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There is a moment in chamber singing when the air feels suspended — when every breath, every vowel, every overtone aligns with such clarity that the sound seems to glow. That is the sound of Tempus. This elite chamber choir, founded in 2018 by artistic director Dr. Melodie G. Galloway, delivers precision, translucence, and extraordinary artistry in the choral realm. Every singer carries the strength, training, and musical discipline to create a chamber sound of striking clarity and emotional immediacy. “Tempus allows us to explore the extraordinary intimacy of choral music,” says Galloway, “In a chamber setting, every line is exposed, every harmony is transparent. The work of Tempus is about creating a sound that feels suspended in time — warm, luminous, and deeply human.”
Based in Asheville, Tempus stands as both a celebration of individual artistry and a testament to the foundation provided by the Asheville Choral Society’s 130-voice chorus. The excellence cultivated in the larger ensemble is distilled here into a chamber experience of remarkable refinement — elevating the organization’s artistic reach while remaining rooted in its collective strength.
Melodie Galloway
Melodie Galloway
Artistic Director
"As a conductor, artistic director, and educator, Dr. Melodie Galloway is known as someone who brings people together through music that captures the beauty of the human experience. Since becoming the Artistic Director of the Asheville Choral Society in 2011, she has grown the organization while expanding the breadth of its repertoire, raising vocal/choral quality, and promoting community outreach. In addition, as Professor of Music at UNC Asheville, her student choirs have performed for numerous state and local events, including the NC Governor’s Mansion in 2024, and for invited performances as part of the Holiday Open House at the White House each fall (2006-2022), including a private audience with President and Mrs. Obama in 2012.
Through her research into Celtic voices and connections to Appalachia, she was recently named the Ruth Paddison Distinguished Professor of Music and Drama. Her “Exploring Music Migrations as Markers for Cultural Identities” project aims to explore how songs hold the stories of the human experience. As chief research officer, she is in the process of curating and cataloging the musical archives from NPR’s 40+ year-running, award-winning program, The Thistle & Shamrock, in partnership with founder and internationally recognized Scottish musician & radio personality Fiona Ritchie.
Dr. Galloway holds a master’s degree from Florida State University in Vocal Performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her experience as a conductor includes a 2012 Carnegie Hall invited performance, featuring 200 singers and orchestra, and the Eastern European premiere of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, 2017, with combined chorus and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra (Kraków) in Vienna, Prague and Salzburg. Among her original compositions, Gloria, written as an expression of the acute loneliness and silence caused by the COVID pandemic with the hope of coming back together in song, is a work for SATB choir, brass, and percussion. Her continued scholarship includes the choral/orchestral music of legendary jazz artist Dave Brubeck; how to combat the effects of aging on the voice; singing and wellness; and the migration of Celtic music to Appalachia. She is in demand as a choral clinician, guest conductor, composer, arranger, and consultant."
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