ABOUT
​Georgia Festival Chorus is an auditioned Atlanta-area community chorus numbering 90+ singers, well regarded regionally and throughout the world for stirring performances of sacred classics, anthems, hymn arrangements, spirituals, and folk songs. The Chorus was founded in 1987 by world-renowned basso Frank Boggs (1927-2021), and continues to honor his legacy through performing inspirational choral works while striving for musical excellence and integrity. Founding GFC member David Scott has served as Artistic Director since 2019.
GFC presents five to seven live concerts at venues throughout the metropolitan Atlanta and southeast region during both Spring and Fall/Christmas seasons. Concerts are always free and open to the public. Since its founding the Chorus has sung overseas on tours to England, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, and Italy. It has been a privilege for the GFC to have sung in revered Christian venues and cathedrals, including Westminster Abbey in England, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Ireland, Copenhagen Cathedral in Denmark, Votivkirche in Austria, and St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
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Musical Advent Calendar - Since 2020 the Chorus has presented
a Musical Advent Calendar, featuring some of Atlanta’s favorite musicians and GFC singers performing the music of Advent and Christmas each day from December 1 through 24. These professionally produced videos can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and here.
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GSU Partnership - The GFC enjoys a partnership with Georgia State University, where second-year students from the School of Music master’s program hone their skills with our professional team and chorus.
- Voice of Joy - Our GFC volunteer community service choir shares hymns and sacred choral music by singing at senior living and rehab facilities in metro Atlanta. If you know of a need and would like to suggest or help to coordinate one of these sing-along events, please reach out to us at info@tgafc.org.
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The Georgia Festival Ensemble - A smaller group of annually auditioned singers selected from the Chorus that performs both during Chorus concerts and separately in concerts at smaller venues. The GFC Ensemble is available for hire for special events; contact us at info@tgafc.org for additional information.
Mission
The Georgia Festival Chorus serves the spiritual needs and ministers to both local audiences and the greater global community by singing a repertoire of classical, contemporary, spiritual and traditional sacred choral works in live concert presentations and through professionally produced recordings.
David Scott
Artistic Director
David stepped into the role of Artistic Director in 2019 and has sung and assisted in directing the chorus since its formation in 1987. He began his journey in music as a boy soprano; in high school, he studied voice and sang in multiple advanced choral groups. Voice studies continued at Northern Kentucky University where he earned degrees in Music and Music Education. David holds a Master of Church Music from SBTS, and his conducting influences include his mentor Robert Knauf (NKU) and Erich Kunzel (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra). During his vast and varied musical career, David directed choirs since 1975, founded the NKU Baptist Student Union Choir, performed in the Cincinnati Opera chorus from 1974 to 1976, sang with countless choirs and ensembles as a baritone soloist, and was a full-time minister of music before pursuing a career in technology. Currently, he is an information systems professional with more than twenty-five years of creative and operational success in technology product and services delivery, and is a nationally recognized writer and speaker in database administration and cybersecurity. David is married to Jean Kleman Scott, and they have two daughters.
Staff
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Ken Terrell
Assistant Director
Ken joined the GFC in 1998 and has been Assistant Director since 2007. He has a BA from Presbyterian College and a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary. His pastoral career spanned 40 years, serving Presbyterian churches in Georgia and North Carolina. He served as the Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (USA) in Marietta for more than thirteen years, retiring in the spring of 2011. Throughout his professional career as a pastor, he enjoyed singing in community-based choruses, which provided many opportunities for solo work. In his retirement, he continues to preach occasionally as opportunities arise. In addition to his musical interests, Ken spends a lot of his time playing pickleball, golf, and ping-pong.
Barbara McIver
Managing Director
Barbara has been a member of the GFC since 2007 and has served as Treasurer since 2015. Her interest in music and art began early with private study of piano and painting beginning at age eight and continued into adulthood when she added private voice study and began participating in choral opportunities during her formal education and beyond. A career as a fine artist was established during high school and continues today as Barbara Walsh. After earning degrees from Chicago’s American Academy of Art and Illinois Benedictine University, Barbara enjoyed a three-decade career at AT&T/Bell Laboratories in several areas including Graphic Arts, Project Management, Software Quality Assurance, Human Factors Engineering, and Software Development Life Cycle Management before retiring as a Senior Systems Engineer. She currently serves on the board of The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and is a member of the Cherokee Arts Center in Canton.
Cathy Callaway Adams
Accompanist
Cathy, GFC pianist since 1995, developed a deep love of hymns and choral anthems when she became church pianist at age eleven. Her high regard for singers grew as she began accompanying middle school and high school choruses that same year. She studied piano with Eula P. McNatt through high school, then studied piano and organ with Lois Lantz and Timothy Wissler, respectively, at Tift College in Forsyth, where she accompanied the college choir for three years. In between piano collaboration gigs with vocalists, instrumentalists, and choral groups, Cathy has devoted three decades to a career in financial services and leadership/strategy consulting. She currently serves as board president of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, board vice-chair of South Arts, and past president of The Atlanta Opera.
Randall Romig
Accompanist
Randall Romig, in his seventh season as organist/accompanist for GFC, studied piano, organ, and percussion in Pennsylvania, where he also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pennsylvania University System. He did further graduate work at Villanova University. In Atlanta, he has served as interim organist and choirmaster at numerous churches in the metropolitan area, including Holy Innocents Episcopal, Tucker United Methodist, St. Luke’s Episcopal, Roswell Presbyterian, and many others. Randy served for five years as chairman of the board of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, as well as president of Atlanta Opera Guild for four years. Currently, he is Southeast Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.
Elizabeth Daly
Assistant Director/Intern
Elizabeth is a second-year graduate student in choral conducting at Georgia State University. Originally from Syracuse, New York, Elizabeth graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University in 2021 where she received her degree in Music Education with a choral emphasis and performance honors in classical voice. At Georgia State, Elizabeth teaches Fundamentals of Aural skills, serves as a Graduate Assistant for the Choral area, and sings/conducts with their chamber choir Voces Amicis. She was recently a member of the research team for the Empowering Silenced Voices Database with the professional choir and non profit, Chorosynthesis, and has presented her research on Nun-Composers of the Italian Renaissance at multiple conferences including the University of Toronto Graduate Music Conference and the Georgia State University Graduate Conference for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity. Elizabeth was a Conducting Fellow with Summer at Eastman’s program Choral Masterworks: Mendelssohn’s Elijah last summer. In the realm of sacred music, Elizabeth recently served as the choir director/intern for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cazenovia, NY, and is currently serving as an intern with the music ministry at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.
Officers
Hector Rodriguez
President
Joey Thomas
Vice President
Karen Manno
Secretary
Barbara McIver
Treasurer