Dr. Dirk Garner, Director of Choral Studies, conducts the Chamber Choir and University Singers and leads the graduate program in Choral Conducting. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Garner served as the Director of Choral Activities at Southeastern Louisiana University, and on the faculties of High Point University, and Albertson College of Idaho. Popular as a clinician and adjudicator, Dr. Garner has conducted festivals in sixteen states. His choirs have been heard across the country and in regional and state conventions of ACDA and MENC.

In addition, Dr. Garner is co-music director of the Eton Consort, an ensemble specializing in music from the Renaissance based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has judged competitions for the National Association of Teachers of Singing and ACDA, and has served as State Chair of Repertoire and Standards for Colleges and Universities in Louisiana. His principle research concerns the Golden Mean in the Sacred Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, a topic he discussed during a two-hour interview on National Public Radio's "Bach Sunday." Dr. Garner holds the Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa.