Asheville Youth Choirs
Who We Are
Asheville Youth Choirs is open to any child (grades 3-6) or teen (grades 7-12) 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 3:30-5:00pm and the Concert Choir (grades 3-6) rehearses on Sundays from 5:00-6:00pm. 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 3-6)
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 7-12)
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.
Emily Floyd
Director of Youth Choral
Emily joined the FBCA staff in 2023. She leads choirs and instrumental music and serves as a liaison to the Academy for the Arts (AFTA). It’s important to Emily that people in the Asheville community feel invited to make music with us, and she is especially passionate about reaching children and teenagers through music.
Emily has served as a church musician in Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Florida, Illinois, and Georgia. She has also taught high school choral music in public schools in Florida and Georgia. She holds a music education degree (voice and piano) from Florida State University and considers herself a lifelong learner. In addition to church work, Emily is the co-director of the Choristers Guild Institute, a three-year summer program that certifies church musicians for music ministry with children and youth. Active in leadership roles for professional organizations, she is the president-elect for the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and serves as the Repertoire and Resources Chair for Music in Worship for the Southern Division of ACDA. When not making music at FBCA, Emily enjoys conducting honor choirs and serving as a choral clinician for schools, church choirs, and choral festivals.
She is married to Rev. Dr. Richard Floyd, a Presbyterian pastor (PC USA), and they have two daughters.
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
Co-Director and Accompanist – Concert Choir
A graduate of Western Carolina University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Piano Pedagogy, 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. In 2013, she founded the Multiplicity Music Studio, teaching private piano, voice, and flute lessons to students of all ages. She is a highly sought-after accompanist and musical theatre music directors, performing regularly at community theatres and middle/high schools throughout Western NC. Sarah serves as an adjudicator for the ICCA Varsity Vocals competition, an International A Cappella Competition that inspired the Pitch Perfect movies. Throughout her career, she has performed with the Asheville Lyric Opera, the US Army Field Band, and Christian and Bluegrass artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Selah, The Gettys, and Natalie Grant. She has performed at the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium.
In 2020, Sarah stepped down from her position as the Vocal Coach and Accompanist for the WCU School of Stage and Screen and began pursuing a medical career. She is currently a medical assistant on the path to becoming a Physician Assistant. She lives in Lake Junaluska with her schnorkie, Luna Mae.
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