Terry Sanford

Terry Sanford is well-known in the Chattanooga music community as a pianist, singer, conductor, and teacher. Terry has a Bachelor’s in Music Education and a Master’s in Music Theory from the University of Montevallo. He spent over 20 years as a music educator specializing in high school choral music and serving at several schools in the Chattanooga area including Tyner and Hixson High Schools. After leaving formal teaching Terry took a position as an administrative assistant at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and is currently the budget manager for the College of Arts and Sciences at UTC. Terry is on staff at Brainerd Methodist Church as pianist and bass section leader. He is also the musical director for Closed Door Entertainment, a community musical theater company, where he has directed and performed as principal keyboard in productions of Les Miserables, Titanic the Musical, Shrek the Musical, Children of Eden, Next to Normal, The Last Five Years, and most recently West Side Story. Terry has performed as a singer and baritone soloists with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Chorus (and was also rehearsal pianist), Chattanooga Choral Arts, and Voce Virili. Terry continues his profession as a teacher in both rehearsals he conducts, and in his private voice studio. Terry considers one of his greatest honors as working with Jazz Legend Dave Brubeck, for whom he transcribed most of Dave’s choral music for publication. Terry’s high school choir appeared with Dave at the piano in a concert of Brubeck choral music at the 2000 Music Educator’s National Conference in 2000 – the only time Dave Brubeck ever accompanied a high school choir. “The scariest experience I ever had was sharing a piano bench with Dave – I was playing the accompaniment to his setting of Alleluia from Dave’s Mass and Dave was supposed to play the jazz break. When it was finished I literally had to put my hands over his and take over on the next beat while he slid off the bench and I slid on. I was terrified I was going to push him off the bench onto the floor.” Terry says his greatest credit is when Dave told him “you never have to worry about having a job. You could be a bar pianist at any bar in the world.” This statement goes on all Terry’s resumes! Terry is also proud to have worked with Roland Carter in transcribing arrangements for publication by Mar-Vel publishing. He is honored to have prepared the chorus for this performance of Der Vampyr and hopes to work with Scenic City Opera again soon. “Toi, toi, toi” to the cast and crew!