About Us
A Brief History
The Arroyo Singers is a non-profit women's choir that was founded in 1961 by a group of Cal Tech faculty wives. Today, we are a group of adult women from all walks of life who share a love of singing and good fellowship. Our membership is drawn from the Pasadena area and surrounding communities.
Each year the group presents a winter and spring concert that features a wide variety of musical genres and is often accompanied by guest instrumentalists. Traditionally, the Arroyo Singers also give informal performances, upon request, at various community events, senior centers, or retirement communities.
New members are always welcome to join! For more information, contact us at: arroyosingers1961@gmail.com.
Kirk Averitt, Music Director
Kirk Averitt is a conductor, vocalist, and music educator. In addition to this work with the Arroyo Singers, Kirk conducts the choirs at California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley in Duarte, and the Chancel Choir at Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist in Arcadia. An active singer in Los Angeles, Kirk performs with Choral Arts Initiative, Quartz Ensemble, C3LA, and Voices of Christmas. In addition to his work as a musician, Kirk is the Managing Director for The Resonance Collective, an arts non-profit in downtown Los Angeles that focuses on the intersection of creative and spiritual practice.
Before moving to Southern California, Kirk served as Director of Choral Music at Beaver Country Day School and The Congregational Church of Weston in Boston, MA. He has worked with choral ensembles around the globe. In 2019, his choir from Beaver Country Day shared a week in residence with ensembles at Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, . Kirk has also conducted and performed with Viatores Mundi in Bol, Croatia. A choral ensemble he co-founded in 2019.
Originally from Decatur, AL, Kirk holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelors in Vocal Music Education from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN.
Announcing our new collaborative pianist, Aaron Shows!
Welcome to our newest addition to the Arroyo Singers, our amazing and talented accompanist, Aaron Shows. You'll be seeing him in June, at our Spring concert!
Aaron Shows (b.1989) is a Los Angeles-based composer, organist, and pianist originally from Montgomery, Alabama. With a musical background spanning over 25 years, his influences draw from many centuries and styles, from the traditional Baroque era through contemporary genres such as jazz, folk/bluegrass, rock, and also with a particular interest in the evolving forms of film and television music. His original compositions are often performed and well-received across the United States and Europe, and he continues to compose for mediums including film/TV, concert music, and sacred settings. In January of this year, he released his first instrumental album, "Pipewave", blending the retro sounds of 1980's synthesizers with an acoustic pipe organ of over 3,000 pipes! Additionally, his solo organ compositions are published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As an organist, his performances often bridge the traditional and modern, and since 2016, he has served as organist at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena. He is also an active accompanist for local middle and high school choral programs, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Glendale Community College, both as an accompanist and instructor of organ and composition. His organ and piano playing can be heard in Hollywood films, most recently in "The Addams Family" (MGM, 2019), "The Addams Family 2" (MGM, 2021), and "It's a Wonderful Binge" (Hulu, 2022).
Aaron holds an MFA in Film Music Composition from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), and a BFA in Church Music from Shenandoah University (Winchester, Virginia).
For more information, and to catch his weekly livestream broadcasts (Sundays at 5 pm PST), follow Aaron on YouTube (YouTube.com/Aaron Shows), Facebook (Facebook.com/ShowsMusic), and Instagram (@AaronShowsMusic). To hear recordings of his music, visit aaronshows.bandcamp.com, as well as on your favorite music-streaming platforms.
