José Rivera, professor of choral music education at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke where he serves as coordinator of music education and conducts the University Chorale. He is an active conductor of numerous Honor and All-State Choirs across the US and abroad including Cantaré, Latin-American Honor Choir featured at the ACDA Southern Region Conference. He has been invited to conduct All-State choirs in Florida, California, Alabama, and North Carolina. He has also conducted and lead workshops at the Universidad National Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, Universidad de Las Americas (UDLAP) in Puebla, Mexico, Instituto Superior de las Artes in Havana, Cuba, Universidad de Mendoza in Argentina, and Department of Defense (DoDEA) Choral Festival in Germany. This year he accepted an invitation to conduct at Carnegie Hall.

Dr. Rivera’s research areas include teacher preparation and Latin America choral music. This has led him to presented clinics and lectures at the American Choral Director Association and National Association for Music Educators regional and national conferences and publish articles in the ACDA Choral Journal. Dr. Rivera also served as the ACDA National R&R chair for World Musics and Cultures. He co-founded La Voz Music Publishing and is past-president of the NC-ACDA Chapter.