John Emory Bush
Music Director and Conductor

John Emory Bush began musical studies at the age of seven in his native Michigan. Trained as a conductor, pianist, organist, and harpist, he has a Bachelor's degree from Albion College in Michigan and a Master's degree from the Juilliard School of Music. Mr. Bush was privileged to study and coach with the distinguished conductors Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf, Helmuth Rilling and Robert Shaw. In 1988, he was one of five musicians (and the only American) invited to study conducting with Antal Dorati in Bern and Basel, Switzerland. He has studied with the renowned organists Joan Lippincott, Albert Fuller and Leonard Raver. During the summer of 1991, Mr. Bush joined the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria where he coached singers and appeared in recitals. Mr. Bush was a member of the vocal coaching and accompanying staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and director of choral activities at the Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. In addition to his position as Music Director and Conductor of the San Francisco Concert Chorale, he serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Valley Concert Chorale. For 10 years he served as Director of Music and Organist for St. Matthew's Cathedral in Dallas, Texas and was recently appointed Principal Organist at First United Methodist, McKinney, Texas. For the past 12 years, Mr. Bush has divided his time between the Bay Area and Dallas, contributing to both musical communities. Mr. Bush has conducted the Bay Area premieres of Conrad Susa's oratorio The Wise Women; Antal Doratis Pater Noster and Robert Levins completion of Mozart's Requiem with the San Francisco Concert Chorale.' He has led concert tours domestically, as well as to Mexico and France, has recorded four compact discs of choral music. In May of 2008, he brought the renowned Bach scholar and conductor Helmuth Rilling to San Francisco to work with the Concert Chorale and offer a lecture/demonstration of the great B Minor Mass. Two weeks later, Mr. Bush led the Concert Chorale and orchestra in a triumphant performance of the Bach Mass at the Mission Dolores Basilica. In the summer of 2008, Mr. Bush was a delegate to the 8th World Choral Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has been Artistic Director for the San Francisco Concert Chorale since 1993.  

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