William Baker Festival Singers of Atlanta
25th Anniversary Master Season
William Baker, DMA, Music Director and Conductor
Don Brainerd, Associate Music Director & Vocal Coach
Scott Smith, Choral Administrator, Music Associate
Sue Goddard, Organist and Accompanist
“The William Baker Festival Singers is one of the very best choral ensembles of any size or genre in the southeastern United States and beyond“. Ellen Dressler Moryl, Director, Piccolo Spoleto Festival
Click here to see the 2009/2010 concert schedule
CLICK HERE: 2009 /2010 SILVER ANNIVESARY CONCERT REPERTOIRE LIST
CLICK HERE: For an AUDITION PACKET
The Atlanta ensemble of the William Baker Festival Singers was created in 1985 by William O. Baker and Janis M. Lane under the name Gwinnett Festival Singers. Now in its 25th season, the Festival Singers has reached its highest level of musical accomplishment and community service.
Between 1985 and 1998, the Festival Singers under the direction of Baker and Lane conducted tours across the Southeastern United States and throughout Great Britain, produced numerous recordings and were heard on local television programs across the South and in radio programs across the nation. Venues included such prestigious stages as Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Divinity Chapel in Birmingham, and the Cathedrals at Chester, Birmingham and Canterbury in England.
After performing at the Bristol Festival in England, and the DeKalb International Choral Festival in Atlanta, the Festival Singers was first chosen in 1989 to perform at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston. The result has been two decades of concerts before capacity festival audiences, and glowing reviews in newspapers across the South. Following the 2008 performance, Ellen Dressler Moryl, head of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and Director of the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, said, “The William Baker Festival Singers is one of the very finest choral ensembles of any size or genre in the Southeastern United States and beyond…”
The Festival Singers have always been known for their performances of short form a cappella classics and spirituals, but in recent years they have added an impressive list of works for chorus and chamber orchestra, including Kodaly: Laudes Organi performed for the 2008 Guild Service of the American Guild of Organists, Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb, Durufle Requiem, Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, and Bernstein Chichester Psalms.
The 2008-2009 season includes the performance of the Festival Singers’ signature holiday event, Christmas Atlanta™, a return to the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and Atlanta performances of major works by Faure, Haydn and Vivaldi.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Festival Singers during the 2009 – 2010 concert season, the Atlanta-based ensemble returns triumphantly to Gwinnett County for an October 11 performance of Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem with the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra. The new 2009 Christmas Atlanta Festival will bring together five of the Choral Foundation’s Georgia ensembles in the Gala Celebration that has been an Atlanta favorite since 1989.
In February, the William Baker Festival Singers will host Convocation 2010. A celebration of the first twenty five years of the Festival Singers tradition On May 1, 2010 the Festival Singers return to Spivey Hall to join distinguished soloists and professional orchestra in a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Passion of our Lord According to St. John.
The Festival Singers look forward to returning to Charleston on Memorial Day 2010 where they have performed to capacity audiences at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival since 1989.
The visibility of the William Baker Festival Singers continues to grow through larger audiences and through feature appearances on numerous television programs, including WXIA’s Atlanta and Company, WAGA’s Good Day Atlanta, and on WGCL’s CBS46 News.
Click here to read a history of the William Baker Festival Singers of Atlanta
For more information, including how to audition and media relations…
