Photo by Bill Boland
Dr. Sheridan J. Ball, Artistic Director
When Dr. Ball first joined the Cypress College music faculty in 1981 there were a total of seven singers enrolled in two choirs. Now, after 28 years and numerous joyous musical experiences later, the Cypress choral program is generally acknowledged as one of the finest community-based choir programs in the Orange County/ Los Angeles region.
Dr. Ball is also the founding director of two professional ensembles: The Southern California Master Chorale and Meritáge, which perform regularly with the Long Beach Symphony, the Golden State Pops Orchestra, and the Marina del Rey Summer Symphony.
The Southern California Master Chorale and Cypress Choirs have toured Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Israel, England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China. They have appeared at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Hollywood Bowl, the Sydney Opera House, Winchester Cathedral and Radio Vienna. They have sung Mass at the Vatican twice and have performed at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall three times. The Southern California Master Chorale toured China last summer in conjunction with pre-Olympic festivities. A concert tour of France, the Netherlands and Copenhagen is scheduled for 2010.
A native of Nebraska, Dr. Ball completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice with a minor in German followed by a Master of Music degree in Choral Literature and Conducting at the University of Northern Colorado. He received a fellowship to study and perform at the Aspen Music Festival in 1984 and studied conducting with Don Neuen at the Eastman School of Music in 1987.
In addition to teaching in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and California public schools, Sheridan directed church choirs for ten years and, as a choral musician, has performed with the Kansas City Philharmonic Chorus, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, William Hall Chorale, Pacific Chorale and the John Alexander Singers.
Dr. Ball has served on the Board of Directors for the Music Association of California Community Colleges, the American Choral Directors Association, and the California Choral Conductors Guild, where he also served as the Orange County Chapter President. Sheridan also taught music courses in Salzburg, Austria and Florence, Italy in conjunction with the Cypress College Semester in Europe program.
Sheridan received his doctorate in Conducting from the University of Southern California in 1995 and, in the summer of that same year, studied with the renowned scholar/conductor, Helmut Rilling, at the Oregon Bach Festival. In 2000 Sheridan made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall and is currently an Associate Conductor with Mid America Productions in New York City.