Linda Kroon, Music Minister

Linda Kroon became New Song’s Music Minister in 1998, following a 15-year tenure as Music Director at a local ELCA (Lutheran) parish. The daughter of a now-retired pastor in the Reformed Church in America, Linda has been an active church musician since childhood, in a wide variety of denominations and liturgical settings.

In her ministry at New Song, Linda’s responsibilities include liturgy and music planning in consultation with the priest and Liturgy Team, playing for services, directing of the choir which she established in 1999, training and coordinating cantors, scheduling and accompanying instrumentalists, digital creation of music materials for worship folders, and much more.

In addition to her work at New Song, Linda also serves as Music Director at the University of Iowa Episcopal Chaplaincy.

Linda’s academic background includes a BA degree in Voice from Northwestern College, with additional studies in organ, piano and conducting; and an MA in Choral Conducting from The University of Iowa, with additional studies in voice, organ, liturgics and orchestral conducting. She has undertaken additional studies in liturgical music with W. Thomas Smith, Melva Costen, I-to Loh, and many others. She is an active musician in the community, currently serving as co-director the Quire: Eastern Iowa’s LGBT Choir, of which she was a founding member. She has also recently appeared as a chorister and soloist with the Iowa City Chamber Singers, and worked as Chorus Master for the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, and as a guest choral director at Mt. Mercy College. She holds professional memberships in the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada and the American Choral Directors Association.

In addition to her musical endeavors, Linda works at the University of Iowa’s Women's Resource & Action Center, serving as Operations Coordinator for the Center.

Linda and her partner, Jane Stewart, joined New Song in 1998, delighting in the sense of community they found here. They enjoy quilting, reading and travelling together. They both volunteer as Spanish-language interpreters at the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic.

Linda likes to quote the African proverb, “If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing,” and sees her musical ministry primarily as serving as a catalyst, encouraging and assisting God’s people in singing their faith.

“¡Cantemos!”

Linda Kroon may be reached at linda-kroon <at>uiowa.edu