Peter Kadeli, D.M. (ABD) Headshot

Academic Area

  • Sacred Music
  • School

  • Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art
  • Peter Kadeli enjoys a multifaceted career as a conductor, composer, and educator. As Head of the Sacred Music Area and Director of Choral Activities at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, Kadeli leads the sacred music and graduate choral conducting programs for the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States. He is the Associate Conductor for The Washington Chorus, the two-time Grammy Award-winning symphonic chorus widely recognized as a cultural leader in the nation’s capital. He held past appointments at Indiana University and Hope College and has served as a liturgical music director in the Catholic Dioceses of Indianapolis, Arlington, and Lansing. 

    Kadeli’s conducting collaborations include a diverse range of musical ensembles and artists, such as Indiana University’s 140-member Oratorio Chorus, Conductors Orchestra, NOTUS, Opera Chorus, and Singing Hoosiers, as well as the University of Michigan Chorale and Orpheus Singers. He conducted NOTUS in a performance of Reena Esmail’s Tuttarana at the American Choral Directors Association Midwestern Conference. His performance with Grammy Award-nominated country singer Eric Church was selected for Church’s official tour album, Holdin' My Own Tour. Kadeli has prepared choruses for Thomas Wilkins, Kenneth Kiesler, Arthur Fagen, Marzio Conti, and Louis Lohraseb. 

    As a sought-after interpreter and composer of new works, Kadeli premiered Timothy Dusenbury’s Requiem for a Warrior at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall in 2023, later broadcasted by South Carolina Public Radio. He brought multiple orchestral works to life at Indiana University, including the premiere recording of Kian Ravaei’s Feeling New Strength. Kadeli conducted premieres of his Veni Sancte Spiritus at Smetana Hall in Prague and the Stiftung Mozarteum Großer Saal in Salzburg. Veni Sancte Spiritus received its American premiere from Maryland’s National Philharmonic Singers and Takoma Ensemble. His Beyond the Starlit Skies is published by Kandinsky Music and featured on Pittsburgh's WQED-FM Classical Music 2023 promotional CD.

    Committed to uplifting communities through music, Kadeli created the Vivaldi Gloria Project to support Indianapolis community members in need. The benefit concert united musicians from musical organizations across Indianapolis in a performance of Vivaldi's Gloria. He co-founded the Bishop O’Connell Youth Music Festival and Arlington Diocesan Honors Music Festival, which provide opportunities for students with limited access to music in their schools. He has served as an adjudicator for the Michigan School Vocal Music Association State Choral Festival and as a choral clinician for school and religious organizations.