Longtime Artistic Director of the Capital City Men’s Chorus, Dr. Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of the current season, the chorus’s 29th. The Capital City Men’s Chorus, founded in 1989, is gay men and their allies raising voices in song to change minds, transform lives, and build community. The chorus has begun a search for an interim director to lead them into an exciting 30th Anniversary Season, starting August 2018.
Dr. Jones-Ragona has been a mainstay of the Capital City Men’s Chorus for the past 23 years and has seen the chorus through some tumultuous times. It is not a stretch to say that without Jeffrey’s leadership and dedication to the chorus through those tough years, the chorus might not exist today. Considering his decades of committed service, finding a suitable replacement to step into the role of Artistic Director seems an enormous task, but with the ongoing support of the chorus members and the community, the chorus will continue to thrive and entertain the Central Texas region for many years to come.
Dr. Jones-Ragona started with the chorus as an interim director in 1995 and is the longest serving Artistic Director in the chorus’s history. Throughout his tenure, he has always been generous with his time and talents. Whether it was volunteering his time to mentor new singers for performances, creating music learning files for the membership, or arranging a beautiful piece of music specifically for the chorus, Jeffrey was always ready to lend a hand. His talents and dedication have been invaluable to the success and reputation of the chorus over the years and will be sorely missed. The final concert Dr. Jones-Ragona will conduct, as Artistic Director, will be the chorus’s spring concert, April 28 and 29 at St. John’s United Methodist Church.
The Capital City Men’s Chorus is excited for the new opportunities awaiting Dr. Jones-Ragona and looks forward to his continued support and involvement with the chorus.
A plan to recruit and hire a new Artistic Director, which will include input from our members, our audience, our donors, and the community at large is being developed. A formal announcement of the position will be forthcoming.