Artistic Director

John Patrick Rakes is a versatile artistic director, conductor, professor, and vocal instructor whose dedication to artistic and educational excellence is evident in his performing and teaching. Under his leadership the Downers Grove Choral Society continues a long-standing tradition of choral excellence. Recent performances include Mozart’s Requiem, Honegger’s King David, and Dvorak’s Mass in D. Dr. Rakes is also the Artistic Director of the Naperville Men’s Glee Club, teaches as an Adjunct Professor at both Wheaton College and Kishwaukee College, and serves as Chancel Choir Director at Hinsdale Covenant Church.

Dr. Rakes earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy (D.M.A.) from the University of Iowa, where he was privileged to study under Dr. Timothy Stalter and Dr. David Puderbaugh. At Iowa, he served as a graduate guest conductor and performed as an accompanist to the choral department while singing in the University’s elite choral ensemble, Kantorei. His doctoral thesis, “A critical edition of Missa Gratiarum in C by Antonio Caldara (ca. 1671-1736),” was an international research and editorial project. Hinshaw Music is scheduled to publish this edition as part of the newly launched American Choral Director’s Association Historical Works Series.

Dr. Rakes has earned a Master of Music (M.M.) with an emphasis in Music Education from Northern Illinois University. At Northern, he studied choral conducting, arranging, and choral literature under Dr. Eric Johnson. He also completed an action research thesis entitled “The Effect of Harmonic Accompaniment on the Pitch Accuracy of First and Fourth Grade Students Learning a Singing Task.” Dr. Rakes was selected to present this research at the Illinois Music Conference Poster Session in 2011. Dr. Rakes has also earned a Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.) from Wheaton College. At Wheaton, he studied conducting under Dr. Paul Wiens and Dr. Daniel Sommerville, while completing studies in piano and organ under Mr. John Zimmerman and Dr. Edward Zimmerman, respectively.