As a conductor, Ace Edewards is known for his passionate lyricism and scholarly informed programming. Engagements have include performances with Opera Grand Rapids, MI, Victory Hall Opera, Charlottesville, VA, and cover conductor duties for the 2018 Winter Festival at Sarasota Opera. In the city of Knoxville where he resides, Dr. Edewards has conducted critically acclaimed productions of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Pasatieri’s La Divina and Moore’s Gallantry with Marble City Opera, and worked as assistant conductor for Knoxville Opera’s production of Boito’s Mefistofele. In three seasons as assistant/cover conductor for Opera in the Ozarks, Edewards conducted performances of Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, La traviata, Pagliacci, and Il tabarro. After conducting its premiere, Ace was invited to lead Alfonso Molina’s opera Illegal Alien at the Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado in Àlamos, Sonora, México. Dr. Edewards was a finalist in the 6e Concorso Internazionale Per Direttori d'Opera "Luigi Mancinelli" in Orvieto, Italy, with Verdi’s Il trovatore as repertoire. Other conducted works include productions of Carmen, L’ivrogne corrigé, La canterina, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, La bohème, Die Fledermaus, La traviata, and a reprise of Marble City Opera’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.
As a symphonic conductor, Ace Edewards is the founding conductor of the Scruffy City Orchestra, a community ensemble in Knoxville, TN. From very humble beginnings, this ensemble has grown quickly in size and ability and in November 2019 joined the Cathedral Concert Series at the beautiful Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In his programming, Edewards is committed to creating performances that are enjoyable as well as educational. As a guest conductor, Ace has led performances with the Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the Sierra Vista Symphony, and the Summerville Orchestra.
As a choral conductor, Dr. Edewards has served as Music Director at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Oak Ridge, TN, Episcopal Church of the Apostles, Oro Valley, AZ, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, Northglenn, CO, and the First Congregational Church, Elk Grove, CA.
A fluent French speaker, Ace created French Diction for Singers, a series of videos to help those singing Mélodies. As soon as he finds time in his busy schedule, he plans on expanding the list of videos to include more titles as well as opera arias.
Edewards earned his doctorate in orchestral conducting at the Fred Fox School of Music in Tucson, AZ, where he conducted the Arizona Symphony Orchestra and led the University of Arizona Philharmonic. At the Lamont School of Music in Denver, CO, Ace Edewards concurrently earned a dual emphasis masters in vocal performance and choral conducting, and an artist diploma in orchestral conducting. While at Lamont, he directed the first student-led production of a chamber opera/musical; led the first vocal chamber ensemble to win the university’s chamber competition; and was awarded the Leon Guide Outstanding Conductor Award and Frank Toth Memorial Award by the music faculty. Ace was also the Mark Sheldon Conducting Intern with the St. Martin's Chamber Choir, Denver’s only professional choir.
Edewards is an accomplished vocalist, having earned a Master of Opera from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow; pursued postgraduate studies in voice at Le Centre d'études supérieures de musique et de danse in Toulouse, France; and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the California State University in Sacramento.
As the son of missionaries, Ace grew up in France, where he received his Baccalauréat Série Scientifique with honorable mention.
His life’s path being quite circuitous, Ace Edewards has recently begun a third vocational adventure as a Trade Control Analyst in the oil and gas industry. Prior to that, he was for two and a half years a much loved producer and host of the Afternoon Concert, a classical music show on the Knoxville, TN, public radio station.
Ace currently resides in Knoxville with his wife Ruth, a violinist and Suzuki teacher, and their very precocious toddler. Life is quite busy, but every now and then they all sneak away to enjoy the Smoky Mountains.