Joy Simons has a song to sing and is helping others do the same.
Simons is the conductor and music director for Verde Valley Voices, an organization that for nearly two decades has given people the opportunity to sing and share their voices with the public. The group puts on a couple of public performances a year.
Recently, Simons and other members of VVV were at Dead Horse Ranch State Park for Verde River day to promote the Voices and their next performance.
That next show will be Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cottonwood. Rehearsals started last month for the Christmas concert.
A founding member of the Voices, Simons was its first conductor 1997 and was recently reappointed to the position.
She was conductor for five years before moving on to other pursuits.
“I decided it was time to get back into it,” Simons said.
Simons has been involved with music all her life.
Originally from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, Simons said she grew up in a musical family.
Her parents were musicians and they made sure everyone knew how to play an instrument, including the human voice.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 7, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
