Wallace Hinson, Associate Dean of Fine Arts and Music Department Chair at Piedmont College, will return to the podium for the 2019-20 season to conduct the Piedmont Chorale in rehearsals and performances for the annual Service of Lessons and Carols and the Great Composers Series concert.
 
Hinson founded the Chorale in 1993 as an opportunity for members of the Piedmont and surrounding communities to provide quality performances of important choral repertoire for the college and the region. During his tenure as conductor, the choir grew from 55 in the first rehearsal in 1993 to more than 100 singers when he stepped away in 2009.
 
In preparation for the coming season, the Chorale is seeking singers for all voice parts.  Rehearsals begin 6 p.m., Monday, August 19 in Nielsen Hall, the temporary home of the Music Department. No audition is required.
 
Known for their energy and expressive singing, the Chorale regularly performs to large and enthusiastic audiences for the annual Service of Lessons and Carols, and has performed many of the great choral masterworks from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including Haydn’s The Creation, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mass in C, Requiem and C Minor Mass by Mozart, Brahms’s A German Requiem, the Duruflé Requiem, Carmina Burana and many others.
 
At home in front of choruses and orchestras, Hinson has conducted masterworks from the Baroque to the present, including chamber orchestra pieces and choral works as well as large-scale symphonies and oratorios. In addition to his work as a clinician of state and regional honor choirs in the South and Midwest, Hinson has guest conducted the Norman Philharmonic (Oklahoma), Gainesville Symphony Orchestra (Georgia), the Atlanta Singers, and the Pragenses Virtuosi and Prague Chamber Choir (Czech Republic), and has served as conductor and artistic director of the Lanier Chamber Singers (Georgia). An avid fan of stage works, Hinson has conducted and served as music director for musical and operetta productions throughout his more than 30 years as a conductor and educator.
 
Hinson is excited to return to the group after 10 years as an appreciative audience member.  “I have enjoyed the Chorale’s performances over the intervening years very much and look forward to working with this fine group once again, especially as we move into the new Conservatory of Music this fall,” said Hinson. “This new facility will provide us with an outstanding rehearsal space.  I know we will continue to provide outstanding performances for the region.”  
 
Performances this year are the 31st Annual Service of Lessons and Carols, December 6-7 and the Great Composers Series concert, April 25.  The Great Composers concert will feature the Ninth Symphony (“Choral” Symphony) and other works of Beethoven performed by the Chorale and the Piedmont Orchestra, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of famed composer’s birth.