Jason Saunders

Lecturer; Conductor - Knights Chorus

Phone: 253-535-7602

Email: saundejm@plu.edu

Status:Part-time

  • Professional
  • Biography

Education

  • M.M., Choral Music, University of Southern California, 2014
  • B.M.E., Pacific Lutheran University, 2011

Responsibilities

PLU Knights Chorus, Conductor

Biography

Jason Saunders is a music educator, conductor, and composer. A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, he was born in 1989 and was raised in the Portland, Oregon area.

Jason has served as Director of Choirs at Graham-Kapowsin High School in Graham, WA since 2014. Under his direction, ensembles from GKHS have performed at WMEA, NAfME, and regional ACDA conferences. The GKHS Chorale was awarded the 2018-2019 American Prize in Choral Performance for High School Chorus, and earned second place in the 2020-2021 competition.

Jason maintains an active schedule as a conductor and clinician. In addition to teaching at GKHS, he was a member of the Vivace! Choral Program, a community choir in residence in the Bethel School District. He was a sectional leader from 2014-2019 before becoming Artistic Director of the program and its three ensembles. Jason has enjoyed serving as a clinician at choral festivals and solo/ensemble competitions in the area. In 2020, he presented sessions at WMEA and WA-ACDA conferences on choral tuning strategies and virtual choir production techniques.

Jason is a published composer, with choral works available through Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and Colla Voce Music. He has received commissions, awards, and performances by a variety of choral ensembles across the United States. Jason was finalist in the Young New Yorkers Chorus 10th Annual Competition for Young Composers in 2014, and in 2012, he placed second nationally in the choral composition competition of The American Prize (student division).

In May 2014 Jason graduated from the University of Southern California, where he earned a Master of Music degree in choral music and served as a co-conductor of the Apollo Chorus. In 2011 he graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree. He studied conducting with Donald Brinegar, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Brian Galante, and Richard Nance, and composition with Greg Youtz and Morten Lauridsen.