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Sound & Stage: Damon Moore and
the Master Singers of Virginia
By Traci Pasqualone | BeLocal Loudoun County
Published October 2026
A lifelong love of music, a distinctive sound and the joy of creating something together in Loudoun County
For Damon Moore, singing has been part of life for about as long as he can remember.
Actually, according to his mom, it started even earlier than that.
“She tells me that my first words were musical pitches, do re mi, and that I could sing more than a dozen songs before I turned a year old.”
He has kept singing ever since.
Today, Damon is a tenor with the Master Singers of Virginia, a select, auditioned volunteer choral ensemble based in Northern Virginia. He also serves as president of the organization’s Board of Directors and as Development Chair. But when we asked Damon about his experience with the group, he quickly shifted the attention away from himself.
“What a joy to share space with such a professional and gifted group of musicians!”
That sentiment says a lot about what the Master Singers mean to him. For Damon, choral music is not about one voice standing out. It is about what happens when individual voices come together.
Finding His Way to the Master Singers
Damon and his wife moved to Loudoun County nearly 30 years ago. Not long after, he spotted a call for auditions in a local newspaper.
He had sung with Concert Singers at Ole Miss and thought joining a community choir might be something he would enjoy again.
“I remember auditioning and being asked to stay for rehearsal. What I heard blew me away!”
He sang with the Master Singers for three years before stepping away to focus on his family and career. Eventually, music called him back.
Damon is now in his fourth season since returning to the ensemble and his seventh season overall.
The group he returned to continues a long tradition of choral music in Northern Virginia. Now in its 32nd season, the Master Singers of Virginia is made up of 47 auditioned volunteer singers under the direction of Artistic Director Dr. Don Schade.
What Makes the Master Singers Different?
Ask Damon what makes the Master Singers of Virginia special and one word immediately rises to the top:
SOUND.
“What you hear at every performance is a program that pushes boundaries of excellence across so many facets that you may not even be aware that you’re experiencing.”
Damon points to diction, dynamics, tempo, repertoire, soloist selection and even the order in which pieces appear during a concert.
He credits Dr. Schade with helping develop the ensemble’s distinctive sound through discipline, hard work, attention to detail and good vocal care.
But behind all of that precision are the people.
That is the part Damon did not want lost in telling his story. A choir works because individual singers listen to one another, work together and ultimately create something none of them could create alone.
“What a joy to share space with such a professional and gifted group of musicians!”
When a Performance Stays With You
For Damon, some performances stay with you long after the final note.
One that stands out came at the end of last season, when the Master Singers performed John Rutter’s Requiem and Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare with orchestral accompaniment.
Putting together an ambitious program like that requires more than talented singers. As a nonprofit arts organization, the Master Singers relies on support from donors and the community to help cover performance venues, rehearsal space and additional musicians when the repertoire calls for them.
Damon said receiving the community support needed to make that performance possible was something for which the group was incredibly grateful.
It is also part of why supporting the arts matters so much to him.
Why the Arts Matter
When we asked Damon what supporting and growing the arts in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia means to him, his answer went well beyond music.
“The arts inspire us to create. They help us heal, help us express joy, help us feel connected to an idea, to a truth, to each other. Our understanding of and appreciation for our lives are enriched by them.”
That connection is at the heart of the Master Singers’ mission as well. The organization works to bring challenging choral music to audiences throughout Northern Virginia, encourage young people to become involved in choral music and build greater awareness and support for the arts
.
Hear the Master Singers of Virginia in Loudoun
For anyone who has never experienced the group in person, Damon’s invitation is simple:
Come experience a concert.
The Master Singers’ 2026 Christmas program, Wolcum Yole!, includes four performances this December:
*Saturday, December 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Harmony United Methodist Church, Hamilton
*Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Sterling United Methodist Church, Sterling
*Saturday, December 19, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville
*Sunday, December 20, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Our Savior’s Way Lutheran Church, Ashburn
The 2026–27 season continues in March 2027 with Alleluia!, including performances on March 13 at The National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and March 14 at Our Savior’s Way Lutheran Church in Ashburn.
Damon is particularly excited about the March program, which will include the world premiere of a commissioned work for harp and choral ensemble by Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen.
Then in May 2027, the ensemble presents The Music of Living, with performances on May 1 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Leesburg and May 2 at Music Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Whether someone comes for the repertoire, the artistry or simply to experience live music in the community, Damon hopes they leave with an appreciation for what can happen when a roomful of individual voices becomes one.
For him, that is where the joy is.
“What a joy to share space with such a professional and gifted group of musicians!”
And maybe that is the best way to understand the Master Singers of Virginia.
It is not really the story of one singer.
It is the sound they create together.
Learn more about the Master Singers of Virginia, upcoming performances and tickets at www.msva.org
Season details verified from the Master Singers of Virginia website on October 13, 2026.
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