A Cappella Choir of Moultrie to celebrate 90th birthday in October with reunion

Sep. 18—MOULTRIE — A Cappella Choir alumni will meet to celebrate 90 years of the group's continued presence in the community on Oct. 13 and 14.

"You can probably go out in the middle of Moultrie and throw a rock and hit an alumni of the A Cappella Choir," said Colquitt County High School Choral Director Jimbo Jarvis, who came through the Colquitt County choral program himself and credits it with where he is today.

The event on Friday, Oct. 13, will be a meet and greet with a catered dinner at 6:30 p.m., in the former band room directly behind Withers Auditorium. It will continue on Saturday with two choir rehearsals, one in the morning, followed by a group lunch, and one in the afternoon. The celebration will culminate in a performance of the choir at 7 at Willie B. Withers Auditorium on the Dr. Bill Caldwell Stage.

Some of the favorites from years past will be performed including "Hark I Hear," "Ride On, King Jesus," and "Best of Friends," which is an arrangement by local composer Earlene Rentz who is also an alumna of the A Cappella Choir.

In addition to Jarvis, former choral directors Travis Kern, Cathy Wright and Bill Caldwell will direct the choir throughout the event.

The choral program in Colquitt County has had a long successful history with the A Cappella Choir performing over the years in iconic places like the Vatican, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

"It's a point of pride of Moultrie to be able to show off the A Cappella Choir," said alumnus Clay Newton, who also said that members of his entire family were alumni of the A Cappella Choir, including his mother, who graduated in 1948. "It's touched a lot of people. There are generations of choral members here."

Newton said that the reunion idea came about in 2022 when an alumna from 1974 developed cancer and alumni wanted to get some of the classmates together to do some songs for her. At that time, Caldwell suggested that they plan a reunion.

Former choir members are encouraged to participate in the 90th birthday event and can find out more information at the A Cappella 90 website. The deadline to sign up to perform is Sept. 23.

Tickets for the public performance are $10 and are available online now; they'll also be available at Cranford's on Main, Griner's Jewelry and Sharon DeMott State Farm starting Sept. 25.

The A Capella Choir 90th Birthday committee is also seeking donations to help offset some of the the costs of the music and other production costs of the event. Any money left over will be donated to the Colquitt County High School Choral program. The event website will have additional information on making donations.