ASCAP award-winning arranger/composer Jerry Ulrich is originally from Illinois, where he received his early training in music and interest in songwriting. His compositions and arrangements are in the catalogs of six publishers in the US and abroad. His music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and on national radio and television, as well asthroughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.

He has composed commissioned works for professional choirs and orchestras, including the Grammy-award winning Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and has written music for colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Ulrich is currently director of choral activities in the School of Music, where he directs two mixed choirs and the all-male Georgia Tech Glee Club. Ulrich came to Atlanta from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the Fame school) in New York City, where his choirs were featured in all major NYC concert venues and on national and international television and radio.

Ulrich's prior teaching experience includes university positions in Ohio and New York. During 1990-1991 he was Visiting Fulbright Professor of Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. His early training included four years singing with legendary conductor Robert Shaw in the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Chamber Chorus.

In the past ten years, five different choral ensembles under his direction have appeared over a dozen times at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. 

Educational Background

1977 - B.M. with Honors (Music Education), Eastern Illinois University - Charleston

1978 - Master of Music (Choral Conducting), Southern Methodist University – Dallas, TX

1986- D.M.A. (Conducting and Literature), University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music

Fields 

• Choral Conducting
• Music Education

Research: 

In my work, teaching and research are inexorably intertwined and inform one another. As an agent of change, I use the collaborative process to envision possibilities, imagine new paradigms, involve colleagues in a variety of disciplines and institutions, and develop student ownership in the process of rehearsal, performance, and research. This comprehensive approach is often counterintuitive to the more “traditional” single-focused conservatory curricula. But music in general, and choral music in particular, is an ideal medium for cultural interface, interdisciplinary experiences, cross-campus interactions, and individual growth. Permeating this collaborative fabric, the philosophical drivers of diversity and inclusion are vital and recurring themes. Choral program innovation and development, composition and arranging, and presentation/guest conducting are my primary areas of focus. Although separate, they are distinctly interrelated and have consistently proven to be the most effective vehicles for realizing my creative goals.