David A. Richardson, Conductor and Music Director

David A. Richardson is a respected choral conductor, educator, singer, and keyboardist in the Charleston Tri-County area. The 2022-2023 school year will mark Mr. Richardson's fourteenth year in Dorchester School District Two as director of choral activities at Summerville High School. He taught in the Berkeley County School District as a band director prior to his tenure in DD2. Before becoming director of choral activities at Summerville High School, he was director of choral activities at Rollings Middle School of the Arts and Fort Dorchester High School. His choirs at both Rollings and Fort Dorchester earned consistent superior ratings at festivals and adjudicated events and festivals. Mr. Richardson’s passion for choral music education reaches beyond the public school classroom as adjunct professor of music education at the College of Charleston, where he teaches courses in Elementary Music Methods, Secondary Music Methods, and Choral Literature.

Mr. Richardson currently serves as Minister of Music at Providence Church on Daniel Island, where he oversees the music ministry and ensembles. He served as music director and resident conductor of the Charleston Gospel Choir and Spiritual Ensemble for five seasons, where he led performances honoring the spiritual, Black gospel music, and other sacred works with orchestra. Mr. Richardson was the inaugural chorusmaster and conductor of the Colour of Music performance of Mozart’s Requiem in 2012 with the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

As choral clinician and guest conductor, Mr. Richardson has conducted numerous county choirs at all levels throughout the Carolinas. Mr. Richardson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with a major in voice from Charleston Southern University and a Master's of Music with a concentration in music education from Kent State University. 

Accomplishments include: Charleston Southern University Alumni of the Year, South Carolina Music Educators Association Young Music Educator of the Year, and 2016 Dorchester School District Two Honor Teacher of the Year. Mr. Richardson is currently president of the South Carolina Music Educators Association division of Choral Music.

 Dr. Valerie Bullock, Conductor Emeritus

Dr. Valerie Bullock is professor emeritus at Charleston Southern University, having retired June 30, 2016. At CSU she was chair of the Horton School of Music, professor of music and director of choral activities, where she conducted the University Concert Singers and Bel Canto as well as coordinating choral music education. She received her doctorate in choral music education from Florida State University and Master's and Bachelor degrees from the University of South Carolina.

Serving as Artistic Director and conductor of the Singers of Summerville from 2006 through her retirement in 2020, Dr. Bullock  led the Singers in numerous performances at Piccolo Spoleto, as well as a full season of major choral works such as Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Rutter’s Mass of the Children, and most recently The Requiem for the Living by Dan Forrest.

In addition to conducting the Singers of Summerville, she also served as full-time director of music ministries at Bethany United Methodist Church in Summerville, which is one of the largest Methodist churches in SC with over 3,700 members and thirteen music ensembles. Dr. Bullock conducted the Bethany Chancel Choir, Chamber Singers, Men’s Ensemble, and Women’s Ensemble as well as overseeing the entire music program.

Before her retirement, Dr. Bullock was an active member in many professional organizations including the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and Music Educators National Conference. She has served as president of the SC ACDA and was local arrangements chair for the Southern Region American Choral Directors Convention held in Charleston as well as interest session coordinator for the Southern Division ACDA Conference in Nashville. She has conducted choral clinics in Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Dr. Bullock conducted the CSU Concert Singers in numerous foreign tours including Austria, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Italy, and Scotland, as well as in three week-long choir-in-residence tours: two at York Minster in 2004 and 2006 and one at Canterbury Cathedral in 2012. In 2014, she conducted the Concert Singers throughout Catalonia performing concerts in Barcelona, Girona, and Palafrugel. In February 2015, she prepared the Concert Singers for a concert with Edward Higgenbottom, and in May 2015 conducted them in New York City at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Wall Street. Dr. Bullock also prepared the students for their performance with the Bach Society of Charleston in March 2016. In June of 2016, Dr. Bullock conducted the CSU Concert Singers as they performed in Budapest, Hungary, and Vienna, Austria.

Joe Swisher, Assistant Conductor

Joe Swisher has taught general and choral music to over 15,000 students in four Berkeley County Schools for thirty-one years. A National Board Certified teacher, he has led a large award-winning choral program at College Park Middle school for the past fourteen years. He has also directed Berkeley County's talented and gifted choral program each summer for most of his career.

Joe has written, won, and administered several large grants for his programs through the years. He has been elected Teacher of the Year by his peers twice. Joe has mentored several student teachers, and is proud of the remarkable number of his former students who currently teach music throughout the Lowcountry and beyond.

He earned a Bachelor of Education from West Virginia University, and studied school administration at Charleston Southern University. Additionally, he has served as music director of Peace Presbyterian Church in Goose Creek for twenty-two years, and sang in the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Singers' Guild for many years.

Joe has diverse interests, from real estate to technology to motorcycles, but his greatest joy comes from time with his wife, Carol, and his three grown children. Joe has sung with the Singers of Summerville since 2010, and recently enjoyed the stage at the Flowertown Players of the James F. Dean Theatre as music director and performer for the summer benefit performances of “From the Front Lines to the Home Front.”

Paul H. Fletcher, Founding Director

Paul H. Fletcher founded then directed the Singers of Summerville for three years. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

While in the Summerville area, he was a vocal artist in residence at Charleston Southern University (CSU) where, in addition to maintaining an active voice studio, he taught a course in music appreciation and directed the university's men's chorus, the Singing Buccanners.

Prior to coming to CSU, he served seven years as the director of music ministries at Bethany United Methodist Church in Summerville, where he directed and oversaw a music program of twelve ensembles. Prior to moving to South Carolina, he served in churches and colleges in Alabama, Texas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the College of Wooster, a Master's of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois, and has pursued the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, where he served as personal assistant to the esteemed choral musician, Robert Fountain.