An all-volunteer auditioned group of experienced singers, Collegium Vocale is a community chorus dedicated to excellence in the performance of choral music. One of Atlanta’s oldest choral ensembles, Collegium Vocale traces its roots to 1955, when Homer F. Edwards Jr., an Emory University lecturer in music, formed a choral ensemble to sing a cappella works from the late Renaissance and Baroque. That original group included Emory students, faculty and their spouses, and community members. 

Edwards left Atlanta in the summer of 1963 for Wayne State University. William Lemonds, who joined the Emory University music faculty in 1964, revived the community ensemble for a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in April 1965. The group settled on the name Collegium Musicum (society of musicians) and continued performing under the baton of Lemonds for twenty-three years. During his tenure, Collegium Musicum performed a joint concert each spring with the Emory Glee Club, Women’s Chorale, and Atlanta-Emory Orchestra. 

In the fall of 1986, newly appointed Emory University Director of Choral Studies Ann Howard Jones took over the helm, and Collegium Musicum continued to perform as part of the Emory combined choral forces. Robert Shaw, who for a time held the post of distinguished university professor, directed the Emory ensembles in a memorable performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in January 1987 in Atlanta’s Symphony Hall, followed by performances of Honegger’s King David in April 1988, and Haydn’s The Creation in April 1989. In 1988, Al Calabrese replaced Ann Howard Jones. Under his direction, the group’s name was changed to Collegium Vocale (society of voices). In 1992, Dr. Calabrese resigned as director. 

Katherine Murray was selected as Music Director in 1993 and brought with her the group’s now indispensable accompanist Leanne Elmer Herrmann. Ms. Murray was Collegium Vocale’s first director recruited from outside the Emory music faculty, a practice the ensemble has continued. While it retains strong ties to Emory, in 1994 Collegium Vocale became an independent, nonprofit community chorus.  

Under Ms. Murray’s direction, the group performed two concerts each year at Emory, as well as occasional joint concerts with groups outside the Emory community, including Orchestra Atlanta and the Chattanooga Choral Arts Society. In the spring of 1998, under the direction of Marian Dolan, Collegium Vocale joined Emory’s Candler Choraliers to present a special program in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The performance featured the southeastern premier of Robert Levin’s completion of Mozart’s Requiem. In the spring of 1999, Murray said farewell, although she continued to perform as a soloist with Collegium Vocale on occasion. 

In the summer of 1999, the Board of Directors selected Erin Freeman, a gifted young musician (and former music student of Katherine Murray), who also held positions with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra. Under Ms. Freeman’s direction, Collegium Vocale performed with the Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde, and joined the Savannah Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Ms. Freeman resigned in 2001 to pursue her doctorate in orchestral conducting with Gustav Meier at the Peabody Conservatory. She is currently Artistic Director of The City Choir of Washington, Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus, Artistic Director of Wintergreen Music, and Principal Conductor of the Richmond Ballet.

Once again, the Board recruited, and the membership selected Kevin Hibbard, professor of music and director of choirs at the University of West Georgia. Under Dr. Hibbard’s direction, Collegium Vocale made its debut performance at Spivey Hall in November 2002, returning to Spivey for the 2004 Summer Conference of the Georgia ACDA (American Choral Director’s Association). In March 2003, Collegium Vocale gave its debut performance in Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. 

Collegium Vocale has twice been invited to participate in the annual Emory Choral Festival, and has performed a joint concert with the Chancel Choir at St. James United Methodist Church (where long time Collegium director William Lemonds was music director for 22 years). Ensemble members also performed the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Carroll Symphony Orchestra and alumni singers of the University of West Georgia. In subsequent years, Collegium Vocale members also joined the UWG Concert Choir for performances of the Mozart Requiem, the Mozart Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and the Rossini Stabat Mater.

In 2005, Collegium Vocale celebrated its 50th year as a community chorus with a gala performance at the Schwartz Center. Former directors Kate Murray and Erin Freeman returned to conduct Collegium Vocale with orchestral accompaniment. The performance concluded with Music Director Kevin Hibbard conducting the Poulenc Gloria featuring soprano soloist Arietha Lockhart. 

In spring 2006, the group performed the premiere of Prelude to the Divine Conversation, a new work by Atlanta composer Nickitas Demos, commissioned in memory of Angela Ioannides, who sang with our chorus for many years. In spring 2007, we performed the Southeast U.S. premiere of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by British composer Karl Jenkins with the University of West Georgia Concert Choir.  In fall 2012 we performed Jenkins’ Stabat Mater with the University of West Georgia choirs and the Carroll Symphony Orchestra, which led to an invitation to join a number of choirs from around the world to perform that work in January 2014 for our debut performance at Carnegie Hall in celebration of Jenkins’ 70th birthday.

In 2015 Collegium Vocale celebrated its 60th anniversary by performing Handel’s Theodora, accompanied by members of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.  For the 65th anniversary, with a generous gift from one of our members, we held a contest for original lyrics and commissioned composer Daniel Elder to write a piece for us to include in our 2020 anniversary season. Two weeks before the March concert, the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus forced Collegium Vocale to cancel the concert and suspend all in-person activities. 

In fall 2021, taking advantage of improved ventilation in Glenn Memorial Church’s sanctuary, and wearing medical quality masks, Collegium Vocale resumed rehearsals and performed a concert in November, including our commissioned 65th anniversary piece I Dream of Peace. For the first time, we offered our audience the choice of attending in person or via live streaming online. Following the pandemic, the group resumed with only about 35 singers, but steadily grew back to its previous size, reaching a record 67 singers in our 70th anniversary season in 2025.

Over recent years, Collegium Vocale has welcomed several guest choirs to enhance our concert programs. In addition to ones already mentioned, these have included the Georgia Singers, the Greater Atlanta Girls Choir, Atlanta Women’s Chorus, Gwinnett Young Singers, Creekview High School Camerata, Milton (H.S.) Chorale, University of North Georgia Le Belle Voci, Decatur High School Combined Treble Choruses, and the University of West Georgia Chamber Singers.

Dr. Hibbard is the longest-serving music director in the group’s history and is now Professor Emeritus of Music from the University of West Georgia. He was invited to make his directorial debut in Carnegie Hall in June 2022, conducting members of Collegium Vocale and several other choral groups in a performance of choral classics with orchestra.

Collegium Vocale is proud to enter its eighth decade as a community chorus. Choral singing is far and away the most popular public arts activity in America, with more people participating in choral singing than in any other performing art. Collegium Vocale looks forward to many more years of music-making as part of the vibrant Atlanta choral music scene.