Robert D. Penn (b. 1935)

Born in 1935 in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Robert D. Penn graduated from Cornell College (Iowa), received a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa, and did doctoral work at the University of Colorado. He served for 13 years as a music teacher and administrator in public schools in Iowa, Wisconsin and New Mexico. After accepting the position of Director of Choral Activities at the University of Denver in 1969, Penn directed the choirs and taught music theory at DU for 31 years, until his retirement in 2000. Many current and former St. Martin’s singers sang under and studied with Bob during his long and distinguished career at DU. During his academic career Penn wrote many compositions for choir, as well as art songs and works for instruments.