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Eric Nelson is the Conductor/Artistic Director of Atlanta Master Chorale and also Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Emory University. Dr. Nelson began his tenure at Emory University in 1997 and became the director of Atlanta Master Chorale in 1999.
Eric received a Masters’ degree in Choral Conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey where he studied with Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Hausemann, and Allen Crowell. Aftermreceiving his master’s degree, Eric returned to Houghton College, where he taught until he left to pursue a Doctorate in Music and Choral Conducting at Indiana University. There he studied conducting with Robert Porco, musicology with Dr. George Beulow, and voice with Paul Elliot.
Dr. Nelson’s choirs have performed throughout the world, including London, Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, Moscow, Seoul, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Sydney Opera House. He has conducted choirs at eight American Choral Directors Association conferences, including Atlanta Master Chorale’s performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis for the National Conference in March 2017 and the Emory Concert Choir’s performance at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall for the National Conference in 2011. In the summer of 2016, to the astonishment of all who know him, he appeared with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones at Bobby Dodd stadium, leading the Concert Choir in the classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
His ensembles are characterized by the performance of repertoire in a wide variety of styles, and for their ability to fuse technical precision with warmth of musical expression. He appears regularly as clinician, lecturer, and guest conductor for honor choirs, conventions, symposiums, workshops, and all-state choral festivals.
Dr. Nelson’s choral compositions and arrangements are sung regularly by ensembles throughout the United States. He is the editor of the “Atlanta Master Chorale Choral Series,” a division of Morningstar Music Publishers and E.C. Schirmer. His compositions are also published by Colla Voce and Augsburg Fortress. He holds degrees in voice and conducting from Houghton College, Westminster Choir College, and Indiana University.
