Creative Staff

Aaron Garber, Jefferson Choral Society Conductor and Music Director

Aaron Garber is now in his fourth season as the Conductor and Music Director of the Jefferson Choral Society. In addition, Mr. Garber is the Founder, Conductor, and Music Director of the Salem Choral Society and the Director of Music at College Lutheran Church in Salem, where he serves as choir director and organist. Aaron Garber serves on the adjunct music faculty at Hollins University and in the past has served on the adjunct music faculty at Roanoke College.

As a conductor and composer, Aaron Garber continues to be in demand. World premieres under Mr. Garber's baton have included his own major works Magnificat, Jesus, Son of Our Father, Job, Mass for Peace, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, all scored for full orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Other conducting credits include Handel's Messiah, the Dubois' Seven Last Words, Vivaldi's Gloria, Pinkham's Christmas Cantata, The Prince of Peace is Come by Christian Gregor, Rutter's Gloria, the Fauré Requiem, the Duruflé Requiem, and the Mozart Requiem.

Aaron Garber will be guest conductor with the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra on May 1, 2011, conducting the commissioned premiere of his Dies Irae and the Dvorak Te Deum. On April 2, 2011, the Masterworks Chorus of the Shenandoah Valley will premiere Garber's commissioned work Three Dickinson Settings — three poems by Emily Dickinson for chorus, piano four-hands, and percussion.

Aaron was asked by Rotary International President-elect, Kalyan Banerjee from India, to compose the 2011-2012 theme song for Rotary International. The theme song will be premiered in San Diego in January, 2011. Rotary International is a world-wide service organization with 1.2 million members.

Mr. Garber won the 2001 Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Contest, a national contest held in conjunction with the American Choral Directors Association. The winning composition, Stabat Mater, an a cappella choral work, was premiered at the ACDA National Convention in San Antonio, Texas in March, 2001. The compositions of Aaron Garber have been heard throughout the United States and abroad and he is published by Concordia Publishing House and Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Aaron Garber holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Bridgewater College, VA, where he was named 2007 Young Alumnus of the Year. He also has a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2007, Mr. Garber was chosen for Who's Who in America and the City of Salem named May 6, 2007 "Aaron Garber Day."

Peggy Haas-Howell, Jefferson Youth Chorale Music Director

The Jefferson Youth Chorale was created in 2005 to encourage the youth of the Central Virginia area to become interested in and participate in choral singing beyond the opportunities afforded by local churches. Peggy Haas-Howell was asked to organize and direct this group of young singers and has done so since the inception of the group. The Jefferson Youth Chorale performs in annual Jefferson Choral Society Christmas and D-Day concerts in addition to community performances.

Peggy Hass-Howell is the Organist and Choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg and is an internationally known organ recitalist who has won top prizes in many organ playing competitions, including the National Organ Playing Competition of the American Guild of Organists, and St. Alban’s International Organ Interpretation Competition in England. She has recorded for the BBC, Sender Freies Berlin, the Finnish Broadcasting Service, and Raven Recordings.

She graduated from Susquehanna University with a B.A. in Church Music (magna cum laude), and from Union Theological Seminary with a Master of Sacred Music degree. She also attended the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Hamburg, Germany.

She taught organ for ten years at The Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University before moving to Lynchburg in 1996. Since coming to Lynchburg she has conducted at Sweet Briar College, Randolph College, and been music Director for Glass Theatre. She also accompanies the JCS during concerts on the organ.

She is the conductor of Cantate, The Children’s and Youth Choir of Central Virginia. With the Jefferson Youth Chorale this combined group has performed at the Jefferson Choral Society’s annual Christmas concert, as well as a musical performance of just the Youth Choruses.

Rose Marie Peak, Accompanist

Rose M. Peak has been the accompanist for JCS since 1998. A graduate of Radford University with a B.S. Degree in Music Education, Ms. Peak is a certified independent music teacher and piano instructor in Rustburg.

She serves as a national adjudicator for the National Guild of Piano Teachers, a division of the American College of Musicians, and is active in the Virginia Federation of Music Clubs, American Guild of Organists, the Music Teachers National Association, and is a Hall of Fame member of the NGP.

She has toured with JCS on three tours to France, Italy and Scotland/England accompanying on piano, keyboard, and organ. She is accompanist for the Lynchburg College Concert Choir, Lynchburg Singers, Choral Union, and staff accompanist and is a member of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra. She also serves as organist for Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.