We are currently accepting applications for a new Music Director. Click here to review requirements or apply. Robert Holst brings extensive experience in choral ensemble conducting to the Downers Grove Choral Society. A native of Evanston, he has served as Assistant Conductor of the Grant Park Chorus, Music Director of the Chicago Monteverdi Singers, and Chorus Director at Illinois Benedictine College and Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He currently serves as Music Director of the First United Methodist Church of Western Springs and is a member of the music faculties of North Central College, Lewis University, College of St. Francis, and College of DuPage, teaching music history and voice. Mr. Holst received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. At Williams, he studied voice with Ruth Eckberg of Springfield, Massachusetts, and piano with Kenneth Roberts. In 1967, he was awarded the Hutchinson Prize for musical composition from Williams College. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in musicology from the University of Chicago and studied at the University of Upsalla in Sweden. Among other awards, he has received the Tyng Foundation Scholarship and a grant from the Swedish Institute. Mr. Holst's musical interests are extremely varied. In addition to his work on the podium, he continues to perform as an accompanist and chamber music player and as a lyric tenor, specializing in Italian Bel Canto repertory. He has studied conducting in Chicago with Thomas Peck and Ralph Shapey. Although he is a specialist in Baroque music, he enjoys performing music of all periods and genres.