A Brief History

Jefferson Choral Society is made up of 90 voices from Lynchburg and Bedford cities and the counties of Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, Nelson, Appomattox and Pittsylvania, all in Central Virginia. Music Director Aaron Garber is the usual conductor for the group.

Following 27 years as the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center Chorus, Jefferson Choral Society was chartered in 1990 as a separate, nonprofit entity. The name was chosen because of proximity to Thomas Jefferson's summer home, Poplar Forest, and his love of classical music.

Fulfilling the need for accessible, live classical music, the chorus has performed more than 35 master works of all periods, from Mozart's Coronation Mass, Verdi's Requiem, and Orff's Carmina Burana to Honneger's King David. JCS has recently performed two major works by its Music Director, Aaron Garber, including a JCS Twentieth Anniversary premiere with orchestra of his setting of Magnificat, for which JCS was awarded a Meet The Composer / MetLife Creative Connections residency. JCS also performs concerts of popular music, Broadway melodies and patriotic songs, most often in benefit concerts and fundraisers.

JCS has traveled to Europe five times, most recently as invited performers to the 400th anniversary British celebrations of the founding of Jamestown Colony held at Leeds Castle. The Chorus has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, at Washington National Cathedral, in Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church and at the Wintergreen Performing Arts series. In 2010 JCS toured to Canada, performing in Halifax and Prince Edward Island.

JCS also performs in collaboration with other arts groups in Central Virginia, most frequently with the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, with whom they will sing Dvorak's Te Deum, Mendelssohn's Psalm 42, and a new Garber setting of Dies Irae in Spring 2011. JCS singers performed in the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra's performance of Verdi's Requiem, and most recently appeared in the chorus of Tosca for Opera on the James. In the past year JCS has performed benefits for the Children's Miracle Network "Red, White, and Blue" salute to veterans, the Old City Cemetery, and the National D-Day Memorial "Moonlight Serenade."

JCS formed the Jefferson Youth Chorale, directed by Peggy Haas Howell in 2005, for a performance of John Rutter's Mass of the Children at Thomas Road Baptist Church, performed under the baton of John Hugo. The Youth Chorale was highly successful, and Peggy Howell, its conductor, was asked to make the Jefferson Youth Chorale an annual presence in JCS concerts. The program expanded to teach summer programs in 2008.

Jefferson Choral Society has support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts as well as foundations, businesses, and individuals. In the past two years, Jefferson Youth Chorale has received funding from the Richard and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust, the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Caring Communities Program, the Target Foundation and Genworth.

JCS is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. It's offices and music library are in the Academy of Music, 600 Main Street, Lynchburg.