Trainer Profile

Dr. Julie Ford, an Estill Master Trainer (julieford.org), is a classical and jazz choral conductor, vocalist, and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. As Director of Vocal-Choral Activities at Saint Mary’s College of California, she directs the Chamber Singers, Glee Club, and Jazz Choir, and teaches lyric diction, private voice, jazz techniques, and conducting. The SMC Glee and Chamber Singers received two Gold and three Silver Medals at the 2012, 2014 & 2018 World Choir Games "Pop" and "Classical Chamber Choir" Championship categories, and her choirs have been selected to sing at the state and national conventions for the American Choral Director Association, which she has served for six years as a member of the California affiliation board (CCDA: two terms as the Music in Worship Repertoire and Resource representative, and one term as the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Representative). She also serves regularly as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, and sings professionally as a soloist and in the vocal jazz group Moodswing. She holds a Doctorate in Choral Conducting (University of Oklahoma), a Masters in Conducting (Eastman School of Music), and a Bachelors in Vocal Performance (San Jose State University). Visit julieford.org for recordings and a more extensive biography.