The Southern Singing Festival
at Coker University
Southern Singing Festival
Friday, January 31, 2025 – Saturday, February 1, 2025
Join us on the beautiful campus of Coker University for a vibrant, two-day music festival featuring Southern vocal music! This festival will include choral music rooted in gospel, spirituals, bluegrass, and Dixieland jazz, vocal masterclasses with Dr. Elizabeth Holmes, and a gospel workshop led by Ms. Megerlyn Davis, all of which will culminate in a final concert under the direction of Dr. Kevin Crowe.
- Who: High School Choral Directors & Students
- When: Friday, January 31 – February 1, 2025
- Schedule: 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day, with a final concert on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
- How: Commute or Stay Overnight
- Cost: $10 for commuters or $40 to stay overnight (fee waivers available for students who demonstrate financial need)
Who You’ll Meet
Elizabeth Holmes, Clinical Assistant Professor of Voice, Coker University
Dr. Elizabeth Holmes is a versatile performer and teacher of singing, specializing in classical and musical theater styles. She holds a DMA from Shenandoah University, an MM from West Virginia University, and a BA from Emory University. She is also a certified 200-hour yoga teacher. Her students have achieved a wide variety of goals, including appearances on The Voice, professional performances off-Broadway and in regional opera and musical theater companies, leading roles in school and community productions, entry to elite choirs, admission to competitive undergraduate and graduate music programs, and careers in music therapy and music education. Dr. Holmes teaches Applied Voice and related courses at Coker University.
Dr. Kevin Crowe, Director of Choral Activities at Coker University
Dr. Kevin Crowe is a choral conductor and music educator with a passion for diverse musical styles and the preservation and performance of the music of marginalized communities. He received the Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from the University of Tennessee and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina, where he was awarded the LaDare Robinson Graduate Award for Academic Excellence and the School of Music Social Justice Award for his work in the LGBTQ+ community. Dr. Crowe has presented and taught at conferences across the country as well as in Canada and Taiwan, and his award-winning research has primarily focused on choral responses to the AIDS epidemic and music in video games. He currently teaches conducting, aural skills, and music education courses in addition to directing the Coker Singers.
L. Megerlyn Davis, Director of Choral Activities at Wilson High School
L. Megerlyn Davis is in her twentieth year of teaching and currently serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Wilson High School. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Columbia College in Columbia, SC, and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. At Wilson, Davis serves as the Fine Arts Department Chair and is a founding member of the JAM
team, an initiative aimed at boosting faculty and staff morale. She also played a key role in
establishing Wilson’s Faculty and Staff Choir. Previously, she conducted the Florence One
Schools Faculty and Staff Choir, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Choir. Additionally, Davis has served as a guest clinician for the Williamsburg All-County Junior and Senior Choral Music Festivals. In 2017, Davis was honored as Florence One Schools’ District Teacher of the Year for the 2017-2018 academic year. In 2019, she co-presented What’s Your Building’s Morale? at the South Carolina Alliance of Black Educators Conference. Most recently, in October 2023, Davis was inducted into the Wilson High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Davis has pursued further studies at Loyola Marymount University, the University of Louisiana Monroe, Clemson University, Converse University, and Marywood University.