Five words that are inspirational for me in my work:
Enthusiasm, Commitment, Determination, Inspiration, Patience
Bruce Rogers
Professor Bruce Rogers is the Director of Choral Activities at Mt. San Antonio College, in Walnut, California. In this role, he oversees the department’s various vocal and choral programs, which span the entire spectrum of music – from classical to jazz. He personally directs Mt. San Antonio College’s award-winning Chamber Singers and the elite vocal jazz ensemble, Singcopation.
Choirs under his direction have achieved top ranking in national and international competitions throughout the world, including performances in Concert Halls throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Scotland, Wales, England, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and China. Mr. Rogers' choirs have had the honor of performing at eight California State Conventions and ten American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Regional and National Conventions, as well as performing at three International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) National Conventions. In the year 2001, Mr. Rogers became the first choral director in United States history to have two different choirs perform at both the IAJE National Convention and the ACDA National Convention, and in 2005, he achieved this special honor once again.
Mr. Rogers’ most recent guest conducting ventures outside of the United States include conducting at the “AMIS International Honor Band and Choral Festival” hosted by the International School at The Hague in the Netherlands; conducting at the “ACCET Choral Conductor’s Workshop” held in Melbourne, Australia; guest conducting the music of Franz Joseph Haydn in Vienna and Budapest with a Festival Choir and Orchestra honoring the 200th Anniversary of Haydn’s death; and was the headline clinician and guest conductor at the “Australian National Choral Association” (ANCA) Convention in Port Macquarie, Australia. He has guest conducted the New York Chamber Orchestra and Festival Chorus at Carnegie Hall on six different occasions and has performed by special invitation at Lincoln Center. In 2007, Professor Rogers was invited to conduct the ACDA National Two-Year College Honor Choir at the ACDA National Convention in Miami, Florida. He most recently was invited to serve as the American judge on the jury panel for the “International Musical Eisteddfod Competition” in Wales, and will once again return to judge this competition in 2016. Mr. Rogers has presented lectures, adjudicated, or conducted All-State and Collegiate Honor Choirs in twenty-six states, Canada, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Australia, and the Netherlands.
For his many achievements, Mt. SAC presented Professor Rogers with its prestigious “Faculty Member of the Year” award, and the Upland Community Foundation honored him as a recipient of their 2010 “Spotlight Award” for Outstanding Educator. In 2013 he was awarded the “CMEA Pearson-Silver Burdett Choral Educator Award” honoring excellence in choral education and performance, and in 2014 he received the California Music Educators Association’s “Outstanding Music Educator’s Award.” He has also signed with Gentry Music to publish the “Bruce Rogers Choral Series,” which strives to discover challenging new choral works from throughout the world.