Rob Keene, M.Mus.

Rob Keene joined St. Theresa parish in September 2020 as parish organist and added the title of Associate Director of Music in January 2021. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree (1999) in organ performance, summa cum laude,at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He studied organ with Carla Edwards; he also studied piano with Lorna Griffitt and chamber music with Claude Cymerman. At Indiana University, Rob joined Christopher Young’s organ studio, earning a Master of Music degree (2009). He gained admittance to the doctoral program and continued his studies for one year before seeking full-time employment as a church musician.

Rob moved to Virginia in August, 2011, to work as Organist and Director of Music at Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Newport News. Prior to his appointment at Trinity, Rob served
United Methodist and Evangelical Lutheran churches in Indiana for twelve years. In 2012, he
began serving Jewish congregations as well. Soon after, he was appointed Director of Music at
Congregation Emet V'Or in Newport News, where he served for nearly seven years.
Late in 2019, Rob moved to Concord, North Carolina, to serve as Interim Organist and Director
of Music at St. James Lutheran Church. This 175-year-old congregation boasts a beautiful
3-manual organ, originally a 1927 Hook and Hastings, and a two-manual harpsichord by Willard Martin of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In early 2020, Rob was appointed Artistic Director of the SoCo Women’s Chorus, a vibrant
community ensemble in Austin, Texas. Later that year he began serving St. Theresa Catholic
Church as organist.

He is happiest when rehearsing and performing as a member of an ensemble. Prior to relocating to North Carolina, Rob performed regularly with the fully professional Schola Cantorum of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Richmond, Virginia). Between 2014 and 2018, he performed with the Virginia Chorale; previously he sang in the professional core of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Rob has sung under many notable conductors, including Robert Nance,William Jon Gray, JoAnn Falletta, Charles Woodward, and, most recently, Daniel Sañez.

In a previous musical life as a trombonist, Rob toured the United States with Star of Indiana's
Brass Theater, performing alongside the Canadian Brass in sold-out venues including
Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, Wolf Trap, Ravinia, and the Hollywood Bowl. For several years he was an instructor with Christopher Newport University's LifeLong Learning
Society (Newport News, Virginia), leading courses on Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn
Bartholdy, Mozart, and Wagner's Ring Cycle, among others.

When not at the keyboard or preparing scores, Rob enjoys reading or working in the kitchen with his wife, Dani. (Their lovable terrier mutt, Ripley, is likely underfoot.)