Faculty

James K. Bass is Director of Choral Studies at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA and Associate Conductor at Seraphic Fire. He previously served on the faculties of Western Michigan University and University of South Florida, and holds a doctoral degree from University of Miami, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from University of South Florida. Bass has appeared with professional choral ensembles including Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Apollo Master Chorale, Vox Humanae, and Spire. He appears on CD recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Naxos, Albany, and Seraphic Fire Media labels. Solo orchestral engagements include appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra, New World Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Back Bay Chorale, and The Sebastians. In 2011, Bass co-founded Seraphic Fire’s Professional Choral Institute at University of South Florida. In its inaugural year of recording, Seraphic Fire and PCI received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance for their recording of Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem. Bass has prepared choirs for Sir Colin Davis, Sir David Willcocks, Jahja Ling, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gerard Schwarz, Giancarlo Guerrero, Michael Francis, Marcelo Lehninger, Stefan Sanderling, Evan Rogister, Danail Rachlev, Joshua Weilerstein, Markus Huber, Michael Francis, Patrick Quigley, and Robert Shaw among others.