Director: Mr. Jess Wade III

        Jess Wade is Assistant Coordinator of Vocal Music at Texas A&M University, where he conducts the Century Singers and Women's Chorus. He is also in his tenth year as Artistic Director/Conductor of the Brazos Valley Chorale. In addition to these responsibilities, he is often called upon to participate in area choral events as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Mr. Wade has also worked with and prepared choirs for Sir David Willcocks, Roger Wagner, and John Rutter. Besides his skills as a conductor, he has served as a choral and vocal accompanist on both collegiate and professional levels, notably with Robert Shaw in presentations of Bach's Mass in B minor and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

        There have been a number of collaborative efforts between Mr. Wade and the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. His conducting debut with the BVSO was a performance of Handel's complete Messiah. He also conducted the Chorale, Century Singers and orchestra in performances of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Vaughan William's Sea Symphony and Debussy's Sirenes. Other major choral works he has prepared for performance in the Brazos Valley have included Requiems of Mozart, Durufle, and Lloyd Webber; Bach's Mass in B minor; Bernstein's Chichester Psalms; Poulenc's Gloria; Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610; Honegger's King David; and Holst's The Planets.

        Mr. Wade has traveled extensively with his choirs throughout Texas, beyond our state borders and internationally. His choirs have performed in important venues in Italy, Spain, France and Canada. The Century Singers have performed for the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association. His Women's Chorus is the founding organization and annually participates in the Texas Collegiate Women's Choral Festival, this year hosting five universities in the Festival's 25th Anniversary.

        Mr. Wade is very involved in the American Choral Directors Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, Music Educators National Conference, and Texas Music Educators Association. He holds degrees from Southwest Baptist University and Kansas State University, and has completed course work for a Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia.