Bruce Southard, Artistic Director

Bruce Southard is currently the Director of Choral Activities at San Joaquin Delta College and has more than twenty years of experience working with choirs of all ages in California, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

Teaching is Dr. Southard’s passion, and he was named the Outstanding Teacher of the Year in the College of Arts and Sciences at Dickinson State University in 2013. As a conductor, his choirs have appeared at state and regional conventions in the North Central region of the United States. He has served as guest conductor for several regional honor choirs in Montana and North Dakota, in addition to his active adjudication and clinic schedule. His applied voice students have been recognized at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions district level and in 2012 one of his students was a national finalist in the MTNA Young Artist Competition.

Dr. Southard studied conducting with William Dehning, Kenneth Davis, Michael Weber and JoAnn Miller. He has also worked directly with Howard Swan, Eph Ehly, Bernard Rubenstein, and Alfred Mann. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of the Pacific, his Master of Music degree from Western Kentucky University and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music from North Dakota State University.