New Artistic Director Thomas Colohan

The Fairfax Choral Society’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of award-winning conductor, composer, and teacher Thomas Colohan as the new Artistic Director of the Fairfax Choral Society and director of the Symphonic Chorus. After an extensive search, FCS selected Colohan to succeed Dr. Douglas Mears starting with the 2018-2019 season. Dr. Mears retired after leading FCS for nearly 30 years.

Well-known in the DC area as Artistic Director of the Washington Master Chorale, Thomas brings to FCS a wealth of talent and experience. The Washington Post has acclaimed his work with the Master Chorale as “skillfully wrought and moving.” A two-time winner of the Choralis Foundation’s Washington Area Choral Excellence Award, Colohan holds a Master of Music in Choral Music from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has studied under Helmut Rhilling, Robert Shaw, Morten Lauridsen, and Donald McCullough. Colohan served as Director of Choral Activities at Santa Clara University and Music Director of the Santa Clara Chorale, and was founder and Artistic Director of the James River Singers in his native Richmond, Virginia.

“Fairfax Choral Society has long been an important force in the cultural life of Fairfax County and the wider Capital region. I am thrilled to have been selected as its newest leader,” Thomas said. “It is hard to overstate the vital role FCS plays in knitting the fabric of our community together. The group’s essential function can be found it its very name. By regularly uniting our voices to express the universal longings of the human heart, we strengthen the bonds that bind us together as a society. It is an honor indeed to be leading FCS into the next chapter of its illustrious history.”

The Board of Directors, singers, and artistic staff look forward to continuing the FCS legacy of providing quality music to the DC area.