Music
Music at First Baptist Greenville is a thriving ministry with an incredible level of talent.
Gifted musicians work with Children’s Choirs for those 3 years old through elementary school. Many students in our youth group not only sing in the
The Sanctuary Choir has had the honor of performing for national and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association. They have sung for Furman Church Music Conferences with guest conductors, Mack Wilberg, Andre Thomas
They have also traveled to sing in the Riverside Church in New York City, Duke Chapel in Durham, NC, and been invited to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. They have sung major choral and orchestral works
Dr. Vivian Hamilton
Minister of Music
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Dr. Vivian Hamilton conducts the Sanctuary Choir and is the primary planner for music in our worship services at First Baptist Greenville. An accomplished pianist as well as vocalist and conductor, Dr. Hamilton also conducts the Furman University Women’s Chorale and serves as a collaborative pianist on the music faculty of Furman University. Dr. Hamilton has been a singer in the Robert Shaw Institute Festival Singers where she had the opportunity to work with Robert Shaw and has studied conducting with Dan Lewis and Edvard Tchivzhel. She has worked with choirs at Simmons College, Emerson College, the University of South Carolina, Northeastern University and Clemson University. For twelve years, she conducted the Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium Chorale and is a former president of the South Carolina American Choral Directors Association. Her choral conducting experience also includes work at Baptist and Methodist churches in Massachusetts and South Carolina, and in the public schools of Boston and upstate South Carolina. She has worked as a collaborative pianist in Boston, Massachusetts, and throughout South Carolina. Since 2022, she has been part of “A Thriving in Ministry,” a group supported by a Lilly Endowment grant and sponsored by Polyphony (an organization of church musicians) and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. This is an intentional community of pastoral musicians from across the country working to build and sustain collegial relationships that seek shared learning, best practices, and enhanced thriving in ministry in the field of church music. She received her doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of South Carolina, her
Kimberly Coates
Music and Worship Ministry Assistant
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Kimberly Coates has served as the Music
Youth
Vocare
Vocare is the vocal ensemble of youth in grades 6-12. They rehearse on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 before Youth Family activities begin at
Amy Joye
Music Associate
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Originally from Woodruff, SC, Amy grew up as a member of Woodruff First Baptist Church where her mother was Minister of Music and father was Choir Director. She graduated from Furman University in 1995 with
Upon moving back to Greenville in 2008, Amy joined First Baptist Greenville and became active in the Music Ministry here, serving as Junior Choir Director and singing in the Sanctuary Choir. She is a children’s choir curriculum author and has had music and materials published by Lifeway and Growing in Grace. She also created her own preschool church choir curriculum Sing, Play, Rejoice in God!
Amy is also an accomplished singer and performs with the Greenville Chorale, the Herring Chamber Ensemble and the South Carolina Bach Choir. Amy is the proud mother of Will Bailey, who is also an active musician and church member at First Baptist Greenville.
Children
The six Children’s Choirs range in age from 3 years old to 5th grade. They meet on Wednesday evenings throughout the school year. The Children’s Choirs and the Children’s Missions groups coordinate their schedules and meet between 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. with music following missions at 6:15 p.m. Each choir is named: Angel Choir (
Bell Tower Ringers
Julie Treu has a long history of playing and directing handbells.
She joined First Baptist in 2016, coming from a local church where she directed five handbell choirs for 18 years. Here at FBG, she assisted with resurrecting the handbell ministry and was both the administrator and a ringer for the first few years until taking over as director in 2019. She also has participated in local handbell ensemble groups such as Carolina Bronze to make sure her “hands keep ringing!”
The Bell Tower Ringers ensemble handbell choir was born in the spring of 2016 and consists of 13-14 ringers, most of whom have many years of ringing experience, but some are without any but have a willingness to learn! New ringers are always welcome to join the sub list, with the anticipation of being first to be asked to permanently join the choir when positions open up. Rehearsals are on Sunday evenings, and the Bell Tower Ringers provide music for Sunday morning worship services throughout the year. Rehearsals are suspended during the summer months.
Music Series
Sunday, April 23, 10:30am
The FBG Sanctuary Choir under the direction of Dr. Vivian Hamilton and Vocare under the direction of Amy Joye, accompanied by organ and orchestra, present music of Hope and Healing. (Sanctuary)
Friday, May 12, 7:00pm
The SC Bach Choir under the direction of Dr. David Rhyne and accompanied by the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra will present music from J.S. Bach’s time as Leipzig Cantor and the legacy that continues. (Sanctuary)
Sunday, May 28, 10:30am
The Pentecost worship service (Sanctuary) celebrating the birth of the church will feature music from FBG’s Vocare under the direction of Amy Joye and the Apex United Methodist Church Youth Choir and Handbell Choir under the direction of Todd Arant from Apex, NC.
Friday, June 2, 7:00pm
Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus will be joined by the Midlands Chorus from Columbia, SC, and a full orchestra to present a memorial and tribute dedicated to all those who came before and a hope for the future. (Sanctuary)
Sunday, October 15, 3:00pm
Renowned trumpeter Ivano Ascari and organist Leonardo Carrieri will present a recital (Sanctuary). Come for worship at 10:30am to hear them then, too!
Sunday, December 10, 10:30am
FBG’s Sanctuary Choir accompanied by brass/chamber orchestra?? will present John Rutter’s Gloria in celebration of the Second Sunday of Advent. (Sanctuary)
Latest News
Music Ministry
Finding Community Through Music
In February of 2020, I attended a professional conference sponsored by Polyphony, a fellowship of pastoral musicians. Over the past two years, even during the height of a pandemic when our church was closed for in-person services and choirs and congregations did not...
A Child Shall Lead Them: Worship Arts Camp 2023
$50 per camper, lunch provided each day, scholarships available All children 4 years old through 5th grade are invited to join us for a week of fun and worship arts! We will enjoy Bible Study, art projects, Music, Worship Elements, and more together for a week that...
Come Ring with Us!
The Bell Tower Ringers are seeking a few more musically inclined people to join them for the 2022 Fall Season. If you can read music, you are qualified, and we’d love to have you join us. It’s really fun and offers a great way to enrich the musical life of the church....
Singing
One of my favorite things is hearing our congregation and choir singing together in our Sanctuary. Whether it is a festive, joyful hymn or a lyrical prayer song, it is uplifting. In her book Imperfect Harmony—Finding Happiness Singing with Others, Stacy Horn writes...
Music for Preschool, Children and Youth
We are so excited to welcome our children and youth back to choirs this fall! Each Wednesday, preschoolers, ages 3-5, and children in first-fifth grade can join together to sing, play instruments, and participate in mission activities. The Wednesday night children’s...
Musicians in Summer Services
I am especially thankful for the musicians sharing their gifts with us in our worship services this summer. As I write this, I’m thinking of some of our recent soloists: Tyrese Byrd singing, “I am seeking for a city into the Kingdom, Hallelujah;” Sara Kathryn Coates...
Dedication Service and Recital for New Concert Grand Piano
On Sunday, January 12, 2020, our morning worship service will include a dedication of the new Steinway concert grand piano for our Sanctuary. Dr. Robert Blocker, Dean of the Yale School of Music, will be here as guest artist for the dedicatory piano recital at 3:00pm...
Rustlings (December 2, 2019)
Several Christmases ago, a semi-chaotic crowd of dissimilarly musically trained individuals got together to bring us our inaugural First on Main concert. For weeks, the motley crew of musicians gathered in the Fellowship Hall selecting songs, transposing keys,...
Summer Music Services 2019
The first two Sundays in August will be summer music services when we are hosting the Furman Singers Alumni Choir on August 4 and guest singer-songwriter Pat Terry on August 11. Jim Dant will be the speaker during both of these services. On August 4, alumni from the...
Sanctuary Choir Sing & Sips: Come Mingle!
Summer is here! It’s time to have a little fun… and we want you to join members of the Sanctuary Choir for our summer socials! Each summer, the Sanctuary Choir hosts three “Sing and Sip” Soirées. Because the choir is off from regular rehearsals...
Herring Church Music Intern Awarded
For the past two years, during his junior and senior years at Furman University, Bergsvein Toverud served as the Herring Church Music Intern here at FBG. He also served as a Herring Choral Scholar here during his freshman and sophomore years in college. At...
June 23
10:30AM SANCTUARY | 6:00PM FERNWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH DINING ROOM Ryan Madora, bass guitarist, and her husband, singer-songwriter Craig Haller, will provide music in our morning worship service then travel to Fernwood Baptist in Spartanburg for an evening coffeehouse...
Save the Date for Summer Music Sunday
AUGUST 11 | 10:30AM SANCTUARY (LUNCH CONCERT TO FOLLOW)/ 6:00PM FERNWOOD BAPTIST PAT TERRY Pat Terry will be our guest for Summer Music Sunday, singing during morning worship and giving a lunch concert. Then he will go to Fernwood Baptist for an evening coffeehouse...
The Celebration Singers
TUCKER FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH | TUCKER, GEORGIA Sunday, June 2, at 10:30am the Celebration Singers, a 47-voice youth choir from Tucker First United Methodist Church (UMC) will provide the music for our worship service. The choir of Senior High and Middle School...
Amy Joye
Bonclarken Guest Conductor Amy Joye, director of our Junior Choir and Vocare, has been invited to serve as a guest conductor for the Bonclarken Music Conference this summer. She will serve as junior clinician, working with 4th and 5th-grade singers, and be part of...