Karen Kenaston-French is Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas Arlington and Artistic Director/Conductor of the Fort Worth Chorale. At UTA, she conducts the A Cappella Choir, teaches conducting, and heads the Vocal Area. Under her direction the UTA A Cappella Choir has performed at the Texas Music Educators Association state convention, regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, and the national conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. In 2019 Kenaston-French assumed direction of the Fort Worth Chorale, only the fifth conductor in the organization’s 57-year history, and the first female. Over her 40-year conducting career she has also held positions at Austin Peay State University, Southern Methodist University, and Plymouth Park United Methodist Church in Irving, and in 2011 was a conductor for the Choral/Orchestral Master Class of the Oregon Bach Festival, under Helmut Rilling and Jeffrey Kahane. Kenaston-French holds degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College, SMU, and a doctorate in choral conducting from UNT.