Hannah Carr is Director of Choirs at Kutztown University, PA and Artistic Director of Cantigas Choir, Hoboken, NJ. At Kutztown, she also teaches advanced conducting and studio voice.
Hannah holds a BA in Composition from Trinity College Dublin (2009), an Adv. Dip in Music Education from the Kodály Institute in Hungary (2011), an MM in Conducting from Yale University (2017) and a DMA in Conducting from Rutgers University (2020). She has studied conducting with Dr. Patrick Gardner, Masaaki Suzuki, David Hill, Simon Carrington, Marguerite Brooks and Dr. Jeffrey Douma.
Under her direction, KU Choirs has featured in the 2023 Carnegie Hall Christmas Gala, collaborated with the award-winning Kingdom Choir (UK) and premiered Jenni Brandon’s “Night Sky” for choir and Marimba Orchestra at the Wells Rapp World Center for Mallet Percussion. KU Choirs collaborate regularly with the KU Orchestra and Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra.
Cantigas Choir is dedicated to programing diverse music from around the world, and has collaborated with Newark Boy’s Choir, performed at the Edna Mahan Correction Facility for Women and presented a program of Middle Eastern Music at ACDA. In July, 2023 Cantigas toured Ireland with a commissioned piece by renowned Irish composer, Seán Doherty, commemorating 100 years of Irish Independence.
Hannah regularly serves as a guest clinician and adjudicator in NJ, PA and Ireland (Home). She recently adjudicated the NJ ACDA All-State choral festival and presented at ACDA's summer series. She served as faculty at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts, teaching undergraduate conducting and directing the department’s largest ensemble, the 100-voiced University Choir. She has taught youth choirs for the past 8 years at The National Children's Chorus, NYC, The Dalton School, NYC and Beaver Country Day School, Boston.
Hannah has worked with professional choirs as director of the University Church at Yale, Stratford Street United Church, Boston and C4 Ensemble, NYC. With C4, she was conducting chair, and a featured conductor on C4's debut album launch: Uncaged. The album received rave reviews in the American Record Guide and in Fanfare Magazine, and was presented by WQXR's “Q2 Album of the Week.” At Trinity College Dublin, she co-founded the official music department choir, Campanile Consort, an ensemble which continues to be dedicated to the highest standard of choral singing.
For performance and scholarship, Hannah has won various prizes, including the Irene Alms Memorial Prize at Rutgers University, The Director’s Prize from Yale University, The Highest Bursary Award for Choral Conducting in 2009 & 2010 from the Irish Arts Council, The Kodály Institute Academic Distinction Award and The Gerard Victory Prize for Composition from Trinity College Dublin.
