{"podcast":{"title":"Composer Chats","slug":"composer-chats-6643824","podcast_index_feed_id":6643824,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/composer-chats/","website_url":"https://composerchats.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/655710b9-e929-4cf3-a689-e8f92a560db9/IobsXKSc4sTLeGzmqjSeO5lq.jpg","author":"Jason K. Nitsch","episode_count":104,"summary":"Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-08T04:20:31.076036+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composer-chats-6643824"},"episode":{"title":"3.10 - Kira Zeeman Rugen","slug":"3-10-kira-zeeman-rugen","published_at":"2026-04-14T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composer-chats-6643824/3-10-kira-zeeman-rugen","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composer-chats-6643824","url":"https://composerchats.com/episode/3-10-kira-zeeman-rugen","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8b1f7afc-be47-4ec6-b981-e3b4646c464f.mp3","summary":"Dr. Kira Zeeman Rugen is a composer, conductor, academic professor, and professional soprano from Scottsdale, Arizona. Kira currently serves as the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities as a residential faculty member at Scottsdale Community College. Now in her twenty-eighth year as a music educator, she conducts Concert Choir and ArtieVox (Jazz Vocal Ensemble) at Scottsdale Community College and is the music director for Musical Theater. Previously, she worked as the Director of Choral Activities and Musical Director for Musical Theater at Arizona Christian University. Before that, she worked at Grand Canyon University, teaching Music History, Conducting, and Fundamentals of Music and Culture for Diverse Learners. As a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, Kira conducted Choral Union, a 100+-member community choir, and Schola Cantorum, a SATB choir, predominantly for music majors. ​ As a composer, Kira’s choral compositions (found at the Fred Bock Group/Gentry Publications and MusicSpoke.com, Sheet Music Plus, Direct Music Plus, and JW Pepper) have been performed worldwide. She is a 2022 winner in the HerVoice Music Composition Competition in Chicago and was mentored by Chen Yi as a part of that prize. She was recently named the 3rd Place Winner in The American Prize , professional choral composition division, an Honorary Mention for The American Prize pops division, and a multi-finalist for The American Prize and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for Performance of American Music competition. Kira’s choral compositions have been featured and commissioned by ensembles such as Vancouver Youth Chorus under Carrie Tennant, AdVocem in Poland under Michael Malec, Resonance of Singapore conducted by Toh Ban Sheng, Phoenix Children’s Chorus under Troy Meeker, Phoenix…","meta_description":"Dr. Kira Zeeman Rugen is a composer, conductor, academic professor, and professional soprano from Scottsdale, Arizona. Kira currently serves as the Direct…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3631,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/composer-chats-6643824/episodes/3-10-kira-zeeman-rugen/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composer-chats-6643824/3-10-kira-zeeman-rugen.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}