Mr. Roland Lister is Conductor Laureate of the Etowah Youth Orchestras, an honor bestowed upon him in May of 2018 following his retirement from the EYO program after 20 years of service. Mr. Lister was hired as the EYO’s Assistant Conductor in August 1998 and began his tenure with the EYO as the Lead Educator for the School String Orchestra Program. During his tenure with the EYO he served as Principal Conductor of the Etowah String Philharmonic and the June Moore Bugg Prelude Strings, and was the founding Director of the EYO Summer Strings Camp.

Mr. Lister holds a B.S. degree in Music Education from Jacksonville State University and a Masters degree in School Administration from the University of Alabama. He has studied viola with Mary Ann Noble and Roger James of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Lister taught instrumental music in the Gadsden City School System for thirty years, spending twenty years as a string orchestra director.  In 1978 Mr. Lister organized and conducted the Gadsden City School System’s first full symphony orchestra. He continued as an orchestra conductor until he retired in 1998 to work with the EYO. In 2000 Mr. Lister served as the conductor of the Premiere String Orchestra at the Alabama All-State Orchestra Festival. In 2003 he was chosen as conductor of the All-West Tennessee String Orchestra in Memphis.  Mr. Lister conducted performances of the Etowah Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 2002, 2007, and 2015.  He also conducted the orchestra at the Royal Elizabethan Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, England.  His string orchestra has presented a concert for the Alabama Music Educators Conference and he has twice served as a clinician for the conference.  In 2007 Mr. Lister was selected as Teacher of the Year by the Alabama chapter of ASTA, and was inducted into the Alabama Music Educators Hall of Fame in 2009.