Edith A. Copley has taught at Northern Arizona University for 31 years in the choral studies area in the School of Music. She conducted the highly acclaimed Shrine of the Ages Choir (founded in 1933) for 27 years. She also conducted the Chamber Singers and University Singers during her tenure and taught courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting, graduate choral literature, and choral methods. Choral ensembles under her direction have toured internationally to Western Europe, the People’s Republic of China, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Bulgaria, Istanbul, and the Baltics.
From 1993 to 2016, Copley served as the music director of the Master Chorale of Flagstaff, a 100-voice community choir that performs four concerts each year, including a choral/orchestral works with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra (FSO) each spring. Copley has conducted many concerts with the FSO, including Requiems by Fauré, Brahms, Duruflé and Britten, masses by Bach, Haydn and Mozart, and other major works by Verdi and Orff. Copley has received numerous honors, including NAU School of Performing Arts Centennial Teacher of the Year Award, Arizona Music Educator of the Year, Arizona ACDA Outstanding Choral Director Award, the Viola Award in Music, and the Weston H. Noble Award from her alma mater Luther College. Copley has served in many leadership roles for the American Choral Directors Association, and is currently serving as the national president-elect. She has conducted all-state choirs in over 30 states, national honor choirs in Carnegie Hall each spring since 2012, and international choral festivals in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Luxembourg, Tasmania, England, Australia, China, Turkey and Oman.