Directory

Dr. Henry S. Waters, a Mississippi native, is currently the director of choral music and associate professor of music at Bethel College. At Bethel, he directs the Concert Choir, Chapel Choir, and Chamber Singers, an ensemble he revived in his first year in the position. He also advises two student-led choral ensembles, Open Road and Woven, tenor/bass and soprano/alto groups, respectively, of 8-10 voices. Academic courses Dr. Waters teaches include Conducting, Music Appreciation, and First-Year Seminar. 

In addition to Bethel, Dr. Waters is director of music at Plymouth Congregational Church in Wichita. This fall, the annual Plymouth Fine Arts Series brought Dr. Tim Seelig to lead clinics and conduct a mass choir in a performance of “Songs of Wisdom from Old Turtle” by Joseph Martin. Last year, the series had Howard Helvey conduct and perform in a concert entirely of his own works. Most recently, Dr. Waters conducted Bach’s cantata BWV 76, Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, for the second Fine Arts Series event – an ambitious cantata for Bach that was first heard in his second Sunday as the newly-appointed cantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig June 6, 1723. In summer 2022, Plymouth hosted the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches annual meeting and conference, for which the concluding Sunday service comprised a choir of nearly 100 singers. 

Dr. Waters is an active conductor, teacher, singer, clinician, and adjudicator. At the forefront of his work is a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion that is directly connected to his experiences engaging with people from diverse backgrounds, particularly with a goal of fostering community through open, thoughtful dialogue and, most importantly, respect. Dr. Waters’s objective as an educator and conductor is to encourage students to explore and research, and also to confidently produce work of a high artistic caliber.