Ben Chumley will direct the Community Chorus’ 2016 Spring Concert
(Photo by Harold Cox)

Rehearsals are underway for the Community Chorus’ 2016 Spring Concert, under the direction of Ben Chumley. Chumley is well known in the Tryon community for his work with the Tryon Little Theater.

He works as the director of music at Trinity United Methodist Church in Spartanburg, where he has served since 2010. During his tenure, the Trinity UMC choirs have performed two singing tours of England and Ireland and hosted the Spartanburg County Community Thanksgiving. Ben also led the choir for the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” with the Spartanburg Philharmonic.

He studied piano and theater at New York University and has performed on stages throughout the Southeast, New York, Toronto and Paris. He regularly works as music director, pianist, performer and workshop instructor for area community theaters and college theater departments.

The title of the spring concert is “The Great American Songbook,” featuring pieces by Jerome Kern, Meredith Willson, Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, among others.

The Community Chorus rehearses at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at Tryon Presbyterian Church, 450 Harmon Field Road in Tryon. Anyone interested in choral singing is invited to participate.

The Community Chorus’ 2016 Spring Concert will be on Sunday, April 24, 3 p.m., at Polk County High School. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Rotary Club of Tryon Scholarship Fund.

-Submitted by Sandra Sibley