When Lydia Martin first joined the Golden Triangle Singers back in 2016, she was looking for an opportunity to sing outside of her church. But what she found was a choir that can turn notes on a page into a “vocal story.”

“They love music and want to come and do it well, so we practice hard every week,” Martin, who has served as the choir’s board president for the past three years, said. “Singing with people who have like minds in the music world is a real pleasure.”

Now, the choir is planning to share all of its hard work and dedication to its musical stylings with Martin’s garden club, Belle Fleur, along with Northwood and Columbus Garden Clubs in a concert at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at Annunciation Catholic Church. The general public is also invited to enjoy the free concert, which will also act as all three garden clubs’ December meeting.

“We are happy to invite the public from Columbus and (the) surrounding area to be our guests,” Margaret Toledano with Belle Fleur Garden Club, who is coordinating the concert, told The Dispatch in an email. “We are especially proud that several club members sing with the group.”

The choir was originally founded in 2009 as the Columbus Choral Society, Martin said, though it changed its name to the Golden Triangle Singers in 2023. The group has also gone through other changes, particularly since Artistic Director and Conductor Garrett Torbert took over at the beginning of this semester, she said.

“This is the key to why we’re growing and having such success now,” Martin said. “We have finally landed the (artistic director) that we really love, and that’s Dr. Garrett Torbert.”

Torbert has served as a voice instructor at Mississippi State University for the past 5 1/2 years, though he recently announced his resignation from that role. He now serves as the full time director of the Golden Triangle Theatre, along with the Golden Triangle Singers – a group he used to accompany on piano.

“I kind of felt like my heart was leading me back to this group for a number of reasons,” Torbert said. “One in particular, my heart is being a musician. And I already knew the group well enough, and they reached out.”

When Torbert arrived, the group had about 30 singers in it, Martin said, but it now regularly boasts up to 55 singers at each concert.

“We have grown exponentially,” Torbert said. “You know, there are a lot of veteran singers, but I think this is the first semester where we have about 15-20 singers that are new. They’ve never been a part of the community chorus before, up until now.”

While Martin attributed the group’s growth directly to Torbert’s influence, Torbert said he believes a number of factors have led to the Golden Triangle Singers’ recent crescendo.

The group has recently relocated its practice space to the Lyceum at Lee, where Golden Triangle Theatre meets. The new location, Torbert said, has allowed more singers to attend rehearsals regularly.

The choir has also started partnering with other local groups, Torbert said, like the Columbus Girlchoir, who sang a piece with the women of the Golden Triangle Singers during the groups’ fall concert a few weeks ago. The group also partnered with Suzuki Strings for the concert.

Martin said the overlap of Torbert’s musical and theatrical roles have also helped the group to grow, as musicians who act for Golden Triangle Theatre have joined the choir as well, bringing “vitality and lots of energy” to the group. Having veteran singers around for rehearsals, along with so many new faces, has helped the group to grow in more than just numbers, she said.

“As we’ve had years of working together, we know each other’s personalities and just have a good time cutting up with each other,” Martin said. “And I think Dr. Torbert makes it a lot of fun. … He’s got a great sense of humor and the ability to make us laugh at ourselves as well as push us to do a better job also.”

So when the three garden clubs invited the singers to come to their December meeting, and eventually elevated the performance into a concert for the public to attend, Torbert said he was excited to make even more connections and to see the arts supported.

“They have done an exceptional job helping with raising some funds, even before they’ve heard us,” Torbert said. “Which, again, I think is a testament to seeing the arts prosper and supporting these kinds of groups in the community.”

The December concert will include some choral pieces the group performed at its fall concert, Torbert said, including both secular and sacred music. It will also include some Christmas selections, to bring in the season.