Jennifer Hansen Heder, DMA is the Director of Choral Activities at Fresno City College.  Recently, her ensemble at Fresno City College was invited to and performed at the 2025 California All-State Music Education Association Conference in Sacramento, California. Prior to her appointment at Fresno City College, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in 2022. Previous to her studies, she was the director of choirs at Spanish Fork High School in Utah. The Spanish Fork High School Singers were invited to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Utah Conference in 2018 and the Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA) Utah Conference in 2019. Dr. Heder also directed the choirs at Albion College in Michigan in 2021 and led the community organizations Ingham Festival Chorale from 2020-2022 and Wasatch Chorale from 2017-2019.

Dr. Heder received her DMA in Choral Conducting at Michigan State University. Her doctoral research, “Multicentrism in the Choral Classroom: A Framework and Guide for the Modern-Day Choral Educator,” highlights the ways in which choral educators can decenter Eurocentric music in their classrooms. She recently presented on this topic at the 2024 Western ACDA Conference in Pasadena, California, and had her article "Intentional Programming: Six Steps for Incorporating Multicentrism Into Choral Ensembles" featured in Cantate. In March of 2022, Jennifer co-presented her session, “Empowered Leaders Empower Others: Committing to Vulnerable, Thoughtful, and Inclusive Leadership,” at the Western Region ACDA Conference. 

Dr. Heder serves on the advisory board for the California Choral Director’s Association and is an active guest conductor, clinician, presenter, and adjudicator. She sings professionally with mirabai, a professional ensemble led by Sandra Snow to enhance the artistic expectations of women’s choral singing. 

Jennifer is very grateful for her teachers and mentors especially David Rayl, Sandra Snow, Jonathan Reed, Andrew Crane, Rosalind Hall, and Jean Applonie. 

Dr. Heder holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University (2022), a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Brigham Young University (2016), and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Brigham Young University (2013).