Texas Boys Choir

At the 2008 FWAFA Graduation ceremony, Board of Directors’ president, Dr. Steve Johnson,  announced the hiring of the new Texas Boys Choir (TBC) artistic director Bryan Priddy. Priddy takes the leadership role of this renowned choir in August.

Upon his unanimous acceptance by the search committee, Priddy was serving as the Director of Music Ministries at Peachtree Presbyterian Church (8500 members) in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role, he oversaw the music ministry of the largest Presbyterian (PCUSA) congregation in North America, personally directed the Chancel and Chamber choirs, served as an executive staff member, and provided leadership in worship planning. 

Priddy holds music degrees from Georgia State University (BM), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MCM), and the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (MM).  In addition, he completed all doctoral coursework in choral music and literature at Arizona State University.  

Prior to Peachtree, Priddy served as Director of Choral Activities (1997-2002) at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington.  During this tenure, he recorded four compact disc recordings with The Whitworth Choir, one of the Northwest’s premiere collegiate choirs.  He also directed the Trouvères (select Women’s Choir) and taught courses in advanced conducting, ear training, secondary methods, and choral techniques and materials.

During his residency at Arizona State University (1993-1997), he served as a faculty associate and teaching assistant in the School of Music.  Additionally, he served as a research assistant in a joint project involving the music education department and the Institute for the Studies in the Arts, studying sequential learning styles of children using experimental music composition software programs.  Continuing his interest in childhood music education and serving as a specialist with treble and changing voices, Priddy taught on the artistic faculty at the Arizona School for the Arts in Phoenix, Arizona, working with middle school students.

Priddy has distinguished himself artistically in the area of conducting.  In 1995, he was one of eight graduate conductors invited to the National American Choral Directors Association's (ACDA) conducting competition, held in Washington, D.C., and he was a winner in the Arizona State University's Conductors Orchestra competition.  In Spring of 1996, Priddy made his professional conducting debut in a performance of the Brahms Requiem.  In May of 2004, he debuted at Carnegie Hall, conducting a performance of Handel's Zadok the Priest and Schubert's Mass in G.  In 2006, Priddy was selected as one of six conductors from North America to guest conduct the Vancouver Chamber Choir in a program of music featuring works of North American composers at the 26th National Conductor's Symposium held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  During its 2007-2008 season, Priddy served as Music Director and Conductor of the Choral Guild of Atlanta, the oldest choral guild in the state of Georgia.  In March 2008, he conducted the Peachtree Presbyterian Chamber Choir for its appearances at the Southern Regional ACDA convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where the choir premiered a new setting of the Te Deum laudamus by Northwest composer Michael E. Young, and in July 2008, he served as artistic director for the International Presbyterian Choral Festival in Scotland.  In 2009, Priddy returns to Carnegie Hall to conduct a performance of Beethoven's Mass in C.  Plans are underway for the Texas Boys Choir to be a part of that Carnegie performance. 

An active church musician for more than 20 years, Priddy has served church congregations in Georgia, Washington, Arizona, New York, and Kentucky, developing comprehensive music ministry programs and providing primary leadership in ministry and education.  He has presented more than 100 workshops and seminars related to choral music, music drama and the singing actor, vocal pedagogy, handbell ringing, and the art of choral conducting.  In addition, he has conducted various select youth music ensembles, grades four through twelve.  

When asked what his plans are for TBC, he responded, “The Texas Boys Choir holds a unique position among boy choirs in the United States. It is regarded as one of the premiere ensembles for boy singers. My primary goal is to build on the choir's heritage and move this ensemble, which has the capability to perform virtually any repertoire due to its inclusion of changed voices, from one of the finest boychoirs in the United States to one that will rank among the finest choirs in the world, judged by any standard.”  

He commented that, “part of this journey in expanding the choir’s renown in the global community will include the possibilities of partnering with brother choirs in such countries as Austria, Germany, Denmark, and South Africa.  At the national level, I hope to create an annual boychoir symposium that focuses on training young music educators and those new to teaching boys’ voices, giving them theoretical instruction in the teaching pedagogy that may be unique for addressing boys’ voices, and also demonstrating how this theory works in practice by using TBC members as live subjects to model vocal skills and techniques.”

Board President, Steve Johnson, said, "The board is encouraged by Priddy’s vision for what can be achieved under his leadership and experience."  Priddy feels that “The Texas Boys Choir is destined for great musical accomplishments.  I am both honored and humbled by the invitation to join the TBC staff and also the fine staff at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.  I look forward to working with the boys, the Academy, the Board of Directors, and the community at large as we develop the full potential of this rare and unique musical gem called the Texas Boys Choir. "