John Finney has been Handel and Haydn Society Chorusmaster since 1990, occupying the Cabot Family Chorusmaster Chair, and was named Associate Conductor in 1992. He has directed many of the Society’s performances, including Handel’s Messiah at Symphony Hall in 1997 and 2004, and an all-Bach program at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in December 2008. He is widely praised for his harpsichord and organ playing; he holds degrees in organ performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and The Boston Conservatory. He is the Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Boston College, where he serves as Director of the University Chorale and Conductor of the Boston College Symphony Orchestra. He has directed the Boston College Chorale on concert tours in major cities throughout the world, including Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Rome. Mr. Finney recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as Director of Music for the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, where his organ-playing and conducting continue to enhance worship services every Sunday morning. Since 1987, Mr. Finney has been conductor of the Heritage Chorale in Framingham, and has led that chorus in performances of such major works as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Verdi’s Requiem. He has served on the faculty of The Boston Conservatory and taught for six years at the Academy for Early Music in Bressanone, Italy.