Choir Directors

Edward E. Jones

Edward Elwyn Jones is the Gund University Organist and Choirmaster in The Memorial Church. A native of Wales, Mr. Jones studied music at Cambridge University, where he was Organ Scholar of Emmanuel College. He moved to the United States in 1998, serving firstly as Organ Scholar and then as Assistant Organist in The Memorial Church at Harvard. From 2000 to 2003 Mr. Jones was the Assistant Organist of Christ Church United Methodist on Park Avenue in New York City, while pursuing a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at The Mannes College of Music. Mr. Jones joins a long line of distinguished choirmasters including the first professor of music in the United States, John Knowles Paine; the legendary founder of the nation’s oldest carol service, Archibald T. Davison; the creator of the modern coeducational University Choir, John R. Ferris; and, the builder of the Choral Fellows program, Murray Forbes Somerville.

Christian Lane

Christian Lane is Assistant University Organist and Choirmaster at Harvard University. Acclaimed for his “driving energy and mature interpretation (The American Organist),” Mr. Lane quickly established himself as one of the country’s most accomplished young organists by earning first prize in four major American organ competitions before reaching his twenty-first birthday. In addition, he earned both second prize and the coveted audience prize at the 2004 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition (NYACOP), widely considered to be the country’s preeminent contest in this field. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and the Sacred Music Diploma from the Eastman School of Music, where his mentor and teacher was Professor David Higgs. Subsequently, he completed graduate work with Prof. Thomas Murray as a Robert Baker Scholar at Yale University, earning a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Music and a certificate from Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music.