St. Louis Women's Chorale

John Stewart studied at Western Reserve Academy for three years, and then received a BA in composition and theory from Yale University, where he was the assistant director of the Yale Glee Club, conducted the Apollo Glee Club and was a member of the famed Whiffenpoofs. After Yale he earned an MA in composition and theory from Brown University where he was the assistant director of choral activities. After a post- graduate year at New England Conservatory, Stewart was an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera, and his operatic debut as Pinkerton followed soon after. For twenty years John Stewart sang with most of the leading opera companies and orchestras in Europe and the US, including such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, The Opera Theatre of St. Louis and many others.

In September of 1990 he joined the music department of Washington University in St. Louis, where he is Director of Vocal Activities, directing the Concert Choir of Washington University, and helping direct the opera program, as well as teaching private voice, vocal pedagogy, and vocal literature. On the annual Chancellor’s Concert at Washington University, Mr. Stewart has conducted among other works the Mozart Requiem, Verdi’s Quattro Pezzi Sacri, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, The Rio Grande by Constant Lambert, The Poulenc “Stabat Mater” and the Polovetsian Dances of Borodin.

In February 1994 and 2004 the Concert Choir of Washington University was chosen to sing at the Missouri Music Educator’s Annual Convention. The Concert Choir has sung in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and other mid-western venues. Mr. Stewart is in frequent demand as clinician and judge, as well as for his inspiring master classes. In the summer months Mr. Stewart conducts at the Festival of the Arts in Spearfish, South Dakota and has taught at the University of Miami’s Summer in Salzburg program.