For over 30 years, our acclaimed choral program has enriched over 900 young lives and shown them where a love of music can take them. And stories like Bethany Wolfe’s remind us exactly why that matters.

From chorister to chaperone to choral director, Bethany’s journey with Charlotte Choir School is one that feels both full-circle and still unfolding. Now based in Midlothian, Virginia, she wears many musical hats—church music director, Founding and Artistic Director of the Chesterfield Children’s Choir, and homeschool consultant, teacher, and evaluator. But before all of that, she was a teenager stepping into something new, encouraged by a friend to audition.

She joined Charlotte Choir School as a chorister in the MasterSingers ensemble from 2004 to 2007. What began as a simple invitation quickly became something formative. Her audition left a lasting impression—not just because of the warmth she felt, but because of the high expectations set from the choir directors the very beginning. That balance—care paired with excellence—would become a defining thread in her experience.

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“I remember both of them (the directors) treating me warmly, but having high expectations even in the audition.”

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Some of Bethany’s most vivid memories come from tour, where music and place blur together in the best way. She remembers spontaneous singing in outdoor spaces, chapels, and stone arches during the New England tour in 2005—moments where acoustics, friendship, and discovery collided. There’s a kind of magic in those spaces, where voices rise without prompting and the music seems to hang in the air just a little longer.

Her favorite performance memories center around singing Bryan Kelly’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. It was her first time encountering the piece, and it became deeply tied to her earliest experiences with CCS—sung at St. Peter’s and throughout her first tour. For Bethany, it wasn’t just about the beauty of the music, though that was certainly part of it. It was the way the music marked a beginning, a doorway into something bigger.

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That idea—being part of something bigger—shows up again and again in how she reflects on her time in the program. Personally, she was drawn to the rhythm and structure of touring: concerts every day, traveling with peers, garment bags lined up on sidewalks, thank-you notes written on buses. It was fast-paced, purposeful, and full of shared responsibility. Musically, CCS gave her something equally lasting: confidence in her voice and a foundation of excellence that carried her into college music studies and, eventually, her professional life as a choral director.

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“CCS impacted me profoundly… I loved the structure and fast pace of touring… the mixture of sight seeing and musical excellence.”

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Today, Bethany leads her own ensembles, taking choirs from Atlanta to Toronto. And in many ways, CCS is still present in those rehearsal rooms and tour buses. The systems, routines, and expectations she builds into her own programs are directly shaped by what she experienced as a chorister. It’s a quiet kind of legacy—one that continues not just in memory, but in practice.

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After 12 years in the middle and high school choral classroom, Bethany has shifted her focus to community-based youth choir work. She is currently launching the Chesterfield Children’s Choir in Midlothian, Virginia, with their first tour already on the horizon for summer 2027. It’s a new chapter, but one rooted in familiar values: excellence, community, and the belief that young people are capable of creating something extraordinary together.

Her connection to Charlotte Choir School has never really faded. She remains close with fellow alumni and stayed actively involved long after her time as a singer ended, serving as a tour chaperone for eight years. In fact, she even chaperoned the Salisbury residency while six months pregnant with her oldest child—a detail that feels very CCS in spirit: commitment, dedication, and showing up for the music no matter the season of life.

Now a parent of two young children, Bethany continues to pass that love of music forward. Her children, ages four and six, are already immersed in singing and will be part of the choir program she directs in Virginia. The cycle continues—voices raised, one generation to the next.

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When asked what she hopes current choristers take away from their time at CCS, her answer is simple and profound: enjoy being a part of something bigger than you. Learn to create something excellent and beautiful with people you might not otherwise have crossed paths with. It’s a lesson in music, yes—but also in life.

Looking back, Bethany describes her time at Charlotte Choir School as a source of confidence and belonging during a stage of life where many teenagers can feel unanchored. Being part of something meaningful gave her purpose. And now, through her own teaching and leadership, she is intentionally creating that same sense of purpose for the next generation.

That’s the echo of CCS. It doesn’t end when the final concert is over. It carries—into classrooms, into communities, into new choirs being built from the ground up. And in Bethany’s story, we hear it clearly: a life shaped by music, still singing forward.