORAL PROJECT under Daniel Hughes, Cor Cantiamo under Dr. Eric Johnson, Phoenix Chamber Choir under Dr. Nicholle Andrews, Kansas City Chorale under Charles Bruffy, Orpheus Men’s Choir under Dr. Brook Larson, Pinnacle Presbyterian’s Chancel Choir under Dr. Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler, Carolyn Eynon Singers, Phoenix Chorale under Christopher Gabbitas and the Master Chorale of Flagstaff under Dr. Tom Peterson. In November 2017, Kira traveled to France to conduct the premiere of her composition, Saint-Brieuc Magnificat, with the Saint-Brieuc Cathedral Children and Youth Choir. Under the direction of their conductor, Goulven Airault, the choir went on to perform the work for the Pueri Cantors in Congrès de Barcelone and on tour in the cathedrals Saint-Malo de Dinan, Sainte-Croix de Sant Malo, Saint-Martin de Janze, Saint Sauveur La Rochelle, Sanctuaire de Rocamadour, and Castell de Callonge. Kira truly enjoys her work as a film composer, and her film scores have won awards at over fifty worldwide film festivals.
Kira is the Artistic Director and founder of Solis - Choir of the Sun, a professional choir. Initially composed of ASU students, Kira transformed the group from an amateur collegiate choir into a fully paid professional vocal ensemble in the Phoenix area. Now in their fifteenth season, Solis collaborations include high-profile performances with Andrea Bocelli in Live Concert, The Eagles Hotel California Tour, Zelda, Symphony of the Goddesses, Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy, plus performing with composer Ramin Djawadi for the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. Additionally, they have performed with Irish band The Chieftains and were invited to perform at the American Choral Directors Association Conference in Pasadena, California. Solis continues to perform throughout the valley in local arts concert series, focusing primarily on early music and contemporary choral premieres.
In addition to her work as a conductor and composer, Kira has amassed extensive experience as a soprano soloist. She is noted as having an “angelic and supple” and “haunting” sound. She has performed with Norvis Early Music in Durham, England; at Carnegie Hall’s Young Artist Concert Series under Ton Koopman; at Korea’s Incheon International Choral Festival; and she toured with Anúna (Ireland’s National Choir) under Michael McGlynn throughout Ireland, Japan and China. Kira is a soloist on the album, From Graceful Fields, released by Canyon Records, featuring the eleven-time Grammy Award nominee, R. Carlos Nakai, on Native American flute. She sang for several seasons with Arizona Opera and Utah Opera. Kira is in her 21st season as a soprano with the Phoenix Chorale, with whom she has won two Grammy Awards. Kira is a soloist on their Spotless Rose album, which won a Grammy for Best Small Ensemble in February 2009. Kira sang on the Phoenix Chorale’s albums Northern Lights and Rachmaninoff’s All-Night-Vigil, which won the Grammy for Best Choral Performance in February 2016. Kira is also the featured soloist on their album Eternal Rest, a recording on the Chandos label. Kira has performed as a soloist in the Phoenix Chorale's concerts at ACDA conventions in Salt Lake City, Seattle, Kansas City’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, and in the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. She received a favorable mention in the New York Times in a review for the NYC concerts. Additionally, she sang on the Phoenix Chorale’s recent Signum Records albums, Sun, Moon, Stars, and Rain, and her arrangement of “The Wexford Carol” was recorded on their release, The Christmas Album.
Starting in 1998, Kira taught high school choir and orchestra in the Phoenix area for six years. Then, she served as the children and youth choir director for eleven years at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in North Scottsdale. Kira received her Bachelor of Arts at Weber State University in 1998 where she studied choral conducting, viola performance and vocal performance under Dr. Mark Henderson. She earned her Master’s in Music Education with an emphasis in Vocal Performance at Arizona State University in 2002 under Dr. George Umberson. She then graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and a cognate in Vocal Performance at Arizona State University in May 2013 under Dr. Gregory Gentry.
https://www.kirarugen.com
