Our History

Summer 2012

  • Jacob Lash decides to start a choir for high schoolers and up. He invites Kerrie Cardine to come on as assistant and accompanist. They begin planning, naming the choir “Life Community Choir.”

Spring 2013

  • First season begins with 40 singers: 6 adults and 34 teens.

Fall 2013

  • Re-brand to “Gainesville Community Choir”
  • First fall season begins with 68 singers.

Spring 2014

  • Team of volunteers builds choir risers

Fall 2014

  • Website built, GCC logo created
  • Members of GCC sing in backup choir for bluegrass band Dailey & Vincent

Spring 2015

  • First Choir for a Day, starting spring tradition

Fall 2015

  • Jacob & Kerrie bring on four section leaders, including Marianna Constable
  • First guest conductor attends GCC rehearsal, starting fall tradition
  • GCC gets on Facebook and Instagram
  • Collaboration concert with home school children’s choir
  • Medley from Oklahoma!

Spring 2016

  • Medley from Fiddler on the Roof

Fall 2016

  • Jordan Orr & Elijah Tiemens come on as section leaders
  • GCC joins with mega-choir onstage at Wolf Trap for Christmas sing-along
  • GCC begins hiring instrumentalists for concerts

Spring 2017

  • Medley from Les Misérables

Fall 2017

  • Pam Sottosanti joins GCC as accompanist
  • Mandy Viles joins as soprano section leader
  • Kerrie switches from keys to singing alto
  • GCC participates again in Wolf Trap Christmas sing-along
  • Collaboration concert with Victory Elementary School chorus

Spring 2018

  • First “Choir Retreat,” starting spring tradition
  • GCC celebrates 5 years with “GCC’s Greatest Hits” in concert
  • GCC records Greatest Hits CD album: Journey Home

Spring 2019

  • GCC becomes 501c3 Nonprofit Organization
  • GCC outgrows Gainesville Pres. building for concerts, begins performing at alternate venues
  • Medley from Mary Poppins

Fall 2019

  • GCC performs at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in collaboration concert with GMU choirs
  • GCC performs Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living as partial fulfillment of Jacob’s MM in Conducting

Spring 2020

  • GCC season canceled due to Covid
  • GCC runs 11 Stage-at-Home concerts on YouTube, including 77 acts, and 125 performers
  • IRS grants tax-exempt status
  • GCC hosts Covid-times outdoor Fall Music Festival

A couple strange years later…

Spring 2022

  • GCC returns after Covid break
  • GCC performs in collaboration concert with Patriot High School Singers
  • Medley from West Side Story

Summer 2022

  • 40 GCC singers travel to London for Requiem for the Living choral festival with Vox Anima London.

Spring 2023

  • Leadership begins to restructure, reorganize to make organization sustainable long-term
  • Katie Bass begins learning ropes as GCC Administrator
  • Medley from The Prince of Egypt
  • GCC wins PWC Arts Council award for Outstanding Arts Organization
  • Kerrie sings final concert as AD
  • GCC celebrates 10 years of singing with anniversary concert and banquet dinner

Fall 2023

  • Preston Atkins joins GCC as Associate Conductor
  • GCC performs in collaboration concert with Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra: “Handel’s Messiah and Other Seasonal Selections” at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Merchant Hall.

Spring 2024

  • GCC breaks a membership record with 29 first-timers and a total of 103 singers!
  • Medley from The Phantom of the Opera
  • Jacob Lash wins PWC Arts Council award for Outstanding Arts Educator.

Fall 2024

  • GCC collaborates in concert with Fairfax Chorale Society to perform Dan Forrest’s major work LUX: the Dawn from On High, and other selections for the season.
  • Concerts featured approx. 170 adults and 50 youth singers.

Spring 2025

  • Lorraine Brenneman comes on as GCC’s Administrator and Jessica Harpin as Administrative Assistant.
  • GCC performs alongside Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra and South Loudoun Youth Chorale at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.