Dr. Jason Bishop
Founder & Artistic Director of YPC Erie &
Conductor of Concert Chorus & Chorale
Dr. Jason Bishop is Director of Choral Activities at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, in Erie, PA, where he also serves as conductor of the Erie Philharmonic Chorus. In 2008, Dr. Bishop changed the choral landscape of northwestern Pennsylvania by founding the first comprehensive youth chorus program in the region, the Young People’s Chorus of Erie, of which he serves as Artistic Director. As the first affiliate of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, the Young People’s Chorus of Erie shares the YPC mission, providing opportunities for children ages 7 to 18 to participate in a comprehensive choral program that celebrates diversity, multiculturalism, and equal opportunities for children from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Dr. Bishop earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied with Dr. Dennis Shrock, and the Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Boston University, where he studied with Dr. Ann Howard Jones. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Classical Languages from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, where he studied conducting with the late Tony Lee Garner, graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction, was voted into the Rhodes College Hall of Fame, and received the Rhodes College Kinney Leadership Award for outstanding service to his community. In 1998, at just 21 years old, he was asked to serve as the first-ever student conductor of the Rhodes College Singers, leading the group on a two-week performance tour of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms throughout the southeastern United States.
Before joining the faculty of Penn State Erie in 2007, Dr. Bishop served as Director of Choral Activities at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA from 1999-2003; as Assistant to the President of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA from 2001-2003; as Music Director of the Broadmoor Chamber Singers in Natick, MA from 2001-2003; as Director of Music and Founder & Artistic Director of the Concert Series at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church in Norman, OK from 2004-2007; and as Instructor of Choral Conducting and Conductor of the University Chorale & Opera Chorus at the University of Oklahoma from 2005-2006.
Praised for both his passion and his efficiency on the podium, Dr. Bishop is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, with several performances of major choral-orchestral repertoire to his credit. He has also had the opportunity to sing as both baritone and countertenor in several chamber recitals and a number of professional choral ensembles, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale of New Mexico, a professional vocal ensemble widely acclaimed for its exceptional choral performances. He has adjudicated numerous choral festivals, including the Oklahoma Arts Institute and the West Tennessee High School Festival. Dr. Bishop currently recently held the position of Northwest Region Chair on the Board of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and also served as Editor of the Pennsylvania state choral journal, Polyphony. In his role with ACDA-PA, he created the first-ever Pennsylvania Student-Director Honor Choir, bringing together over 100 high school and college students, public school teachers, and college music professors from around the state of Pennsylvania to rehearse and perform together in the same ensemble.
In the summer of 2008, Dr. Bishop traveled as a guest conductor with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City on its performance tour to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Dr. Bishop was recently invited by Distinguished Concerts International to conduct Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass in New York City's Carnegie Hall in May 2010.
