History...The Greenville Choral Society, which will mark its 40th anniversary in 2009, has grown into perhaps the largest community-based performing arts organization in the eastern third of The society grew out of an idea in 1969 to bring the music programs at Choir directors at area churches met with ECU music faculty members in August 1969 to join “town and gown into a more personal and enduring relationship,” according to an earlier history of the choral society. More than 100 people formed the Greenville Community Chorus a month later. The chorus, under the direction of Dr. Paul Aliapoulios, a member of the ECU music faculty, started rehearsals with approximately 120 voices at the university and presented its first concert, portions of Handel’s “Messiah,” in Wright Auditorium in December 1969. Aliapoulios remained with the group for two years before leaving In 1980, the Greenville Community Chorus reorganized itself as the Greenville Choral Society, with Dr. Rhonda Fleming as artistic director and conductor. An ECU faculty member who also was director of the ECU Women’s Glee Club and music director at In addition to performing such works as Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in The Lamb” and Bach’s “Magnificat,” the group joined with ECU choirs and orchestra on several occasions, presenting such works as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms’ German Requiem and Poulenc’s “Gloria.” The society also sang with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra in a 1989 performance of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand,” and collaborated with international singing star Judy Collins in a November 2001 holiday concert at Wright Auditorium, as part of ECU’s Alexander Performing Arts Series. Fleming headed the choral society for 17 years, retiring in 1997. In 2004, a scholarship was established in her honor, to be awarded to a graduating high school senior who participated in the society’s youth activities and intended to study music at the college level. Working with and developing young choral musicians became a prominent goal of the choral society. Fleming founded the Children’s Chorus in 1988, and a new Youth Chorale started in 1994, under the direction of Jeff Parker. The Children’s Chorus consists of younger singers, generally in fourth through eighth grade, while the Youth Chorale is for talented high school-age singers. More recently, Bella Voce, a select group of young singers from both larger children’s and youth ensembles, has been formed. The choral society’s fifth ensemble is the Chamber Chorale, consisting of approximately 20-24 singers drawn from the concert choir. Fleming directed a smaller chamber-type group as far back as the mid-1980s, and the Chamber Chorale performed at the White House in 1999. An orchestra called the New Carolina Sinfonia, made up of musicians from the community and the university, was added in 1989 to accompany larger-scale choral works, such as Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in 2007 and Haydn’s “The Creation” in 2008. The various ensembles within the Greenville Choral Society have performed by invitation in Choral society members come from all walks of life and come from a geographical area broader than just The main choir encompasses a wide range of ages, from college students to retirees, and occupations, from teachers to college professors, from office workers to business owners, from lawyers to physicians, and includes some professional musicians, too. The various children’s and youth ensembles add about 100 more singers to the organization. The choral society members are selected by audition and pay dues, as well as buy their own music. The society sponsors several fund raising activities, mainly the sale of Christmas trees and the staging of a fund-raising “gala” in late winter or early spring. The gala usually consists of lighter fare, such as selections from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in 2007 and Oscar-winning music in 2008. In addition to dues, fund raisers and grants, the Choral Society has raised money through community and corporate contributions, and, as a member of the Pitt-Greenville Arts Council, the society has participated in the Council’s United Arts Fund Drive. In 2007, the Choral Society retained its own grants administrator to seek out new sources of financing. After a successful seven-year tenure under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Bara, director of choral activities at ECU, the Greenville Choral Society is poised to enter its 40th season with a new director, Dr. Jeffrey Ward of ECU. Bara, meanwhile, is continuing to work with the society as artistic director of the youth chorale. Ward says he fully intends to continue the society’s mission “to bring choral masterworks to the community. I want to program standards from the choral literature, as well as challenge our singers, and I want to build a larger audience base.” The choral society presented a concert in Williamston in 2008, and Ward wants to continue finding opportunities to sing outside “I would like to see all of eastern 1969-72 Paul Aliapoulios 1972-74 Robert Rausch 1974-76 Stephen Koch 1976-79 Edward Glenn 1980-97 Rhonda Fleming 1997-2000 Paul Dease 2001-08 Daniel Bara 2008-Present Jeffrey Ward |