Jonathan Laabs has served as the Artistic Director and conductor of Canticum Novum since 2011. Under his leadership, the ensemble gathers each summer for an intensive weeklong retreat that culminates in a series of sacred concerts throughout the Midwest. His work with Canticum Novum reflects a deep commitment to proclaiming Christ through the choral art and to fostering musical excellence among singers from across the region.

An active conductor, clinician, educator, and performer, Mr. Laabs was recently named Artistic Director of the Bel Canto Chorus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to that appointment, he served as Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Division at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. There, he conducted the College Chorale and Women’s Choir and taught courses in conducting, choral literature, and aural theory.

Mr. Laabs has twice conducted the National High School Honors Choir at the WELS National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts (2014, 2017), and he returned in August 2024 as guest conductor for the Festival Concert. In 2018, he was selected as one of twelve international fellows at the Chorus America Conducting Academy in Fullerton, California, where he studied and conducted major works by Bernstein, Mendelssohn, and Mozart.

A frequent baritone soloist, his performance highlights include Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Bel Canto Chorus and Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra; an international tour of Mozart’s Requiem and Fauré’s Requiem with Bel Canto International and the Texas Choral Consort; Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with the Falls Baptist College Orchestra and Chorus; and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Minnesota Valley Chorale.

Jonathan holds a bachelor’s degree from Martin Luther College and a master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he studied under Dr. Zachary Durlam.

He and his wife, Erin, now reside in the Milwaukee area with their three children: Genevieve, Mariah, and Garrett.