The American conductor, lecturer, composer, and writer, John Mason Hodges, obtained his Baachelor of Arts degree in Music from University of Maryland and his Master of Music degree in Orchestral and Operatic Conducting Performance from Indiana University (1983).
John Mason Hodges worked as a professional conductor of orchestras and choruses from 1983 to 2009. He was a conducting student of the legendary American composer Leonard Bernstein. In the Ukraine, he served as a guest conductor at the Prokofiev Conservatory in Donetsk, for the Kharkov Symphony Orchestra, and the Rivne Symphony Orchestra. Closer to home, he has served as Director of Music at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis (1999-2009), where he conducted services and concerts, composed and arranged vocal and instrumental music, and refused to allow disunity over music in worship; Founder and Director of Music for Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra (1989-1993); Director of Music for the Germantown Symphony Orchestra (1986-1994); Director of Music East Side Church (1985-1988); and Music Director for the Memphis Symphony Youth Orchestra (1983-1988). He was a Co-founder of the Germantown Arts Alliance, founded the Memphis Arts Group and was co-founder of Westminster Academy.
John Mason Hodges also has 14 years experience conducting, composing, and arranging music for churches. He has lectured in this country and in Europe and South America on the subjects of aesthetics, education, and music, and writes occasional articles for various publications on the arts. He lectured on Christianity and the arts, education and culture in conferences and on college campuses, all with the hopes of helping Christians apply a Christian worldview and grow in discernment. He held the position of Associate Professor of the Arts and Culture at Crichton College where he taught classes in worldview, history of the arts and reader’s theater; directed theater productions; and was founding director of the Institute for the Arts and Cultural Apologetics. Most recently he has founded and directs the Center for Western Studies, and serves as scholar-in-residence for the National Fellows movement. He presently holds the position of Director of Music at Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis.
John Mason Hodges lives in Memphis with Day, his wife of 31 years, and has one son, Mason, who is in graduate school. |