Professional Achievement, Conservatory for the Performing Arts

“This award means everything to me,” long-time music educator, director, and vocalist Bill Griffel ’92 said. “I value my Viterbo roots above all other experiences I’ve had as a musician.”

Griffel graduated from Viterbo University with degrees in music education and vocal performance. He has sung opera professionally with some of the most nationally and internationally recognized performance organizations, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Chautauqua Opera. Griffel is also a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

His work as a professional vocalist can be heard in many commercial and professional recordings with publishing companies from Warner Bros. to Hal Leonard, G. Shirmer, Hinshaw Press, and GIA Publications.

He was selected as a quarterfinalist for the prestigious GRAMMY’s Music Educator Award from the Grammy Foundation in Los Angeles, Calif. which was created to bring attention and recognition to the teaching profession and to school music educators across the country.

In 1994, he earned his master’s in vocal performance from DePaul University in Chicago, and he completed a performance certificate in 1996. A short-term music education job erased Griffel’s previous concerns on whether he should teach. That initial teaching experience opened the door to a permanent position at the Latin School of Chicago. He later made his way to a larger program in Indianapolis with Franklin Central High School, where he taught from 2000-2008. When he wanted to boost the number of male singers in the choir, he coached football in addition to teaching choral music. “It worked! Within a year-and-a-half, I had much of the football team singing in one of my choirs,” Griffel said.

Currently, Griffel is the Albert P. Stewart Senior Director of Purdue Musical Organizations and the Jack Calhoun Senior Director of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., positions he has held since 2008.

He has served as a guest conductor and collaborator with choruses and symphonies in San Francisco, including the Girls Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus, and throughout Indiana. In Indianapolis, Griffel guest conducted with the Men’s Chorus and the Children’s Chorus. He has guest conducted with Purdue University Bands and Orchestras and symphony orchestras in Lafayette, La Porte, Ft. Wayne, and Northwest Indiana. In addition, Griffel has conducted and collaborated with the Indiana State Future Farmers of America Chorus.

“I have traveled nationally and internationally as a director and performer throughout Europe, the Baltics, the UK, Central America, and Australia and New Zealand.”

Viterbo roots were planted back in Griffel's childhood. “I joined the La Crosse Boy Choir in 1977 and for the next seven years, I spent two days each week rehearsing on the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Center,” Griffel recalled. The Onalaska native continued to take voice lessons with Dan Johnson-Wilmot throughout high school, so applying to Viterbo seemed the natural next step. “The people here were my family for so many years."

Griffel offers advice to college students. “Never lose sight of your dreams. There will be many disappointments, but nothing, and no one can take your hopes and dreams from you. Stop and enjoy the process and don’t forget to thank those who helped you along the way.”

He finds the greatest joy through his role as a devoted husband and father. “I have amazing people in my life and am fortunate to do what I love and what I studied. I enjoy making a difference in young people’s lives because I learn as much from them as they learn from me.”

2024 Viterbo University Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients main page