Our Director, Andy Reach
Andy was born in Columbia, SC in 1984, but grew up in Blacksburg, Va, (home of the VT Hokies). With a piano in the house, he found a love for music developed in between video games and sports. At age 9 this came to fruition with the Montgomery County Boychoir, and singing has been a part of his life ever since. He first discovered quarteting in high school singing the National Anthem with 4 friends, but wouldn’t get ‘hooked’ until after finding his first barbershop chapter, The Virginia Gentlemen of the Roanoke Valley. He hasn’t gone anywhere without finding a barbershop chapter since.Andy studied Music at Radford University (technology, education, piano, and voice) attaining his BS in Music. He made multiple appearances at ACDA conventions and is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. He received further training as a piano technician at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA. While attending grad school in Boston, he benefitted from singing with great chapters such as the Nashua Granite Statesmen under Steve Tramack, and the Sounds of Concord (now called Vocal Revolution) under Dan Costello; following college he sang with, the Cleveland Sound of Tennessee chorus under Chad Guyton, and the Atlanta Vocal Project under Clay Hine. Andy had found his love, honing musical craft in the barbershop style.
He has served as an educator at numerous Youth in Harmony camps in Dixie and in the Mid-Atlantic Districts. While in Atlanta, he coached local high school groups in their “literary competition”, which pitted high school boy’s quartets and girl’s trios against each other. Andy also coached a boy’s quartet at Calhoun High School which won the state competition in 2011.
Although he enjoys directing, some would describe him as a Tag Fanatic--trading many hours of sleep in the wee hours of the morning to find one more perfect chord chain. He loves attending BHS conventions, but more often than not, you’ll find him in the lobby busting a chord with 3 friends. He is fun, a supporter and a natural teacher for those around him.
In addition to directing the Land of the Sky Chorus he is a member and Assistant Director of the Johnson City chapter and a member of Carolina Vocal Express, which recently placed 16th on the International Stage.
