​Before moving to Kalamazoo, Ludwa served as the Director of Music at The Federated Church Cleveland, where he led 4 ensembles and presented an annual concert series, and maintained a voice studio for exceptional singers enrolled in the prestigious performing arts academies and high schools. At Indiana University, Ludwa conducted ensembles that ranged from the prestigious University Singers to the Grammy-nominated Singing Hoosiers, each to great acclaim. While pursuing his doctorate in Conducting, he guest conducted for both Butler University and Webster University.

In 2012, Ludwa was hired as the Director of Performing Arts and Vocal Jazz Director for Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, OH, where he was responsible for programming a subscription series of award-winning artists such as Diana Krall, Bobby McFerrin, Harry Connick, and the New York Voices. Utilizing the world-class recording studios in the Tommy LiPuma Center for the Arts, his ensembles not only performed but recorded, giving students a unique experience working in the recording industry alongside engineers, professors, and music industry pillars. He also developed a series of interdisciplinary experiences that included dance, music, and drama, including a program called Mix, Blackbox Club, and several others. An advocate for youth involvement in music, regularly adjudicates for state Solo and Ensemble competitions in the Midwest and remains actively engaged in numerous service organizations such as MSVMA, ACDA, and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. He served as Repertoire and Standards chair for Indiana chapter of ACDA and editor for the Central Division American Choral Directors' newsletter.​ In Indianapolis, he served for 10 years as Artistic Director of Encore Vocal Arts, a 36-member, professional-caliber vocal ensemble. While there, the group made three recordings and completed ten seasons of innovative concert programming, establishing itself with a unique voice in innovative, multi-disciplinary presentations.

 

Ludwa is a passionate advocate for creating new settings of choral masterworks that make them more representative of the general population including: Haydn’s Creation in Spanish; a hip-hop version of Carmina Burana, a seven-school collaborative performance of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in German; a tribute to Fred Waring as the father of popular choral music and the predecessor of the show choir movement; Cole Porter Radio Hour, and Change Gonna Come (a Sam Cooke bio-revue). 
 

In addition to spending much of his time with choral ensembles, Chris is a seasoned orchestral conductor, having held positions with Bloomington Pops Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. He has worked for Indianapolis Opera as Apprentice Conductor/Outreach Administrator and guest conducted for numerous organizations including Butler University Lyric Theatre, Webster University Opera Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, College Light Opera Company. 

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After witnessing the power of the arts to motivate and create community, Ludwa is convinced that the wave of the future is to integrate aesthetic process into education, business, government, and daily life. In this role, he has worked for Cuyahoga Community College, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Leonard Bernstein-inspired Artful Learning School Reform Model at the GRAMMY Foundation, and International School of Indiana. Ludwa has also participated in the Thought Leader Forum at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, a leading institution in the application of aesthetic process in leadership and editing his book on that topic. He has taught arts integration courses, workshops, and lectures at the Bay View Association, Butler University, and Indiana University and is a recipient of the Lilly Endowment-funded Creative Renewal Fellowship Grant, which he used to explore drumming, communication, and values in Ghana, West Africa.
 

He is married to Melissa, who is a constant source of inspiration, fun, and intellectual conversation. She is a Music Together(R) teacher and enjoys connecting the dots between her counseling background and musical interests. They are parents of two children, Alexandre and Elliott. 

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