The Rockbridge Youth Chorale is celebrating its 25th season this year!
Founding RYC Director Melanie Griffis in the early 2000s
Founded in 2000 with Melanie Griffis as its first director, the RYC has provided an opportunity for hundreds of children in Rockbridge County, Lexington, and Buena Vista to join together in song over the years. Griffis, now a member of the Rockbridge Choral Society Board of Directors, said “I did it because I wanted my children to sing and I wanted their friends to sing; so, we jumped in.” The RYC offers choral opportunities that they would not otherwise have in their schools, especially as funding for the arts has decreased over time. Initially, Griffis would take the RYC to perform at local schools, but restrictions on such outreach have ended that practice.
Though Griffis did not remain as RYC for more than a couple of years, her leadership set the stage for later directors, most particularly Lacey Lynch, the current and longest-tenured artistic director, now in her 17th year. Lynch, who has formal training in music education and teaches both at local public schools as well as Washington & Lee University, has grown the program to include more children and a greater diversity of repertoire. “There’s cute songs and things like that, but they also sing in multiple languages, multiple genres, and multiple styles,” said Lynch. Affordability for all interested singers has also been a key effort by Lynch, and the Rockbridge Choral Society successfully applied for a Washington & Lee Community Grant for the 2025-2026 anniversary season to offer scholarships for children and families with financial need.
Another component of the RYC instituted by Lynch has been the highly successful Student Intern Program. This program allows college students at W&L, VMI, and Southern Virginia University who are interested in music education gain additional experience, especially in engaging new singers in music performance. Several former interns, including Annie Thomas (W&L 2024) and Caleb Peña (W&L 2021) have gone on to pursue further training in choral music directing, and one of them, Katelyn Roll (SVU 2021), has become the director of the Children’s Choir for grades 1-5!
To kick off the celebrations, the RYC and Children’s Choir will be performing their Fall Concert on November 18 at 7:30 PM. Please see below for additional details.
