Jason Shelton is an award-winning composer, arranger, conductor based in Nashville, Tennessee. Since 2015 he has been the Artistic Director of Portara Ensemble, an auditioned 32-voice chamber choir that has established itself as a creative force in Middle Tennessee. Jason’s innovative programming and artistic collaborations have crossed the boundaries of the visual and performing arts, and Portara’s community partnerships have had a direct impact on the mission and visibility of Nashville’s non-profit community. Portara’s thought-provoking thematic choral programs explore a wide variety of music from around the globe, and the Ensemble can often be found playing a supportive role in a local recording studio or in the national TV spotlight.
In his work, Jason starts with the premise that “what we sing is who we are.” As a composer, conductor, and song-leader he is fluent in a wide variety of styles, a quality he feels is important as a musical and spiritual discipline. He believes that we live in a world where our diversity can be celebrated, where the musics of many peoples intertwine and offer new possibilities for the sonic expression of our deepest values and commitments.
Jason has decades of experience in a variety of music ministry settings, has conducted festival choirs at numerous regional and national gatherings, and had the honor of conducting composer/pianist Darrell Grant's Step By Step: the Ruby Bridges Suite at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History in 2019.
