ABOUT BARTLETT AREA CHORUS

Our goal is to provide music experiences that exceed the expectations of our listeners and our Singers.  We believe that music is the universal language and can help bring our community together.

We have two main concert seasons a year- one in the Spring-Summer and one in the Fall-Winter.  We meet every Thursday evening from 7:00pm-9:00pm from February through June and again from August through December.  We perform Concerts during those timeframes for local community events, civic groups, and Assisted Living/Retirement Homes. 

The Bartlett Area Chorus is a non-audition community chorus that includes Bartlett and the surrounding areas.  We are open for singers ages 18-96+ and range from lifelong singers to music majors, church choir members, Choral Directors, and those who just enjoy singing.  Coming from all walks of life, we are a varied group, but our common bond is loving to sing and to work hard to create something beautiful for our audience through singing.

We sing a variety of music including Broadway, Folk Tunes, Patriotic, Pop Music, Christmas and Spirituals, with most of these being very challenging renditions with 6 and 8-part harmonies.

The Bartlett Area Chorus was established in 1990 with Ed Riddick as the Director, followed by other Directors over the years.  After retiring from directing the Bartlett High School Chorus for 25 years and the Arlington High School Chorus for 10, years, he came back as the Director of the Bartlett Area Chorus in 2015 and gave the Chorus his own standard of excellence through 2023, when he needed to officially retire.

DONIA RACHELLE WADE

Donia comes to us with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Memphis and a Bachelor of Arts in Music (conducting) with a minor in Theatre. She enjoyed, not only singing with the Rhodes College MasterSingers, but was hired as a Section Leader and then Assistant Director. In addition to performing acting roles in numerous plays, she has also been the Musical Director. The most recent were completed this Spring for Germantown High School and Marion High School (at the same time!). For the last three years she is the Director of Music Ministries at Bartlett United Methodist Church.