Gregory Berg

  • Associate Professor of Music
    Email Address:
    gberg@carthage.edu
    Office location:
    Johnson Arts Center 139
    Phone
    262-551-5861

    Gregory Berg teaches private voice, oversees Carthage’s opera workshop, accompanies the Carthage Choir, and teaches Opera History and Vocal Diction and Literature. He began teaching in Carthage in 1991 and became a full-time faculty member in 1995.

    Berg was music director for Carthage productions of The Magic Flute, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Il Tabarro, Pomme d’Api, The Beggar’s Opera, scenes from The Pirates of Penzance, and a celebration of Gian Carlo Menotti that featured staged excerpts from The Consul, The Medium, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Amelia goes to the ball, The Old Maid and the Thief, and The Telephone. In 2016 he oversaw the world premiere of his original opera Black September, written with librettist Matt Boresi, which was based on the hostage tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Berg and Boresi have also created two pastiches: Happy Birthday Herr Handel and Mozart is Dead.

    Berg also has considerable experience in Music Theater, having served the Racine Theater Guild as music director for productions of Les Miserables, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Gypsy, The Music Man, Annie, Lucky Stiff, Guys and Dolls, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Grand Night for Singing.

    He has composed three choral anthems that have been published by Hal Leonard, as well as four liturgies, five commissioned hymns, and dozens of choral works. Among his most recent commissions was “One More Reason to Sing” for the 50th Choral Festival for the Kenosha Unified School District. He has been Minister of Music at Holy Communion Lutheran Church in Racine since 1988.

    Berg has written “The Listener’s Gallery,” a CD/DVD review column for the Journal of Singing since 2001.

    He has been a frequent vocal soloist with the Kenosha Symphony, Racine Symphony, Choral Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin, and the Kenosha Pops Band. He was the only soloist who sang for Luther College’s memorial service for Weston Noble in May of 2016, performing his own arrangement of “Amazing Grace” at Mr. Noble’s personal request. Berg is well-known in southeastern Wisconsin for his on-air work with WGTD, Kenosha’s NPR affiliate, where he has worked since 1986.

    Berg graduated from Luther College in 1982 and earned his M.M. in opera performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a four-time first-place winner in NATS competitions as well as a district winner in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He was a part of the prestigious Lyric Opera of Chicago Center for American Artists in 1985-86.

    His personal website is messyprofessor.com.

    Media Mentions:

    Music & More announces June 27 lineup
    Professor Berg will be the emcee and a soloist for the SilverMusic Flute Ensemble. (Journal Times, June 22, 2019)

    Racine Concert Band has two soloists July 7
    Professor Berg will perform at the Racine Concert Band’s concert on July 7th. (Journal Times, July 1, 2019)

    • M.A. — Vocal Performance, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1984
    • B.A. — Music and Religion, Luther College, 1982

    Professor Berg teaches a variety of courses in the Carthage Music Department, including a J-Term opera course in which students stage an full-length opera in a month. His courses include:

    • MUS 0250 Private Voice
    • MUS 1150 Exploring Music
    • MUS 2200 Popular Music in America
    • MUS 2210 Opera
    • MUS 2490 Vocal Diction and Literature
    • MUS 3000 Opera Production