Diamond passes choral baton to Chris Greene at Renaissance Center

Release Date: 7/2/2008. Expired: 8/2/2008

After leading The Renaissance Center’s Choral Department since its creation in 1999, Jenny Diamond turned the baton over to Chris Greene to direct the center’s four choral ensembles.

Diamond was honored with a dinner and gifts May 29 and directed The Renaissance Center’s Children’s Choir and Community Choir one last time before Greene was introduced by Bob Kucher, senior director of Fine Arts, as the new director.

“Jenny Diamond created The Renaissance Center’s choral programs from the very beginning and for the last nine years has nurtured the love of music in children and adults,” said Kucher. “Her professionalism, talent and gentle heart have helped produce some of the best community choral programs to be found anywhere in the region. There are former members of her children’s choirs who couldn’t wait until they were old enough to join the Community Choir and continue to grow musically under Jenny’s direction.”

A graduate of Dickson County High School where she excelled in Cindy Freeman’s choral program, Diamond earned a degree in Music Education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. She attended the Capital University Kodaly Institute and received her Level I Kodaly Certification. She has performed under the baton of Joseph Flummerfelt, Kurt Massur, James Levine, Zubin Mehta and Ricardo Mutti.

“We will truly miss Jenny at The Renaissance Center,” Kucher said. “But she assisted us in the search for a new choral program director who will carry on with the excellent foundation that Jenny has built here.”

The search process included having the candidates direct each of the center’s choral ensembles and gave the members an opportunity to have input on the selection of the new director, along with input from Diamond and her long-time accompanist, Marianna Wakeman.

“We are very fortunate to introduce Chris Greene as the new choral director,” Kucher said. “We had a strong field of candidates and are confident that Chris will be able to carry on the strong choral tradition that Jenny has established.”

“I am very excited about being named the new choral director at the Renaissance Center,” Greene said. “I have been impressed with the quality of musicianship that the choirs have exhibited over the years, and I look forward to working with these ensembles. I especially look forward to meeting the people who sing in the choirs and making new friendships as we work together to grow and expand the choral program.”

When asked what the future holds for the choral program at The Renaissance Center, Greene replies, “The sky is the limit. As we work together to make good choral music, we can dream together about the new things we hope to do and the places that we can go to share our music with the world.”

A Burns resident and Dickson County High School graduate, Greene has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Austin Peay State University and is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Education as a music teacher for K-12. He is currently working on obtaining his Master’s Degree in Music Education.

He has served as director of music and youth ministries at First United Methodist Church in Dickson since 1994, where he directs seven different music ensembles, four of which are touring groups. His groups have performed in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. John the Divine, for the Pope at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and cathedrals in Toronto and San Francisco.

While at APSU, Greene performed in operas such as The Magic Flute and Carmen, while studying under Dr. Thomas King and Dr. George Mabry. He plays the piano, trumpet, handbells and organ.

A member of United Way of Dickson County’s Board of Directors and founder and chairman of the board for Resurrector’s Mission Camp, Greene works as development and volunteer manager for the Dickson Division of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity.

The Renaissance Center’s Choral Department includes the Training Choir for students in first and second grade, the Children’s Choir for students in grades 3-6 and the Community and Chamber Choirs for adults. All of the choral programs are free participation and present at least two annual concerts in the center’s Performance Hall.

Diamond’s choirs also have been asked to perform at various events outside the center, including Dickson County’s official Bicentennial Celebration.

Diamond and her family are relocating to Tampa, Fla., where her husband Brad has accepted a position at the University of South Florida.

The Renaissance Center’s choral programs will begin rehearsals under Greene for the fall semester on Thursday, Aug. 28. The children’s choirs will present their annual holiday concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, with the adult ensembles performing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18.

For more information on the choral programs, call (615) 740-5565 or contact Greene at greene_chris@bellsouth.net.

The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40.

Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.

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