Asheville Youth Choirs
Who We Are
Asheville Youth Choirs is open to any child (grades 3-5) or teen (grades 6-12) in the Asheville area with a desire to sing and be a part of a welcoming community. Asheville Youth Choirs (AYC) is a community choir sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Asheville and the Asheville Symphony Chorus. The choirs offer the opportunity for children to come together to traverse the false boundaries of school choice, race, family structure, and socio-economic status to create beauty and friendship, thereby making a more connected, kinder community. They sing in area churches, civic functions, seasonal concerts, and summer tours.
Mission
Participation in AYC will nurture musicianship, foster faith formation, provide leadership opportunities, forge friendships, and build community.
Values
- We invite all children and youth with a desire to sing and be a part of a welcoming community.
- We prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. We strive to make space for all, and to do the hard work of challenging our blindspots to make choir accessible and affirming.
- We are passionate about nurturing artistry, so that our beautiful music will help create more beautiful people – compassionate, loving, hopeful, tender, expressive people.
Rehearsals
The Youth Chorale (grades 7-12) rehearses on Sundays from 4:00-5:00pm and the Concert Choir (grades 3-6) rehearses on Sundays from 4:30-5:30pm. Rehearsals are held at the First Baptist Church of Asheville. The choir performs in area churches, at civic functions, with the Asheville Symphony Chorus, in seasonal concerts at FBCA, and on summer tours throughout the United States.
Age Groups
AYC Concert Choir (grades 3-5)
The Concert Choir is a fun group of elementary aged children who learn music literacy, vocal artistry, and performance skills. They perform several times per year.
AYC Youth Chorale (grades 6-12)
As students progress vocally and mature socially, they begin to read more difficult music and perform more frequently throughout the choir season. This group may participate in activities that provide extended time together such as retreats, extra performances, and choir tours.
Aleisa Baker
Interim AYC Director & Director of Youth Choral
Aleisa Baker is a passionate and accomplished music educator with 29 years of service as the choral director at T.C. Roberson High School in Asheville, North Carolina. Under her leadership, choirs consistently earned superior ratings and won numerous competitions, with students regularly selected for prestigious honors choruses and festivals. In addition to her choral work, she directed and produced over 30 musical theatre productions, inspiring generations of performers. She also contributed to the school’s marching band program as the colorguard instructor and drill/show designer.
She currently serves as Past Chair of the North Carolina Music Educators Association and is a certified adjudicator and frequent guest conductor for All-County Chorus events. Today, she remains active in the Asheville theatre community as a musical director and maintains a vibrant private voice studio, continuing her lifelong commitment to excellence in music and arts education.
Tate Addis
Collaborative Artist – AYC Youth Chorale
Tate Addis has served as organist of First Baptist Church of Asheville since 2015. In this position, he collaborates with the Associate Pastor for Music and Worship in a comprehensive music program, teaches organ and piano in the church’s Academy for the Arts, directs the Youth Handbell Ensemble, accompanies the Asheville Youth Choir, and, until 2022, presented a monthly series of organ recitals entitled ‘Bach’s Lunch.’ He currently serves as Assistant Director and Accompanist for the Asheville Symphony Chorus and maintains an active career as an organ recitalist.
Before coming to Asheville, Tate served for two years as Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern at New York City’s Brick Presbyterian Church. He has also served as Organist-Choirmaster at the Yale Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven and as organist at Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City.
Tate Addis holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Wichita State University, a Master of Music degree from Yale University, and an Artist Diploma from Oberlin Conservatory. His primary teachers were James David Christie, Lynne Davis, and Thomas Murray. Additional studies were with Marie-Louise Langlais and Roman Summereder.
Tate is married to Rev. Laura Addis. They share their home in Asheville with their pet pig Virgil.
Sarah Fowler
Director of Concert Choir
A graduate of Western Carolina University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Piano Pedagogy and a concentration in Vocal Musical Theatre, Sarah has served Western North Carolina in many different facets throughout the last two decades. As a church music director, she has led both traditional and contemporary worship, adult and youth choirs, handbell choirs, church orchestras and praise bands. She is a highly sought-after accompanist and music theatre director, having worked at many local and regional theatres throughout Western NC. From 2017-2022 she served on staff at Western Carolina University with the School of Stage and Screen as a Vocal Coach and Accompanist as well as in the School of Music as the Vocal Director for the Catamount Singers, a select vocal ensemble specializing in popular music styles.
Sarah brings a great passion for music when she teaches students and always inspires excellence in music making. She is a trained Medical Assistant and is currently the Interim Practice Manager for all of Orthopedic Trauma at Mission Hospital. She is looking forward to directing the Concert Choir again this year.