Unlocking Your

Meet Your Professor

Jason Max Ferdinand serves as the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland, College Park.  He assumed the role in the Fall of 2022.  He is very humbled to be standing on the shoulders of his mentor, Edward Maclary, who has guided the choral program for 20+ years.

Jason Max Ferdinand, Professor – Conductor – Composer – Speaker, is the founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers: An Ensemble of Exceptional Talents, and was the director of choral activities, chair of the music department and a full professor at Oakwood University, where he conducted the Aeolians of Oakwood University. 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).

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 attributes a lot of his success to the many influential people and experiences that helped shape him into who he is today.

As a doctoral student, Ferdinand was privileged to study under the heedful eyes of Dr. Edward Maclary, who is a protégé́ of the late Robert Shaw. During his time at the University of Maryland, he served as co-director for the University Choir and was an assistant conductor for the Chamber Singers and the Maryland Chorus. In addition, he taught undergraduate conducting classes. In the summer of 2006, he was selected to lead the Summer Choral Festival Program at the University of Maryland, and Jim Ross, a former pupil of Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein, served as his orchestral conducting teacher.

He maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and lecturer at schools, universities, churches, and choral festivals and conferences, domestic and international.  He is energized when he gets the chance to make music with All-state and festival choirs.

His ensembles have most recently released recordings, The Aeolians (2019) and Solace, The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers (2021).  He has enjoyed collaborations with Jacob Collier, Donald Lawrence, Take 6 and others in recent years.

Ferdinand serves on the board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and is a former board member of the Alabama American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He maintains an active schedule as a presenter, adjudicator and guest conductor in America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. He continues to actively compose and enjoys mentoring up-and-coming composers. His greatest passion is watching those who he has mentored as conductors and composers become conductors and composers in their own right. He loves to teach and was named “Teacher of the Year” for the 2017–18 school year by Oakwood University.