As a composer and conductor, Emerson Eads has devoted himself to music of social concern. His Mass for the Oppressed, a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass featuring textual interpolations by his brother Evan Eads, and a Credo adapted from the diary of Pope Francis before his ordination, holds particular poignancy for the social issues of our time. The Mass was written for the release of the Fairbanks Four (native Alaskan’s from the composer’s home town) who spent 18 years in prison wrongfully. His newest cantata “…from which your laughter rises.” for mezzo-soprano, oboe, and orchestra, was written for the mothers of the Fairbanks Four, and was paired in a concert featuring Haydn’s Stabat Mater, conducted to acclaim. His newest opera, The Princess Sophia, about the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia in October of 1918, was premiered in Juneau, Alaska in October 25th, 2018 with a rave review in Opera Magazine. His song cycle, The Gleaners, with poetry by Patrick Milian, will be premiered in September of 2019 in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Eads is currently Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities at Minot State University.