About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2022)
SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY "Enhancing Life & Wellness with Each Touchpoint" Assisted Living & Memory Care Services We look forward to seeing you soon. Please call or email Chelsea Taylor to set up your personal visit today CTaylor@VillaPalazzo.com or 470.955.3230 1260 Hightower Trail, Sandy Springs GA 30350 | ViliaPalazzo.com —VILLA- PA L A Z Z O "Enjoy Living" Montessori Inspired Approach programming bringing purpose, belonging & dignity for our residents. ARTS North Atlanta Voices community chorus is for anyone with ‘desire to sing’ BYDYANABAGBY Lucas Tarrant was a frustrated singer, voice teacher and choral conductor searching for a way to spread his love of music and make it accessible to everyone. Driving down Ro swell Road about five years ago, he saw the sign for Sandy Springs Music. He pulled in on a whim and asked if the store needed a voice teacher. He was hired on the spot. Cheryl Logan spent her career managing and owning businesses, but wanted to find a way to express herself artistical ly. While driving down Roswell Road one after noon several years ago, she saw the sign for Sandy Springs Music and decid ed to quickly whip into the parking lot. She went in and asked about voice lessons. She and Tarrant met and he started teaching her private lessons at her home. “Our meeting was serendipitous,” Logan, 65, says. The voice lessons were inspirational for both and the two eventually became best friends. In March 2018, during a voice lesson in Logan’s living room, Tarrant, 30, asked her if she wanted to start a community chorus. Without hesitation, she said yes. They named the chorus North Atlanta Voices, designed a logo, got business cards, created a website, all from their new head quarters in Logans living room. Of course, they would also need people to sing in the chorus in a metro Atlanta area where many choruses already existed. All of these choruses, though, required singers to audition. “We needed a leg up so we focused on cre ating a non-auditioned chorus that was about music, but also about building community,” Tarrant said. “We really love that part of what we are doing,” he said. “And I thrive on teaching people with no experience singing in a cho rus. I wanted to make this really enjoyable to everyone.” The duo recruited 20 people to sing in their first concert in 2018. Logan and Tar rant kept their mission alive through the CO- VID-19 pandemic by reaching out to more people who wanted to sing with a chorus. North Atlanta Voices became an official non profit in 2020. Tarrant handles the artistic vi sion, Logan is in charge of the business side. At the North Atlanta Voices spring con cert in April at the Atlanta Jewish Academy — made possible with funding through a Sandy Springs Arts Foundation grant — there were nearly 50 sopranos, basses, altos and ten ors on stage singing songs in English, Latin, Hebrew and Russian. Members range in age Cheryl Logan, left, and Lucas Tarrant are best friends after establishing the non-auditioned North Atlanta Voices chorus. She is the executive director, and he is the artistic director. (Special) from 19 to their 80s. Two families are part of the group. “The music Lucas chooses is not simple,” Logan said. “We’ve been exposed to several languages because of the songs he chooses and he is so good at teaching technique and mak ing people feel so accomplished.” The chorus continues its mission of being non-auditioned and always will, Tarrant said. “So many people want to sing, but not by themselves,” Tarrant said. “This is about sing ing for joy. We want to create a place for peo ple to never have to sing alone if they don’t want to. “The only prerequisite is a desire to sing,” he said. 16 SEPTEMBER 2022 | REPORTER NEWSPAPERS reporternewspapers.com
