Assistant Professor
Office: Old Main 122
Email: john.swedberg@minotstateu.edu
ABD, University of Illinois
MM, Westminster Choir College
MATh, Central Baptist Theological Seminary
BS, Faith Baptist Bible College
John Swedberg is Assistant Professor of Music at Minot State University, where he serves as Director of Choral Activities and maintains an active voice studio. He leads a diverse musical career as a conductor and tenor, with a broad repertoire ranging from Renaissance to contemporary music. Prior to his appointment at Minot State University, he taught at Wheaton College, where he was the conductor of the Wheaton Men’s Glee Club. He recently served as the Assistant Chorus Conductor for the Carmel Bach Festival’s 2024 season, helping to prepare the Chorus for a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Grete Pedersen and conducting the group in a concert of a cappella works. He has completed his coursework toward a DMA in Choral Music at the University of Illinois, where he was the assistant conductor of the Chamber Singers and the Varsity Men’s Glee Club. Prior to his doctoral studies, Mr. Swedberg taught high school and junior high choir, violin, and voice for several years in Michigan, where his choirs and students were consistently highly rated in competition. While in Michigan, he was also the conductor of the Troy Metro Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Swedberg is also active as a tenor and will in the spring of 2026 perform the role of Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the American Kantorei in St. Louis. Recent solo performances include Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Zelenka’s Litaniae Omnium Sanctorum with the Five Cities Baroque Festival, Bruckner's Te Deum with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge with the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra. A career highlight is singing the tenor solo from Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. As a committed ensemble singer, he has collaborated with many of the world’s leading ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival Chorale, and VOCES8. Mr. Swedberg is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he was tenor section leader of the renowned Westminster Choir.
Mr. Swedberg’s conducting teachers include Andrew Megill, Joe Miller, Steve Pilkington, and Irving van Hooser. He has also taken extended conducting seminars from Kathy Saltzman Romey, Ann Howard Jones, and André Thomas. His voice teachers include Jerold Siena, Sean McCarther, and Lila Olson.
In addition to his other pursuits, Mr. Swedberg is also a dedicated church musician with over 20 years’ experience in sacred music in a variety of roles. When not making music, he enjoys reading, watching sports, and especially spending time with his wife Sarah and their two children.
