DIRECTOR OF MUSIC

Dr. Valentin Radu

Dr. Valentin Radu has been Organist and Choirmaster of All Saints’ parish since 2012. Born and raised in Communist Romania, he experienced first-hand the repression of his fellow Christians at the hands of the state. His mother, who taught him to love Christ, also taught him to love music, giving him his first lessons before beginning his formal training at the age of three. At six he made his concert debut on the stage of the Bucharest Philharmonic Hall (as a piano recitalist) and at the age of nine as a concert soloist with the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1973 he won the prestigious Rome Piano Competition and in 1979 the Saarbrucken Organ Competition. In 1980 he won the silver medal (gold was not awarded!) at the Bach International Competition in Leipzig. Having graduated Bachelor of Music from the Bucharest Academy of Music, he came to America in 1979 and earned Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School. He has founded several musical ensembles in Europe and America and appears regularly on the European stage as both conductor and soloist, with a repertoire ranging from early music to Jazz. Locally he is best known as the founder and conductor of VoxAmaDeus (comprised of Vox Renaissance Consort, the Ama Deus Ensemble, and Camerata Ama Deus), now in its 28th season.  He conducts his three groups in a variety of programs ranging from Renaissance Motets and Madrigals to full scale vocal and orchestral masterworks of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi and Gershwin (including seasonal concerts of Christmas, Holy Week, Easter & beyond!). An extensive library of recordings attests to their considerable output and its quality (www.voxamadeus.org). Dr. Radu is also Director of Music at Devon Preparatory School and has served formerly as Organist and Choirmaster of Gladwyne Presbyterian Church and Philadelphia’s Arch Street Methodist Church (as well as St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Bucharest and Holy Cross Church in New York). Amongst his numerous awards and honors he has been knighted as a Grand Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit of Romania and was made an Honorary Citizen of the cities of New York and Bucharest!

Soprano: Corinn Altomare, Victoria Zajac, Susan Mattison, Mary Elizabeth Detweiler

Alto: Bronwyn Fix-Keller,  Jody Kidwell, Jeanne Cooke, Kathleen Stephans

Tenor: Dane Allison, Siddhartha Misra

Bass: Edward Meyers, Richard Shapp, Curtis Cooke, David Bender, Charles Dwyer