School of Music Faculty
Cara Tasher
Professor, Director of Choral Studies and Choral Conducting
Dr. Cara Tasher has served as Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Florida since 2006. She conducts the Chamber Singers, alternates conducting Osprey Treble Chorus and Chorale; teaches the choral conducting curriculum; oversees the Jacksonville SINGS! Initiatives including the Choral Invitational, Summer UNF Conductor’s Studio, Summer Vocal Artists, Refugee Chorus; and oversees the choral program and its leadership team. At UNF, she was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, the 2016 Outstanding International Leadership Award, and in 2019, received a faculty scholarship grant for her work with the Jacksonville SINGS! Refugee Chorus and inclusion training. In addition to her work at UNF, she collaborates frequently as Director Huesped with the Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and guest conducts around the globe. She has performed and recorded with conductors Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Robert Shaw and Sir Georg Solti.
Tasher has been professionally associated with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Conspirare, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Portugal's Vocalizze Festival, Trinity Choir-Wall Street, Xavier University, and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. Her training took place in the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Texas at Austin, Paris IV-La Sorbonne, and Northwestern University. Dr. Tasher is highly active within the American Choral Directors Association, International Federation of Choral Music, and the National Collegiate Choral Organization in various leadership capacities.
Proficient in several languages, Tasher's engagements as singer, conductor, master teacher, and adjudicator, have brought her to over ten states and twenty countries for concerts, competitions, festivals, and workshops. Global and cultural competency is a focal point of Tasher’s teaching, and in addition to performing a wide variety of repertoire in many languages, she tours internationally with her choral ensembles on a regular basis to provide international exchange opportunities.
Contact: (904) 620-3839 | cara.tasher@unf.edu