Stanley J. Thurston Music Director

Stanley John Thurston is founder and music director of The Heritage Signature Chorale. Under his direction, the chorale's performances have been praised for their attention to detail and nuance, and their "ability to stir the heart with rhythmic fervor and emotional intensity."

Mr. Thurston is in frequent demand as a guest conductor and clinician with area performing arts organizations, including the National Symphony Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington. In the summer of 2002, he made his European debut conducting Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata with Romania 's Opera Constanta. He returned to Romania in 2004 to conduct the opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. Mr. Thurston has appeared as guest director with the Washington Performing Arts Society, Cathedral Choral Society of Washington, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, In Series, Opera Americana, Peabody Conservatory of Music, and University of Maryland , Baltimore County . He served as music director for the National Symphony Orchestra's NSO In Your Neighborhood concert series.

Mr. Thurston has conducted at Carnegie Hall; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Opera House, Concert Hall, and Millennium Stage; the U.S. Capitol; Carter Barron Amphitheater; DAR Constitution Hall; Arena Stage; the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland; the Washington Hebrew Congregation; and the Washington National Cathedral.

Mr. Thurston is well known as a pianist, composer, and arranger. His orchestral arrangements have been performed by the symphony orchestras of Baltimore and New Jersey , and the National Symphony. He is the interim music director of National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., and is the former Gospel Producer for the Washington Performing Arts Society. Mr. Thurston is a summa cum laude graduate of Morgan State University in Baltimore , Maryland , where he took a dual degree in music-piano performance and economics.