Long before the Don Thompson Chorale (DTC) formed in 1995, Don Thompson had been inspiring college singers at Florida Junior College Chorale – now Florida State College at Jacksonville – since 1969. Today, the all-volunteer DTC is celebrating 30 years of sharing musical gifts with the community in memory of its first director and namesake, whom they lovingly call ‘Mr. T’.
When Thompson neared retirement from FJC in the mid-‘80s, his wife wanted to gift him with a reunion of chorale members.
A decade later, some of the participants from that first reunion celebrated by gathering as many of the original chorale members as possible to perform a concert of favorite songs from college days with Thompson directing. About 60 alumni performed at the FCCJ Kent Campus theater.
“It was so well received and so much fun that we approached Mr. T about starting an ongoing group of singers he already knew,” said Saundra Howard, the chorale’s administrative assistant and co-owner of The FotoTechnika Group in the Lakeshore neighborhood. “He finally agreed to direct if members would sign in blood that they would participate.”
Thompson also stipulated that Howard and her husband, John, had to be the managers of the group “for life” and that the group had to be named after him.
“Later he would tell audiences that the group had started itself and named it after him, so he thought he should probably direct it,” Howard said.
The original arrangement worked well for almost eight years, with Thompson and the group performing in more than 70 concerts in Jacksonville and surrounding area in venues from the Florida Theatre and FSCJ’s Wilson Center and the Kent Campus theaters, Jacksonville History Center’s St. Andrews Church, the Cathedral-Basilica in St. Augustine as well as churches and other venues across the area.
“Two of our more memorable concerts were reunion concerts – one in 1994 before the formation of the DTC and another one in 2012 at Jacoby Hall with The DTC performing half of the concert and alumni from the FJC Choral years joining the DTC for the second half,” Howard recalled. “We had hoped Mr. T would reprise his role as director for that second concert, but as rehearsals progressed, we realized he would only be able to direct the college group’s, and now the DTC’s, standard closing number, ‘Hymn and Prayer for Peace’.”
The chorale’s holiday concerts have become an annual tradition, beginning in 1999 with the First Coast Wind Ensemble, now the First Coast Wind Symphony. The chorale will perform its 25th holiday concert this December.
Thompson retired from the DTC after the 2003 summer season, was awarded the title director emeritus and fulfilled his dream of moving back to his boyhood home in Georgia. He passed away in March 2017 after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for several years.
“Don Thompson had a larger-than-life personality along with the ability to bring out different sounds from the same group of singers. He talked about musical colors and how to shape the sound,” said Linda Edwards, who has served as president of the chorale for more than 10 years.
After Thompson’s retirement, the chorale has alternated between working with a single director and having various singing members of the chorale serving as director concurrently within the same season.
“Currently we are holding off on the addition of an artistic director,” Edwards said. “We have talented individuals internally that can help in the interim and keep us focused on creating beautiful music and sharing with all. Our hope is to find an individual that will mesh well with a board-led group and serve as an artistic director.”
The DTC has fall/winter and spring/summer seasons and holds auditions the first two to three weeks after the initial start date of each season. The chorale rehearses every Monday evening, 7-9 p.m., at Riverside Presbyterian Church. Auditions are held on Monday evenings as well.
The 2025 season finale concert will be May 4 at the Riverside Presbyterian Church (849 Park Street). Visit www.donthompsonchorale.com to learn more about upcoming concerts or schedule an audition time. Edwards added that the chorale is “always looking for younger adults to join us to keep the group alive and moving forward.”
DTC Past Directors:
Don Thompson (1995-2003)
Michael Dell (2003-2009)
Various DTC singers (2009-2014)
Jay Stuckey (2014-2016)
Hugh Patterson (2016-2020)
Jay Stuckey,interim (2021-2022)
Adam Hooper (2022-2024)
NOTE: The COVID pandemic prevented DTC from performing 2020-2021.
