Meet Angela Burns | Artistic Director and Founder of Wilmington Voices

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela Burns and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In January of 2022, following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to create a professional choir in my hometown of Wilmington NC. The ensemble would be named Wilmington Voices and focus on rebuilding a sense of community and connection across diverse groups of people in New Hanover County and the surrounding areas.
At the onset the goal was for Wilmington Voices to present choral music of the highest caliber to the communities of Eastern North Carolina and ensure that people from all walks of life have free access to high quality music and outreach programming. We would encourage new talent from all walks of life to audition for our ensemble while recognizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Following college I began teaching private voice and piano as well as middle school. My hat is off to all public school teachers! I knew quickly that was not the job for me. About three months into my position an audition was posted in the New York Opera Newsletter for a Mezzo Soprano opening in the official chorus of the United States Air Force, the Singing Sergeants.
This ensemble is the premiere chorus that performs for the President, Vice-President and high-ranking officiants in Washington DC. The singers are amazing to say the least and it’s one of four full-time choral gigs in the world. So, yes, I went and auditioned. Again, as fate would have it I won the spot and off I went into the Air Force.
After completing basic training I began my musical career with the ensemble. There isn’t enough time to tell you about my career! It was an amazing job where I not only sang for Presidents, at Presidential funerals, but I also sang on HBO specials, at the White House, for Tuskegee Airmen, and too many stars to name. None were more special than the veterans we sang for during concerts/events. I was a soloist, choir member, conductor and eventually highest-ranking member and leader of the chorus at the end of my tenure with the ensemble. I am proud of my time in the Air Force and retired at the highest enlisted rank of Chief Master Sergeant.
Was it easy? No it wasn’t easy, but I learned so much and it shaped my life! I learned how to be the best performer in a no fail environment before Presidents. I mean, how many people can say that about their lives?

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Obviously when friends visit the first place we go is to the beach! We would eat at Oceanic which is on the pier extended over the water at Wrightsville Beach. The view is spectacular. I’m originally from Wilmington so I like places off the beaten path such as Britts doughnuts. I’m not even a doughnut person but these doughnuts are melt in the mouth delicious.
While visiting the beach we’d walk the infamous boardwalk at Carolina Beach. We might take a ferry ride from Ft. Fisher after visiting the aquarium, over to Southport to tool around and have a quick bite at Provisions, made famous in a Nicolas Sparks movie. Also, we must go downtown and take a stroll on the Riverwalk. Maybe you get some small bites at Circa 1922 so you can share everything with one another.
Hopefully the rain would hold off and we could go to a concert or oyster roast at Airlie Gardens or one presented by my professional choir, Wilmington Voices. Sounds like a lovely week!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe my drive and musical ability first off to my mother, Connie Creech-Burns and my grandparents. They were the ones that encouraged my skillset as a singer, pianist, dancer, performer and conductor throughout my career. I was also shaped at an early age by a music teacher in the fourth grade.
As a young child I auditioned for the choir and she told me that I should “find another activity to excel in.” I was heartbroken because I loved to sing. I sang everywhere! The following year, that teacher had retired so when the principal came over the loud speaker and asked “all children who participated in choir the previous year please come to the auditorium,” I decided to go. What would they do? They might send me back to class or I might get to sing. Well, as fate would have it, my musical career began that day. So in an odd way, I owe my career to that teacher who turned me away and the little girl who kept chasing her dream!

Website: https://www.wilmingtonvoices.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilmingtonvoices

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilmingtonVoices

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wilmingtonvoices

Image Credits
Image Credit Jenna Corley
Image Credit Cory Reifert