Stephen Mitchell, Director of Music Ministries
smitchell@athensfirstumc.org
Stephen W. Mitchell is currently Director of Music Ministries at Athens First United Methodist Church, Athens, Georgia, where he oversees an extensive choral, instrumental and handbell program for all ages.

Prior to coming to Athens, Stephen was Director of Music at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham Alabama. A native of Pensacola, Florida, Stephen holds a B.A. in Music from Birmingham-Southern College.

From 1992-1996, Stephen was a Choral Scholar at Wells Cathedral in Well, England, where he sang daily choral evensong in the choir of men and boys. In addition, the choir toured France, Germany and Brazil, made several recordings and performed live for TV and radio broadcasts.

Stephen is currently dean of the Northeast Georgia Chapter of the
American Guild of Organists and Southeastern Jurisdictional
Representative for the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and
Worship Arts.

Stephen is number 5 in a family of 6 six kids. In his free time he likes
the outdoors, the beach, traveling and shopping!

 

Carol Reeves, Director of Children's Music
creeves@athensfirstumc.org
Carol Reeves is Director of Children’s Music at Athens First United Methodist Church. Carol holds a Masters of Music Education from the University of Georgia and a Bachelors of Science in Music Education from Auburn University. She has over twenty-five years experience in directing children’s choirs and teaching music to children in schools and churches in Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. She possesses a keen interest in early childhood music, and specifically the child’s singing voice.

Carol has received specialized training in early childhood music education and is trained and licensed in both Musikgarten and Kindermusik curricula. She has studied with prominent children’s choral clinicians including Henry Leck and Martha Shaw.

Carol has been a clinician for the younger elementary children’s choir for Music and Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, NC sponsored by the Fellowship of United Methodist Music and Worship Arts. In addition, she is a member of the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Choristers Guild, Fellowship of United Methodist Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), and Northeast Georgia Chapter of The American Guild of Organists.

 

Janis Maxwell, Associate Director of Music
janis@athensfirstumc.org
Janis Maxwell is the Associate Director of Music Ministries at Athens First United Methodist Church.  She has been on the music staff here since 1998, serving in a mulititude of capacities including accompanist, organist, youth and adult choral director, handbell director, and acolyte coordinator, and served on the Interim Team for Director of Music from December 1999 until July 2001.

Currently,  Janis directs the Women's Chorus and the Celebrate Chimes and accompanies (along with Mary Ann Fitzgerald) the adult choirs and the Sunday worship services.  In addtion, Janis serves as the Acolyte Coordinator, supervizing 45 youth acolytes for three services weekly.

Janis holds an Associate in Piano Performance from Anderson College in Anderson, South Carolina and is currently working on the Bachelors of Arts in Music from the University of Georgia, studying organ with Dr. Jolene Davis.  Janis has community experience with various theatre groups and has served as an accompanist for the past three years at Music and Worship Arts Week at Lake Junaluska.  She is a member of American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Fellowship of United Methodists Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA), Choristers Guild, American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR), and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).  Janis is married to Mark Maxwell and they have three children,  Rush (12), Morgan (9), and Brooks (7).

 

Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Organist
mfitzger@coe.uga.edu
Mary Ann Fitzgerald has served as Organist in Methodist churches for over twenty years.  Born in Macon, Georgia, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Wesleyan College.  She taught in Georgia public schools for 11 years, and holds teaching credentials in the areas of middle grades education, school library media, and music education.  She earned her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from The University of Georgia in 1998 and is now an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at UGA.  Her church positions included Southside UMC and Centenary UMC in Macon before coming to First UMC of Athens in 1999.