Alwes, Chester (1947-) | University of Illinois Archives

Chester Alwes (1947- ) is a composer, conductor, and music scholar. He earned a bachelors degree in music from Hanover College in 1969. Following this, he earned a masters degree in sacred music from the Union Theological Seminary in 1972. From 1973 to 1974, he worked as an instructor of music at the College of Wooster. Following this he enrolled as a DMA student in choral conducting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His dissertation, submitted in 1982, won the Julius Herford dissertation prize by the American Choral Directors Association. He joined the University of Illinois faculty as an assistant professor later that year.

He was the conductor of the Illinois Concert Choir from 1982 to 2009, director of the Women's Glee Club from 2009 to 2011, and frequently contributed to the University's Oratorio Society, ISYM choir, and the Illinois Opera Theater. In 1996, he founded the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana Ensemble. Alwes retired from the University in 2011.