Roy Guenther

Roy Guenther is Professor Emeritus of Music and Executive Associate Dean Emeritus in the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences at the George Washington University. Formerly Chairman of the Department of Music at GW, he holds degrees in Music Education and Music Theory from the University of Kansas, and his MA and PhD in Musicology are from The Catholic University of America.

Prof. Guenther has written several books and articles in the field of Russian music and music theory. His translation of Alexandra Orlova's Musorgsky's Days and Works: a Biography in Documents was published by UMI Research Press. His most recent contributions include a co-authored article on the film music of Dmitri Shostakovich, which appeared in 2015 as part of the DVD of the film Five Days, Five Nights, with music by Shostakovich. Dr. Guenther was a concert reviewer for The Washington Post from 1982-1991.

Formerly a trombonist with the United States Marine Band, Dr. Guenther has performed as a soloist and as a member of various chamber ensembles and professional orchestras throughout the Washington area as well as throughout the United States, in Europe, and in South America.

Dr. Guenther served Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church in Arlington, Virginia, as its Organist/Choirmaster from 1969 to 2019. In addition to planning the music and liturgy for each service and preparing the adult choir, he frequently conducted instrumental ensembles in the performance of major choral works. Dr. Guenther has composed and arranged a large number of psalm settings, hymn harmonizations and other music for use in worship.