Baltimore based musician, Heidi Ackerman is a sought-after conductor, clinician, and vocalist. With extensive experience conducting professional ensembles, she has retrained her focus on community choruses; diversifying ensembles through dynamic programming and invigorating membership by harnessing the joy of singing together.

In her third season as Musical Director of The Frederick Chorale, she looks forward to collaborating with the Deer Creek Chorale on Drurflé’s Requiem, sharing the podium with Equity Sings’ founder Arreon Harely-Emerson and 2024’s Armed Forces Day celebration with the United States Army Blues. Last year, Heidi was approached to establish and lead a community chorus for the Patterson Park Academy of Music. Thanks in large part to Heidi’s passion for choral music as well as her magnetic personality and fast paced rehearsal style, enrollment to the fledgling chorus more than doubled after a single semester, with a similar boost expected this fall. A prior educator, Ms. Ackerman is in-demand as a choral clinician–this year conducting All-County choral festivals in Maryland and New York.

Equally accomplished as a vocalist, The United States Army Field Band brought her to Washington D.C. from the west coast in 2013. As an enlisted conductor of the Soldiers' Chorus, she conducted concerts across the USA and Puerto Rico. As a soloist, she graced the stages of Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Severance Hall with the Cleveland Pops, The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, and The Henry Ford with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Ackerman performs around the DC/Baltimore area, including her one-woman show, Cat Calls: a Feminist Cabaret. Her drive to impact lives through shared music led to a concert series at the Maryland Correctional Women's Facility.

She proudly directed the American Military Spouses Choir, a component of the Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO) based in Washington D.C. Prior to joining the Army, Ms. Ackerman was a teacher and freelance musician in Arizona. She sang three seasons with Arizona Opera and soloed with the Phoenix Symphony on Mendelssohn's Elijah. She earned a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Choral Conducting and Education from Northwestern College, IA.