Musical Direction

DR. Matthew Abernathy

Director

Known for his refined musicianship, impassioned performances, and collaborative leadership, Matthew Abernathy is making his mark as one of America’s most promising young conductors. He is the Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Michigan where he leads the internationally acclaimed Michigan Men’s Glee Club and teaches in the School of Music, Theater, and Dance.

In 2024, Abernathy was named the Grand Prize winner of the MidAmerica International Choral Conducting Competition and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in June 2026. Additionally, he distinguished himself as a semifinalist and the only American admitted to the 2022 Fosco Corti International Competition for Choral Conductors in Turin, Italy, selected from over 60 international applicants.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, Abernathy served as Artistic Director of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay (Principal Chorus for The Florida Orchestra) where he led a 140-voice symphonic chorus that performed major choral-orchestral works. Under his direction, the chorus continued its legacy of supporting living composers, commissioning works by Jerod Tate, Nico Gutierrrez, Natalie Draper, Joan Szymko, and others. He further oversaw a comprehensive community engagement program reaching all ages throughout Tampa Bay.

Dr. Abernathy is a devoted pedagogue and champion for music education and art-making at all ages. He was the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Tampa where he conducted Chamber Singers, Camerata, and taught the undergraduate Aural Skills sequence. He has also held faculty positions at the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota. His academic research focuses on aural skills and musicianship (particularly as it pertains to training conductors), and leadership for conductors; a topic on which he has presented at the ACDA Southern Conference. 

From 2016-2022, Abernathy was on staff at Minnesota Opera where he has served as Music Director of their youth opera program Project Opera, Children’s Chorus Director, and Guest Chorus Master. Prior engagements also include work as the Chorus Master for the Lakes Area Music Festival and regular work as an Assistant Conductor/Section Leader with the Minnesota Chorale, including for their recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 (BIS Records) with Minnesota Orchestra.

Other notable conducting appearances include The Florida Orchestra, St. Pete Baroque, Wintergreen Music Festival, Bach Society of Minnesota, Dakota Valley Symphony Chorus, Oratorio Society of Minnesota, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, The Summer Singers, Opera MODO, Arbor Opera Theater, 113 Composer Collective, and the Norfolk Chamber Choir. He has prepared choruses for conductors including Michael Francis, Chelsea Gallo, Steven Mercurio, Michael Christie, Christian Reif, Osmo Vänskä, Jonathan Brandani, Nicholas Kraemer, and many others.

Dr. Abernathy has furthered his studies at the Medomak Conductors Retreat, Chorus America Conducting Academy, and Norfolk Chamber Choir Workshop. He has been lucky to work with many amazing musicians who have greatly influenced him, and counts among his mentors Kathy Saltzman Romey, Jerry Blackstone, Duain Wolfe, Matthew Mehaffey, Eugene Rogers, Erin Freeman, and Kenneth Kiesler. He holds degrees from the University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam), and Onondaga Community College.

Jon Madden

Assistant Conductor

Jonathan Thomas Madden is a conductor, composer, and church musician from Rochester, NY. He currently serves as the Director of Music at University Presbyterian Church in Rochester Hills, MI, and is pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Michigan.

From 2020-2025, Jon served as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (Pittsford) and was on the faculty of the Hochstein School as Assistant Director and Composer-in-Residence for the Hochstein Youth Singers. Previously, Jon taught vocal music and choir at McQuaid Jesuit High School, and served as Assistant Director for the choirs of Nazareth University (Brian Stevens, director), First Inversion (Lee Wright, director), and the Eastman/Christ Church Schola Cantorum (Stephen Kennedy, director). He also held membership in the Eastman-Rochester Chorus and the early music ensemble Musica Spei.

Jon’s compositions have been finalists in the 2022 ACDA Pearl Prize Competition (Shall We Gather at the River)  and the 2023 American Prize (Music, when soft voices die). His writing for SSA ensembles has been recognized by the 2023 ACDA Focus Prize (honorable mention, The Gift to Sing) and the 2019 ACDA Brock Student Composition Competition (2nd place, The Lord is my Light). Passionate about providing quality repertoire to singers of all ages, Jon’s setting of Francis Ellen Watkins Harper’s poem Songs for the People was featured at the inaugural Rochester Intergenerational Choir Day in November 2025.

Prior to attending the University of Michigan, Jon received the Masters of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he was also awarded the Graduate Teaching Assistant Prize for his teaching of first-year aural skills. He earned the Bachelor of Music Degree in Composition from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. While in Minnesota, he sang with and was a collaborative pianist for the internationally renowned St. Olaf Choir, accompanied and co-directed the Gospel Choir of St. Olaf, and served Highview Christiania Lutheran Church as choir director and organist.

Jon is proud to be a student of Christopher Atzinger, Anton Armstrong, James E.Bobb, Therees Hibbard, Timothy Mahr, Brian Preston, Eugene Rogers, S Joshua Sheppard, Janet Stadt, Emery Stevens, and William Weinert, among many other compassionate and generous people.