John Rommereim is a musician who has pursued a varied career as a composer, conductor, keyboardist, and professor. He has written works for choir, solo voice, orchestra, string quartet, saxophone quartet, flute ensemble, guitar, organ, piano, and electronic media, as well as a chamber opera, and music for theater and film. The New York Times praised the “richly expressive” character of his work for voice and piano, Into the Still Hollow.

His choral music has been performed by distinguished ensembles across the United States, as well as in China and Europe. He has collaborated with theatre director Craig Quintero to create Rheingold (an original chamber opera commissioned in 2014 by the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture as part of a celebration of Wagner’s Ring Cycle) and The First Time I Walked on the Moon (2018), which was performed numerous times in Taiwan and South Korea. He also composed music for the short film, The Weight of Things (2022), which was screened by the Sydney Opera House. His works written for flutist Claudia Anderson have been performed at several National Flute Association conventions, and internationally by the ZAWA flute duo. His music is published by Walton Music, Oxford University Press, earthsongs, Alry Publications, MusicSpoke, and Roger Dean Publishing. 

As a conductor, he has led choirs on concert tours throughout the United States and in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, and he has recorded Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Jonathan Dove’s The Passing of the

Year, and Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Missa Omnium Sanctorum (in collaboration with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra). 

As a harpsichordist, his playing can be heard on a Centaur release of Joseph Bodin de Boismortier’s Op. 90 sonatas for flute and obligato harpsichord. His translation of Pavel Chesnokov’s seminal treatise, The Choir and How to Direct It, is published by Musica Russica. 

Rommereim is Blanche Johnson Professor of Music at Grinnell College, where he conducts the Grinnell Singers and the Grinnell Oratorio Society and teaches composition.

Albums

Into The Still Hollow

Release Date: March 7, 2025
Catalog Number: NV6710
21st Century
Chamber
Guitar
Organ
Strings
Voice
Woodwind
It is no secret that John Rommereim harbors an immense love for vocal music. Known for his choral compositions as well as his conducting of choirs, it would be easy to pigeonhole the man — were it not for the existence of his instrumental works. INTO THE STILL HOLLOW juxtaposes both talents, and offers a glimpse at Rommereim's multifarious accomplishments. The variety is astounding. There are intimate lieder, accompanied by piano or an evocative string quartet; a three-part suite for solo guitar; and unconventional duos, one for organ and saxophone, the other for organ and oboe. Stylistically, the pieces walk the fine line between Western tradition and its ritual annihilation. Cerebral, yes, but also impassioned.

Found Again

Release Date: March 21, 2025
Catalog Number: NV6703
21st Century
Vocal Music
Choir
Percussion
Voice
Award-winning choral ensemble Cantori New York presents FOUND AGAIN, a poignant exploration of human connection, self-growth, and collective pursuit of a better world. At once forward-looking and deeply introspective, this collection features three works espousing the power of transformative renewal. Each presents a revised version of an earlier work, offering an opportunity for rediscovery, recentering, and new understanding. The New Amorous World, by Lembit Beecher, reflects on the limitations and possibilities of humankind in a spirited setting of texts by French utopian philosopher Charles Fourier. Beauty by Beauty, by John Rommereim, contrasts with a gentle, inward-looking setting of texts by three-time U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo on themes of courage, spiritual transformation, and of human connection to the earth and to one another. The title track – Found Again, by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate – presents a second setting of Joy Harjo poems exploring cultural connection, reconciliation, and renewal.

Heavy Pedal Vol. 2

Release Date: June 9, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6529
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Oboe
Orchestra
Organ
The aptly-titled HEAVY PEDAL VOL. 2 from Navona Records is the second installment of an organ-centric series of albums. Featuring the music of composers Christopher Hoh, Deon Price, Richard E Brown, and John Rommereim, the collection lives up to its name; these organ works are some of the most powerful that classical music has to offer. From Hoh’s Concertino Corona, inspired by the hardships and seeds of hope from COVID-19, to Brown’s Six Chorale Preludes on Favorite Hymn Tunes, which were composed using Brown’s encyclopedic understanding of historical hymns, HEAVY PEDAL VOL. 2 brings the organ down from the choir loft to allow all listeners a greater appreciation of this incredibly dynamic instrument.

Second Wind

Release Date: December 13, 2019
Catalog Number: NV6253
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Flute
Piano
Saxophone
Saxophonist Dave Camwell's interpretations on SECOND WIND impressively demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument in music spanning three centuries. SECOND WIND presents a wide selection of saxophone music: a J. S. Bach partita with piano accompaniment added by Robert Schumann, a Vivaldi concerto, a Händel sonata, but also several contemporary, tonal saxophone compositions.