Julian Young
B.A., M.Ed.
Director of the Men’s Chorus
Co-Founder, Artistic Director and Member of the Board of Directors of the Florence Men’s Choral Society

Mark S. Railey
B.A. (with honors), Ouachita Baptist University; M.Div. (Adv.), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; D.Sc. (honorus causus), Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary; D.Min. (cand.) The Fuller Theological Seminary; Additional Studies: Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University.
Founder and Director of the Palmetto State Boys Choir
Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of the Florence Men’s Choral Society

Betsy Johnson
B.M., Converse College; M.M.Ed., University of Michigan.
Principal Accompanist of the Florence Men’s Choral Society

Mr. Young’s music education and experience includes a decade of piano lessons from the late Eva Moore, singing in the choir at McClenagen High School under the direction of Margaret Norwood, singing in the South Carolina All State Chorus, and singing in the chorus at Francis Marion University under the direction of Dr. Adrian Ketcham. At the University of South Carolina, Mr. Young studied voice under Mr. Eugene Ferguson and opera under Dr. Donald Gray.  Mr. Young performed in The Magic Flute with the Columbia Lyric Opera, studied choral conducting at USC, and participated in a male chorus under the baton of Dr. Arpad Daraz. In 2007, he co-founded (with Mark Railey) the Florence Men’s Choral Society. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association.

Mr. Young has performed in many theatrical productions with the Florence Little Theatre and The Dillon County Theatre including West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, The Exact Center of the Universe, and Bye Bye Birdie.  Since 1996, he has also performed with the Mastersingers USA under the direction of Professor Bruce McInnes.

A native of Florence, Mr. Young is the Director of Alumni Affairs at Francis Marion University.  He is married to Becky and they have a 16 year old son, Russell.

Mr. Railey’s music education and experience includes piano lessons from the late Elenore Williams of Houston, TX, singing in the choir, Johnny Reb Singers, and Madrigal Chorus of Southside High School in Fort Smith, AR, singing in the Arkansas All Region and All State Choirs, and studying theory and composition under Dr. Francis McBeth of Ouachita Baptist University.  At the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mr. Railey studied voice under Dr. Thomas W. Bolton and composition under Dr. Phillip Landgrave.

In the mid-1980’s, Mr. Railey served as an accompanist and arranger at Glaubenszentrum in Bad Gandersheim, Germany, and since then as a Minister of Music in churches in Texas, Arkansas, and Kentucky.  Most recently, Mr. Railey served as the Interim Organist and Choir Master of All Saints Episcopal Church in Florence, SC.  In 2007, he co-founded (with Julian Young) the Florence Men’s Choral Society. As part of the music education goals of the Society, in 2008, he founded the Palmetto State Boys Choir.  He is the Assistant Director of the Florence Men’s Choral Society.  He occasionally accompanies the choir on the piano or organ. In 2009, he attended the XVI National Choral Conference at the American Boychoir School in Princeton.

For the past four years, Mr. Railey has taught social studies at Darlington Middle School. He is married to Katie and they have three sons: Joshua is a Freshman at Erskine University, Caleb is a senior at South Florence High School, and Nathan is an eighth grader at Southside Middle School.  All three sons are engaged in music in some way.  The two older sons have played in the string section of the local symphony.  The younger son is a member of the Florence District One Musically Exceptional (DOME) program and sings in the Palmetto State Boys Choir.

Ms. Johnson taught in public and private schools in Michigan, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and is a former choral and strings teacher in Florence District One Schools.  Currently, she is the principal flutist with the Florence Symphony Orchestra and the piano accompanist for Wilson Hight School Tiger Productions.  Ms. Johnson previously served First Presbyterian Church of Florence as Director of Music Ministries and now holds that position at Darlington Presbyterian Church.