Dr. Lorissa Mason, Artistic Director
Dr. Lorissa Mason is the Director of Choral Activities and Voice Area Chair at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she directs the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, and Women’s Choir and teaches undergraduate conducting, advanced conducting, and music education courses.
Dr. Mason is a valued member of the UA Little Rock community and frequently collaborates with campus departments. Throughout her conducting career, Dr. Mason has conducted in workshops and performances throughout the United States and abroad. In the autumn of 2020, she joined Dr. James Meaders and the Hurst Green Singers in England as part of a panel of notable conductors to speak on the topic of structure and history of Ein Deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms. She has also performed as a conducting fellow in symposiums and concerts in Italy. Dr. Mason made her Carnegie Hall conducting debut on June 26, 2022, conducting Poulenc’s Gloria, with UA Little Rock Choirs and additional singers from across the United States. Most recently, in June of 2023, Dr. Mason conducted the Ozark Festival Singers in a concert at Cadogan Hall in London entitled “The Music and Lineage of Paul Mealor” with Vox Anima London and in collaboration with the composer Paul Mealor and the ensemble Apollo 5.
Often invited to speak to young conductors and future music educators, Dr. Mason has been a guest lecturer on campuses across the country. She served on the National ACDA committee, screening undergraduate conducting videos for the conducting masterclass, and served as a clinician for the College Immersion Day at the Southwest ACDA Conference in 2020. Dr. Mason is a founding member and steering committee member for the World Choral Conducting Network (WCCN), as well as an active member of ACDA, NAfME, Chorus America, and the International Conductor’s Guild. She continues to present at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her research covers a variety of topics, with a focus on the pedagogy of conducting. She holds degrees from Texas Tech University, with studies in Music Education and Conducting under the tutelage of Dr. John Dickson. In 2019, she completed a DMA in Conducting at the University of Missouri Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, where she studied conducting and choral literature with Dr. Robert Bode.
In addition to her position as founding Artistic Director of the Ozark Festival Singers, Dr. Mason will begin as the newly appointed Artistic Director for the Arkansas Chamber Singers in July of this year. Dr. Mason will return to the Carnegie Hall stage, conducting Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass on June 1, 2025.
Robert Lindley, Collaborative Pianist
Robert Lindley, a native of Arkansas, attended Arkansas Tech as a saxophone major in instrumental music education. He later graduated with Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in applied organ from the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Mr. Lindley served as Organist-Music Associate at First Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, also, at Thalia Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia and at Brentwood United Methodist in Nashville, Tennessee.
While in Pine Bluff, he served as accompanist for the Pine Bluff Chamber Singers. In Virginia, he was also accompanist for the Virginia Baptist Male Chorale, and served as Dean of the Tidewater Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He is currently the secretary for the Central Arkansas Chapter of the AGO.
Board of Directors 2023 - 2024
James West, president
Jeremy Wayne, vice-president
Gary Moore, past-president
Tyler Thompson, secretary
Leann Jones, treasurer
Analea Cook
Angela Cotton
Sharon Downs
Carol Gray Hutto
Layton Reeves