Jennifer Kerr Budziak is a Chicago area conductor, writer, composer and educator. A frequent presenter and clinician at workshops and festivals nationwide, Budziak teaches on the choral faculty of Loyola University in Chicago, where she serves as both an ensemble conductor and as director and program adviser for the sacred music degree program.
During her years as director of music for the Archdiocese of Chicago, she regularly served as conductor for major cathedral and archdiocesan events, including the Jubilee Archdiocesan Choir and Orchestra for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s millennium celebration in Soldier Field in 2000. Budziak has taught on the faculties of North Central College, Concordia University, St. Xavier University and the Catholic Theological Union. She holds degrees in choral conducting from Northwestern University and Indiana University and in piano from the Catholic University of America; her conducting teachers have included Donald Nally, Robert Harris, Jan Harrington, Duain Wolfe and Jeanette Wells.
A prolific author and editor, Budziak’s compositions for adult and children’s choirs are widely performed and can be found in the catalogs of major publishers, and several of her books on church music and music theory have been translated and are in their second and third printing. Her book Sowing Seeds, Bearing Fruit: A Five-Year Process for Growing a Singing Congregation was awarded a 2012 Excellence in Publishing award from the Association of Catholic Publishers.
Jennifer Kerr Budziak has been a professional member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus since 1992 and has served the Chorus as an assistant conductor since 2018.
