John Finney has been recognized as a musician of great vitality and versatility in his work with several Boston-area ensembles. 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 been the Director of the University Chorale of Boston College since 1993. He has directed the Boston College Chorale on concert tours in major cities throughout the world, including New York City, Dublin, Prague, Vienna, and Rome. He was recently appointed Conductor of the Boston College Symphony Orchestra and given the title of Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Boston College. Mr. Finney is also Director of Music for the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church. He has held the Handel and Haydn Society Cabot Family Chorusmaster Chair since 1990, and was named Associate Conductor in 1992, directing many of the Society’s performances at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall, including Handel's Messiah in 1997 and 2004. Mr. Finney 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 on the faculty of The Boston Conservatory and taught for six years at the Academy for Early Music in Bressanone, Italy.