Robert Glasmann
professor, choral music, School of Music, College of Fine Arts
Robert Glasmann has worked with voices for almost 40 years – 23 of them at Wichita
State. In credit hours alone, Glasmann has made significant contributions to vocal
performance across the nation.
Then there are his community and other professional endeavors: artistic director
of the Wichita Chamber Chorale; director of music at First Presbyterian Church; conductor
of the adult choir at St. James Episcopal Church. He conducted Opera Kansas at the
Wichita River Festival for three seasons.
He served as guest conductor of the Salina Symphony, and performed “Sweeney Todd”
with Salina’s symphony and community theater. He was a member of the Robert Shaw Festival
Singers, appearing with the choir in France, San Antonio and Carnegie Hall.
On campus, Glasmann taught many singers who went on to national and international
careers in musical theater and opera. He is proud to count Joyce DiDonato and Brian
Frutiger, both of whom have appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, among his students.
He served as musical director for WSU Opera Theatre for about 50 operas from 1987-2010,
he said.
Three things stand out, he said: teaching wonderful students; working with outstanding
colleagues; and performing high quality choral and operatic literature.
“I am proudest of my efforts with the university's top choral ensemble, the WSU Concert
Chorale,” said Glasmann. “I believe that the choir was one of the finest of its kind
throughout the region . . . I will miss Concert Chorale deeply.”
Now he and his wife have retired to their Montana mountain home. Ann Glasmann was
an applied instructor of harp at WSU from 1989-2010 whose own contributions to music
are significant.
Life in Montana will be very different, Glasmann said.
“Our time is taken up with mundane and satisfying activities, such as harvesting
enough firewood to make it through a Montana winter,” he said. They have more time
to simply listen to music, and Glasmann hopes to deepen his spiritual practice.
“My wife and I love the outdoors,” he said, “and Montana and the Yellowstone area
that we're near provide incredible opportunities to explore.”