Built From the Downbeat Up: Inside the Fountain Inn Chorale’s Next Big Crescendo

If you walk past Hopewell United Methodist Church in Simpsonville on any given Monday evening, you won’t just hear music drifting into the humid Upstate air—you’ll feel it vibrate right through the sanctuary doors. Sheet music rustles, pencils scratch quick notes above measure lines, water bottles click against chair legs, and a room full of fifty-odd neighbors locks in on a downbeat.

The Fountain Inn Chorale doesn’t just sing; they build sound from the ground up.

It all started back in 2009 with a big idea and an old, red-brick schoolhouse. Van Broad, then heading up Fountain Inn’s economic development, had a hunch that transforming a historic, CCC-built school into the Younts Center for Performing Arts could breathe fresh, creative hustle into downtown. He wanted dinner tables full, street corners buzzing, and a stage packed with local talent. Enter Randy Flowers, a doctoral conducting student from USC Columbia with big ambitions, who rounded up local singers and threw them straight into the deep end with Carl Orff’s thunderous Carmina Burana.

Bob Williams remembers those early days like it was yesterday. A lifelong singer who cut his teeth at age six with the Rock Hill Optimist Boys’ Choir, Bob had been singing alongside Jeanie Knighten at Simpsonville United Methodist Church when she nudged him toward the new group in 2010.

“I was looking for a way to use my talents in a different style of musical performances,” Bob recalls. “The Director was Randy Flowers who used the organization of the Chorale as part of his doctoral requirements. That year we performed ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana, which was indeed challenging.”

Jeanie Knighten, who signed on during year two and hasn’t left her spot on the risers since, has watched the Chorale evolve under every single director. Over the years, the scores got thicker, the harmonies grew richer, and the stages multiplied.

“The variety of music has been interesting each year,” Jeanie says. “We have sung in various locations and when two choirs joined us for a one hundred voice concert at Buncombe Street Methodist Church earlier this year it was truly a ‘mountain top’ experience.”

That mountain-top joy was earned the hard way. Much of that resilience traces back to Jane Morlan, who served as the Chorale’s Artistic Director from 2014 through 2022. Morlan became a central driving force during the ensemble’s most critical period of reinvention. When a sudden city council budget vote in June 2017 eliminated municipal funding for Younts Center performing arts groups, Morlan helped guide the Chorale through the pivotal process of securing its independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Rather than folding, singers reached into their own pockets for dues, hunted down grants, and kept rehearsals rolling under Morlan’s leadership. By 2019, the group was packing risers so full they spilled off the Younts stage, finding refuge across town at Fountain Inn First Baptist Church. When the COVID-19 pandemic silenced live choral performances worldwide, Morlan’s dedication proved essential in preserving the group’s bond, safeguarding their growing sheet music archives, and keeping the singers connected until they could safely raise their voices together again.

When they returned in the fall of 2021, they came back swinging. A music library that once barely held two dozen charts in 2014 has exploded into a 124-piece vault bursting with Vivaldi, Benjamin Britten, sweeping Appalachian bluegrass arrangements, soulful African American spirituals, and bold commissions from living composers.

Step into an FIC concert today and you’ll see the payoff immediately. Cindy Bolin loves the moments when the stage lights illuminate the front rows during student collaborations.

“I cherish the times we’ve had the pleasure of performing with students from Fountain Inn,” Cindy says. “It is such an honor to encourage choral music in the next generation. As I look out at the smiling faces of parents and patrons, I realize the power of music to bring us all together.”

Phyllis Thomas watches that electric spark happen in real time from the riser line.

“I have enjoyed all of our performances, but there are two that stand out in my mind,” Phyllis reflects. “In the fall of 2025, we performed A Festival Of Hymns, and I watched the audience as these old favorites were performed. So many were singing along, as we learned about the history of these great hymns, and enjoyed being taken back to their church roots. The other concert was our spring 2026 performance of Let Freedom Ring. It was a privilege to be able to sing about our wonderful country and celebrate the 250th anniversary as a nation. It was a moment to come together in song. I look forward to our new season.”

That upcoming season is where the energy is crackling now. Now fifty members strong, the Chorale tackles an ambitious five-concert calendar each year—two fall shows, two Christmas performances, and a grand spring finale. It keeps the ensemble running flat-out across forty weeks of rehearsals at Hopewell United Methodist Church, a breakneck pace made possible by the steady hand and professionalism of Artistic Director and Conductor Donald W. Duncan.

Duncan isn’t interested in simply keeping the lights on—he wants to stretch the envelope, expand the roster, and turn the Chorale into an undeniable cultural powerhouse across the entire Upstate.

“My vision for the Fountain Inn Chorale is to build upon its strong tradition of community music-making while continuing to grow in artistic excellence, visibility, and impact throughout the Upstate,” Duncan says. “I want the Chorale to be a place where talented singers are challenged and inspired, where audiences experience meaningful and engaging performances, and where collaboration creates lasting connections within our community. As we look to the future, I envision an organization that honors its roots while embracing new opportunities—expanding our reach, welcoming new singers and audiences, and ensuring that the joy of singing together remains at the heart of everything we do.”

Audiences will hear that vision roar to life this fall with their season opener, Together in Song: Music of South Carolina. Designed as an inspiring journey through the state’s living musical heritage, the concert weaves together African American spirituals, traditional folk songs, sacred melodies, Appalachian-inspired arrangements, and music deeply tied to the Gullah Geechee tradition.

Performances for Together in Song take place on Friday, October 23 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 PM. The holiday season will quickly follow with their annual Christmas Concert at Hopewell United Methodist Church (1420 Neely Ferry Rd, Simpsonville) on Sunday, December 13 at 3:00 PM.

Operating entirely as an independent, self-funded nonprofit, the Chorale pours every dollar from member dues, local grants, and faithful patrons right back onto the stage. Tickets, concert details, and audition announcements can be found at fichorale.org.

From surviving near-extinction to outgrowing stages and commissioning modern masterworks, the Fountain Inn Chorale has already proven what a handful of stubborn, dedicated voices can do. As they eye the regional stage and tune up for the seasons ahead, one thing is abundantly clear: they are just warming up.