On Oct. 9, Greg Colson will lead the choir of the Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in east Cobb for the last time. After six years, Colson, 83, is retiring as organist and choir master.
This isn’t the Buckhead musician’s first attempt at retiring. In fact, the final service next week caps the end of a 43-year career that saw many final farewells.
“I left Grace Methodist Church downtown after 20 years, and I also did a few years at Northside Methodist, Northside Drive Baptist and Peachtree Christian,” said Colson. “I’ve been a church organist since I was 15 and got my first job with a church in Nashville. It will be interesting now to see if I sleep through on Sunday mornings.”
Colson, who conducts and plays from a wheelchair, leaves behind more than Sunday memories. An accomplished and well-known local artist, he has played for Elton John and Paul McCartney and toured Europe 40 times with the late chorale master Robert Shaw.
But before he took up conducting, Colson was at the piano. His professional music career began in the seventh grade, when he was paid $1 by a Lions Club to play 30 minutes of music for its meetings. Much of the money went toward buying 5-cent sheets of music.
In high school, Colson won a state musical competition and scholarship, and went on to earn a master’s in piano at George Peabody College in Nashville. His spending money came from positions as church organist, but he quickly realized his main interest was conducting chorales. He is perhaps best known for the chorale that carried his name for 30 seasons, the Greg Colson Chorale.
“It was a wonderful group but it ended in 2000,” said Colson. “It turns out we only thrilled very small groups.”
Colson and Betty, his wife of 56 years, moved to Atlanta 47 years ago and still live in the house they bought by the side of Peachtree Creek. Betty Colson, a respected vocal teacher, still instructs about 20 students a week out of their home studio.
Colson’s accomplishments also include working as Shaw’s rehearsal accompanist and organist; heading the Georgia Tech music department, where he started the Georgia Tech Chorale; and teaching at Emory and Georgia State universities and the Lovett School.
“She and I have had a wonderful time,” said Colson. “To make music is a God-given talent and a blessing. The thing that’s been my greatest satisfaction is that I’ve given pleasure and found beauty in music all my life.”
The couple recently learned that the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta will honor them Dec. 3 for their long contributions to the local music scene. The event is scheduled to take place at Glenridge Hall in Sandy Springs.
But first, Colson will direct his choir for the last time at St. Peter and St. Paul’s next Sunday, and he’ll follow that with a free, farewell concert at 3 p.m. He expects the event, which will include some of his favorite chorale works, to be his final musical appearance.
“I don’t think I’ll organize any chorales after this,” he said. “There’s the possibility that I’ll get industrious and teach again, but I don’t have any plans.”
About the Author
