James Jordan

James Jordan (born 1953) is an American writer, conductor, and professor at Westminster Choir College in Lawrenceville, New Jersey where he is currently a Senior Conductor and directs the select recording ensemble Williamson Voices and the former director of the sophomore choir, Schola Cantorum, and the freshman choir, Chapel Choir. Jordan received a Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degree from Susquehanna University, and both a Master of Music (M.M.) degree in choral conducting and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the psychology of music from Temple University and was a student of Elaine Brown, Wilhelm Ehmann and Frauke Haasemann. During the 2004–2005 academic year, he was a distinguished visiting professor of music education at West Chester University. He has also been a visiting professor, lecturer, and clinician at a number of conservatories and universities including the Curtis Institute. Since the publishing of his book The Musicians Soul in 1999, Jordan has written over 60 books under the GIA Publications label. Jordan is the editor of the Evoking Sound Choral Series under the same label. In 2013, the Williamson Voices under James Jordan, recorded and released a CD of James Whitbourn's Annelies, which was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance that year. Jordan is recognized in the musical community as one of the United States' leading conductors, writers and innovators in the field of choral music. His contributions include work and research concerning the use of Laban Movement Analysis in the teaching of conducting and movement to children, and for advocating the use of the case study in research for training teachers.