Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 7:30pm
The Lucas Theatre for the Arts
Jason Max Ferdinand guest conductor
Roderick George tenor
Savannah Philharmonic Chorus
Paul Thornock chorus master
Lift every voice! An inspiring evening of the sacred and spiritual, plus…
VERDI Nabucco Overture
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Symphony No. 1
Jason Max Ferdinand, Professor – Conductor – Composer – Speaker, is an inspirational musician, leader and teaching mentor whose gifts are sought after by choirs and orchestras in the USA and internationally.
Since 2022 he has served as the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland, College Park, having spent the preceding 14 years as professor at Oakwood University, where he conducted the renowned Aeolians of Oakwood University.
He is the founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers which since its inception in 2021 has performed to enraptured sell-out audiences. He is a published author and composer with GIA Publications, featuring the book Teaching with Heart: Tools for Addressing Societal Challenges Through Music, and The Jason Max Ferdinand Choral Series (Walton Music).
Ferdinand began his tenure at Oakwood University in 2008. Performing a repertoire from the baroque to the 21st century he led the Aeolians of Oakwood University in performances throughout the United States and in Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, the UK, Europe and Russia. In 2012 the Aeolians visited Moscow as part of the Russia-US Bilateral Presidential Commission on development of cooperation between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. The same year their performance at the 7th World Choir Games earned them three gold medals and the overall championship for the Spiritual category. In 2015 Ferdinand made his debut at Carnegie Hall conducting the Aeolians, the Altino Brothers Concert Chorale, and the Beyond Boundaries Symphony Orchestra. He directed the Aeolians as they accompanied soprano Kathleen Battle at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in Birmingham, Alabama, as part of her “Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey” Concert Series. He returned to the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in 2016 to direct the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as they accompanied the Aeolians in a collaborated annual Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute. The 2017 Aeolians won the coveted “Choir of the World Award” with Ferdinand being awarded the “Most Outstanding Director”. In 2018 his choir won three gold medals in the 10th World Choir Games and were overall champions in both the University Choir and Spiritual categories. In 2019 the Aeolians gave a landmark performance at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Convention with popular consent agreeing that “They broke the ACDA”. Their album The Aeolians was also released in 2019.
The unique circumstances of 2021 opened the opportunity to birth The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers in an online concert filmed for the VOCES8 Foundation’s LIVE from London festival. The ensemble began its unifying journey to breathe life into choral works of underrepresented composers and positively affect the cultural health of our world. The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers album Solace was released in 2021. In 2023 the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers performed at the ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati which included a surprise appearance from Jacob Collier. This followed their appearance on Saturday Night Live with Coldplay and Jacob Collier.
Cultural maladies presented during the Covid pandemic inspired the compilation of Teaching with Heart: Tools for Addressing Societal Challenges Through Music to provide support and encouragement for music educators. He continues to actively compose and curates The Jason Max Ferdinand Choral Series for Walton Music. His greatest passion is watching the young composers and conductors he has mentored to become conductors and composers in their own right. He loves to teach and was honored to be the 2017-18 “Teacher of the Year” at Oakwood University.
Ferdinand maintains a busy schedule as guest conductor and lecturer at schools, universities, churches, and choral festivals and conferences, in both the USA and internationally. He is energized when he gets the chance to make music with All-state and festival choirs. He has enjoyed collaborations with Jacob Collier, Donald Lawrence, Take 6 and others in recent years. A native of Trinidad & Tobago, Ferdinand received his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), his Master of Arts in Choral Conducting from Morgan State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland. He is thankful for his parents, Dr. T. Leslie, and Mary Ferdinand, who are both retired educators. He is married to Meka, a registered nurse, and they are the parents of Caleb, Ava, and baby Jamē.
www.jmaxmusic.com
Tenor Roderick George made his Lincoln Center debut in Handel’s Messiah at David Geffen Hall. A distinguished concert artist, his repertoire spans from Bach’s Magnificat and Mozart’s Requiem, through Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Rossini’s Stabat Mater, to Orff’s Carmina Burana and contemporary works by composers such as Adolphus Hailstork, including recent performances of Hailstork’s I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes with Vocal-Essence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and with the Nashville Symphony.
Other recent engagements include Faust et Hélène with New York Repertory Orchestra, Messiah with North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Dvořák Stabat Mater with the Highland Park Choral and Orchestra in Dallas, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Carmina Burana with Huntsville Symphony, and Mozart Requiem with Northwest Florida Symphony. George has made numerous appearances as the featured soloist in The Chariot Jubilee, most recently at the University of Maryland and he can be heard on the self-titled recording of the Oakwood University Aeolians.
Internationally, George has concertized throughout Spain, France, Austria, Ireland, England, and Russia. Highlights include a performance tour in Russia with the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic. He has sung a diversity of leading lyric tenor roles in operas such as Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Romeo et Juliette, Lakmé, and Porgy and Bess. Recent seasons have included Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Birmingham and Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Wilmington.
His professional choral affiliations have included multiple tours throughout the United States and abroad with the American Spiritual Ensemble and he is a featured artist with the acclaimed Jason Max Ferdinand Singers including recent appearances at the Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, Choral Canada, and on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. George heads the voice program at the University of Montevallo and holds a doctorate in voice performance from The Florida State University with additional study in Austria at the American Institute of Musical Studies. He also serves on the artist faculty at the Bay View Music Festival in northern Michigan.
