About Us
The Sugar Hill Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, established in September 2005, is a service-oriented musical organization with 70-plus volunteer musicians from throughout Northern Georgia. With some traveling nearly three hours round trip, choir members meet weekly during the concert season to learn and perfect a variety of music including sacred, spiritual, classical, patriotic, folk and Broadway. The choir provides free public concerts to build musical bridges into the community to promote goodwill and understanding. Nominated in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as one of the best church choirs in Gwinnett, the Sugar Hill Choir has participated in a variety of events and brings a high level of professionalism and energy to each performance. Past events include participation in Atlanta’s Festival of Trees, Lighting of Gainesville, Sugar Hill Tree Lighting, Gainesville’s Multi-Cultural Concert, City of Norcross’ July Patriotic Celebration, Suwanee Memorial Weekend Event, Lilburn’s Veteran Day’s Celebration and Sugar Hill’s Fall Festival. The choir has also been invited to perform with several churches in the metro area in addition to receiving invitations to participate in international concerts abroad.
In April 2006, the choir formed a partnership with the accomplished musicians of the Gwinnett Community Band, to perform together as part of the spring concerts. In addition, the band and choir have performed jointly at several events around Northern Georgia including the City of Norcross’ July Patriotic event, City of Lilburn’s Veteran Day’s Celebration and the Gwinnett Daily Post’s Suwanee Memorial Day Concert. Established in 1984, the band’s strong reputation includes being named one of the top five bands in the United States. The two groups perform in the spring choir concerts every other year.
Pamela Gates, Founder
Pamela has been a choir director for more than 40 years and was the founding director of the Sugar Hill Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Musically trained as an opera singer, Pamela has performed in Germany as well as with several opera companies in the United States. She was recognized by the Seattle opera with the Grane Award -- given to aspiring Wagnerian sopranos. In addition, Pamela also was a top 15 finalist in the Western Region Metropolitan Opera auditions and a winner of the Southern California National Teachers of Singing auditions. She has given extensive recitals and has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras. Pamela and her husband, Jim, were residents of Gwinnett County for decades and are now living out of state to be closer to family.
Jim Carter, Director
Jim has more than 25 years of experience in directing choirs and has been associated with the Sugar Hill Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over a decade in various roles including associate director, organist, and chorister (tenor and bass). He has taught numerous group and private organ and piano students and serves as organist in his local congregation. Jim graduated with a double-major in Elementary Education and in Organ Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University, where he also played the bassoon in the Philharmonic and Chamber orchestras. He received his MEd in Educational Leadership from Mercer University. Jim and his wife, Rebecca, have seven children and live in Gainesville.
Sarah Peterson, Sugar Hill Choir Chair
After singing soprano with the Sugar Hill Choir for more than a decade, Sarah was named Sugar Hill Choir Chair in August 2024. She works in tandem with Director Jim Carter to oversee the day-to-day responsibilities of the choir and its board.
Sarah loves playing the piano and organ and has been teaching music lessons for more than 11 years. She has faithfully served as an organist for her church congregation since she was a teenager. A native of Idaho, Sarah has happily called Suwanee, Georgia. home since 2006. She is a mother of six kids and two grandchildren.
Lauren Taylor, Accompanist
Lauren has been playing the piano for nearly 25 years and has more than 15 years of experience as a choir accompanist, including 6 years with the Sugar Hill Choir. She also sang soprano and performed in small group ensembles with the Sugar Hill Choir. Lauren is an accomplished violinist and performed in the Mountain View High School Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra prior to attending college. Lauren attended the University of Georgia, where she performed in the Women's Glee Club and the Philharmonia Orchestra. She received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from UGA and her Master of Music with a concentration in Music Education, from the University of West Georgia. A native of Lawrenceville, Georgia, Lauren teaches orchestra at Pace Academy and currently resides in Johns Creek, Georgia.