Leroy Kromm

Leroy Kromm

• Email

Voice

Music Director of the San Jose Symphonic Choir since 1985, Maestro Kromm received two Bachelor’s degrees in Applied Music and Music Education, and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois, Urbana. He has achieved widespread recognition as a versatile conductor, soloist, pianist, and teacher. In addition to directing SJSC, he is a member of the collegiate voice staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Maestro Kromm specializes in oratorios of all eras, having performed most bass and baritone oratorio roles in concert throughout the United States and Europe. He has sung with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Anchorage Festival of Music, Carmel Bach Festival, and Midsummer Mozart under Maestro George Cleve. Among his numerous opera roles are the title roles in Mechem’s Tartuffe and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. He has also performed in musical theatre and one-act contemporary operas for PBS television. He has recorded on various labels including Harmonia Mundi and the Musical Heritage Society, and continues to serve as a clinician and consultant nationally in academia as well as in the film industry in Hollywood. A strong advocate for new music, he has worked closely with some of the most prominent composers of our day, including George Crumb, Lou Harrison, Jake Heggie, Kirk Mechem, Henry Mollicone, and Ned Rorem. Under Maestro Kromm's inspiring direction, SJSC has flourished and grown in size and musicianship. Notable recent performances include Handel's Messiah and the Bach St. Matthew Passion, both with period instruments, Britten's War Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and the world premieres of two masses by local composer Henry Mollicone.