BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Desmond Ikegwuonu is a composer, pianist, conductor, worship leader, singer, vocal arranger, producer and educator born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ikegwuonu flourishes in classical, jazz and his native African music. He is the Associate Professor of Music and Director of Worship Arts and Toccoa Falls College in Georgia. Previously, Dr. Ikegwuonu was the Director of Worship Arts and Associate Professor of Music at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At Cornerstone University, he also directs the Worship Ensemble, oversees chapel music programming, and coordinates the Music Matters Lecture and Concert series which features guests from across the nation.

 

Ikegwuonu completed a new work commissioned by the ROCO – Rivers Oaks Chamber Orchestra titled Na So E Be (That’s how it is). Na So E Be premiered at the prestigious Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston on the baton of Maestro Mei Ann Chen. In April 2023, Ikegwuonu made his debut performance with Calvin University Gospel choir in the premiere of his original composition. Ikegwuonu completed a series of works commissioned and funded by the Jewish Community Center Association’s Making Music Happen Centennial Grant Initiative, based on curated text from those affected by the Houston floods.

 

Ikegwuonu composed a work titled “Welcome Home,” commissioned by the Welcome Home Fund organization, commemorating veterans everywhere. Welcome Home’s premiere was given at a Gala Concert in Fort Worth, Texas which also featured the premiere of an arrangement of “God Bless America” with solo performance by Dr. Leo Day, accompanied by Southwestern Master Chorale. His Orchestral work OZI DI NKPA received its world premiere with the Oklahoma Composers Orchestra this Summer. As a vocalist, Ikegwuonu premiered his commissioned work, Sounds from The Motherland with The Apollo Chamber Players in Houston for their Holiday Celebration concert showcasing Houston’s multiculturalism. Tenor John Green recently released an album of poems by C.S. Lewis titled JACK and featured Ikegwuonu’s musical settings of Lewis’ poems.

 

Ikegwuonu completed a commissioned piece title Ekene N'ime Abu for the 50th anniversary season of the Houston Civic Symphony. In April 2017, he received the Academic Achievement Award for scholastic excellence from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Church Music. He is a winner of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra New Music Experiment. In April 2015, the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra gave a world premiere of his work “Gaba N’iru,” which was also later performed by the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Kurt Sprenger. He is also a winner of the J.D. Riddle Memorial award at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ikegwuonu conducted the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of his composition titled “Chukwudube” at a Gala concert in Fort Worth. He has also conducted the combined choirs of Cornerstone University Chorale and Chancel Singers

Ikegwuonu translated John Newton’s Amazing Grace to his native Igbo Language, which he sang at a concert with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

 

Ikegwuonu’s duo for violin and piano won first place in the 2012 Louisa Stude Sarofim competition. He has been commissioned by The Houston Grand Opera’s “Opera to Go!”, Aura contemporary ensemble, Musiqa, Fort Worth Civic Orchestra, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Church music. He was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda honor society. Soprano Melissa Givens, of the Grammy award winning vocal ensemble Conspirare, gave the premiere of Desmond’s art songs “Whisper a Calm” and “A peek into heaven”. Ikegwuonu’s song commission for the Houston Grand Opera was featured on the front cover of the Houston Chronicle newspaper and on ABC Channel 13 Houston.

 

In addition to his work as composer and educator, Dr. Ikegwuonu is the founding artistic director of PFC Worship. He oversees this multiethnic group comprised of artists, musicians, producers, singers, and creatives from many nations. In 2021 PFC Worship released several singles to great reviews. Ikegwuonu’s song Abba Padre was awarded Congregational Song of the Year 2021 in Bolivia. A strong advocate for multicultural worship, Ikegwuonu’s songs have been recorded and translated to many languages including Spanish, Amharic, Hindi, French and Korean. PFC worship music has garnered air plays all over North America and in radio stations in Columbia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. As a prolific song writer and vocal arranger, Ikegwuonu’s original music were featured in all released four PFC Worship EPs in 2022. His songs Hallelujah Dance and Alpha was recorded by Grammy Nominated and Dove Award winning singer Ricardo Sanchez.

 

As a songwriter, producer, and vocal arranger, Ikegwuonu worked with GRAMMY® award winning engineer Bob Boyd on several of his original worship songs. Ikegwuonu’s music has also been performed and commissioned by ensembles such as Bent Frequency Ensemble, Aura Contemporary Ensemble, members of the Beo String Quartet, Southwestern Master Chorale, Atlantic Music Festival (AMF) contemporary music ensemble and AMF Orchestra, Meehan and Perkins Duo, 3G Percussion, and MUSIQA the new music collective of Houston.

 

His composition teachers include notable opera composer Mary Carol Warwick and Ann Gebuhr. He also studied with David Ludwig, George Tsontakis, Robert Paterson, Eric Ewazen, Joe Locascio, Rob Smith, Marcus Maroney, Christopher Teichler, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Clint Needham and Charles Nichols. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music composition from Houston Baptist University (graduating Summa Cum laude) and a master’s in composition from the Moores School of Music and he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in composition degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.