KENTUCKYBachCHOIR
S O L I D E O G L O R I A
Established 2007
ABOUT US
Dr. Jill Campbell
Assistant Conductor
Jill Campbell holds a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Kentucky where she studied choral music teacher attitudes in regards to sex-specific adolescent vocal change. She completed BMME in vocal music education, a minor in violin performance, an MM in choral conducting, and a Rank 1 in Music Education. Additionally, she earned the Graduate Certificate in Orff Schulwerk, Music for Children. Dr. Campbell has experience teaching at the elementary, middle, and collegiate levels, and has worked in many areas of church music. Dr. Campbell was a founding director of the Lexington Singers Children's Choir and conducted with them for eight seasons. Dr. Campbell has been teaching at Asbury University for six years and is currently Associate Professor of Music Education and Voice where she directs the 75-voice Asbury Women’s Choir. In February 2018, Dr. Campbell was pleased to direct the Asbury University Women’s Choir in an invited performance at the KMEA state music conference. This was the first appearance by the choir at the conference. She teaches the following courses at Asbury: elementary general music methods, elementary vocal music methods, secondary choral music education methods, opera workshop, conducting, and voice lessons. Dr. Campbell serves as the head of the vocal area within the music department and supervises student teachers in choral and general music education. Additionally, she chairs the Artist Series Committee for Asbury.She is the President-Elect for the Kentucky chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Her term as president begins on July 1, 2019.
Richard Sowers
Founder
Richard Sowers, retired, is the former Director of Music Ministries for Williamsburg UMC in Virginia, Southern Hills UMC in Lexington, KY and Christ Episcopal Church in Bowling Green, KY. While working in VA he also founded the Williamsburg Bach Choir and Handel Chamber Orchestra. He's the former Music Director and Conductor of the Abington Symphony Orchestra where he served as Director of Music Ministries for Abington Presbyterian Church outside Philadelphia. During his tenure as Director of Choral Activities at Lindsey Wilson College, he was also Music Director of The Louisville Chorus and founder of the Columbia Choral Society. He has appeared frequently with Kentucky Opera Association, and was an Associate and Artistic Director for regional opera companies throughout the U.S. A featured singer and actor, Sowers has performed with Actor's Theatre of Louisville, on WHAS-TV, and with the Louisville Bach Society. He was the 1st-place winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and for 4 seasons performed the title role in “The Stephen Foster Story” in Bardstown, KY and Tokyo, Japan. He holds applied music degrees from the University of Louisville Music School, sang with the prestigious Indiana University Opera Theater as an adjunct instructor, and completed doctoral studies as a graduate assistant in conducting at the University of Cincinnati (CCM). Sowers attributes his deep love of Bach to his teacher-mentors Fletcher Smith, Gerhard Herz, Melvin Dickinson, Alan Harler, Julius Herford, John Alexander, Gary Kendall, John Wustman, Robert Shaw, Elmer Thomas, John Lehman, Earl Rivers and Maestro Teri Murai.
Dr. Richard Waters
Richard Waters was appointed as Artistic Director of the Kentucky Bach Choir in April 2023. He is Director of Choral Activities, Voice Area Coordinator, and Professor of Music at Eastern Kentucky University, where he directs two choirs, teaches courses in conducting and choral literature, and oversees the graduate choral conducting program. Choirs under his direction have toured nationally and internationally, and have been invited to perform at several state and regional music conferences. Dr. Waters was the 2022 recipient of the Robert K. Baar Choral Excellence Award, presented annually by the Kentucky chapter of the American Choral Directors Association in recognition of service to the choral art and dedication to the promotion of music education in the state. He was voted College/University Teacher of the Year for District 11 of the Kentucky Music Educators Association in 2012 and 2016, and received Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards from the EKU Student Government Association in 2016 and 2017. In addition to his university responsibilities, he conducts the annual Stephen Foster Summer Music Camp High School Choir and is the Chancel Choir Director at First Christian Church in Richmond. He has served as Conductor of the Madison Singers, Artistic Director of The Mississippi Chorus, Assistant Conductor of the Choral Society of Greensboro, conductor of the UNCG Men’s Glee Club, and taught high school and middle school choir in the Virginia public schools. While in Hartford, he sang in CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists), the region’s first professional choir. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he began singing as a treble in the All Saints Choir of Men and Boys. Dr. Waters maintains an active schedule as a composer, clinician, and adjudicator. His compositions are published by Carl Fischer Music, Colla Voce Music, Hinshaw Music, MusicSpoke, and St. James Music Press, and have been featured at numerous conferences, festivals, and honor choirs. He received the Bachelor of Music degree in music education from James Madison University, the Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the Hartt School of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For more information, visit www.richardwaters.net.