Katherine FitzGibbon

Katherine FitzGibbon is James W. Rogers Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Lewis & Clark College, where she conducts two of the three choirs, teaches courses in conducting and music literature, and oversees the vibrant voice and choral areas. Her work blends a focus on challenging repertoire performed in historically, politically, and culturally informed ways with a deep sense of connection with performers and audience. At Lewis & Clark, she has won the Lorry Lokey Faculty Excellence Award, honoring “inspired teaching, rigorous scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and creative accomplishments”; the President’s Faculty Excellence Award; and the David Savage Award, given to a faculty member whose “vision and sustained service to the College have advanced the general academic and intellectual welfare of our community of teacher-scholars.” Currently, Dr. FitzGibbon serves as Co-Chair of the Arts@LC Initiative, amplifying the extraordinary arts programming, innovative spaces, and creative collaborations happening at Lewis & Clark. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Strategic Imperatives Advisory Council, serving all three schools of Lewis & Clark.

Dr. FitzGibbon founded Resonance Ensemble in 2009, a professional choral ensemble creating powerful programs that spark meaningful social change. With Resonance, she has collaborated with Sweet Honey in the Rock, the Choral Arts Society of Washington (D.C.) and the Kennedy Center, Portland Art Museum, Oregon Symphony, Kingdom Sound Gospel Ensemble, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale and Hunter Noack, poet/performer Renee Mitchell, the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, and local actors, composers, visual artists, and dancers. Resonance has been described as “one of Oregon’s most valuable musical resources” (Oregon Arts Watch) and “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week).

In June of 2019, Chorus America honored Dr. FitzGibbon with the prestigious Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal in recognition of her work with Resonance Ensemble. Chorus America’s press release noted, “As founder and artistic director of Resonance Ensemble, FitzGibbon has captained a bold organizational shift—from its original mission exploring links between music, art, poetry, and theatre, to a new focus exclusively on presenting concerts that promote meaningful social change.” In June of 2026, she received the Chorus America/American Composers Forum Dale Warland Singers Commission Grant for an upcoming collaboration with Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.

With Resonance, she has commissioned significant new works by composers Jasmine Barnes, Kenji Bunch, Melissa Dunphy, Cecille Elliott, Renée Favand-See, Damien Geter, Darrell Grant, Joe Kye, Kimberly Osberg, Dave Ragland, Judy Rose, Caroline Shaw, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Freddy Vilches. Under Dr. FitzGibbon’s direction, Resonance has performed at multiple conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, including as an invited guest. Resonance released their first album, LISTEN, in 2023, and their acclaimed second album, Safe Harbor, in 2026. She was also interviewed in a recent book by Wendy Moy, Resurrecting Song, about Resonance’s choral innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic. For her work with Resonance Ensemble, she has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, Miller Foundation, Collins Foundation, the City of Portland’s Office of the Arts, Regional Arts & Culture Council, and more.

Dr. FitzGibbon has also conducted at the summertime Berkshire Choral International festival and conducted choirs at Harvard, Boston, Cornell, and Clark Universities, and at the University of Michigan. She has directed secondary school choral programs, guest conducted honor choirs, and adjudicated solo and choral competitions. She is Past President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.