Blue Ridge Singers was founded with the intention of bringing together musicians of varied ages and backgrounds to create harmony, beauty, and unity through the performance of unique and eclectic selections from across the choral music spectrum.
We are a passionate group, committed to the challenge of offering high quality musical experiences which inspire, educate, and enrich not only our members but also our community.
Blue Ridge Singers was born in 2009 of a vision held by founding member Patricia Spory and her daughter Beth Whitney for a new community-based choir in Warren County, Virginia. They dreamed of creating an ensemble capable of performing challenging sacred and secular compositions spanning a wide range of musical periods and styles. Gathering a group of twenty-two auditioned singers, they began rehearsal under the direction of Tom Bowen, choral teacher at Skyline High School. The choir debuted at the Front Royal “Festival of Leaves” in October 2009 and performed its initial full concert in the fall of 2010. By encouraging his students to join, Mr. Bowen helped the choir to realize one of its goals of incorporating youth in the community.
In 2011 Dr. Jeffrey Alban was invited to become the artistic director and conductor of the Blue Ridge Singers. Since that time, the choir has grown with many talented new voices. Blue Ridge Singers present a broad range of repertoire including medieval chant through present- day compositions. The choir frequently presents guest vocalists and instrumentalists and has premiered new works by local musicians, most recently introducing Run, Shenandoah!, with text by local poet Barbara Frank arranged by local composer Glen Caluda. Under Dr. Alban’s direction, the choir continues to improve its technical skills, musical interpretation, and engagement of its listeners as it performs concerts in a growing number of venues in the northern Shenandoah Valley and beyond.