Martha Shaw sees the choir’s performances as more than just notes hanging in the air, reaching and delighting the ears of the audience.

"So much of the great children’s repertoire is written so that students can easily connect to the text and ... share that with the audience," she said.

"And there’s a real connection, a communication rather than a performance. When we connect to something that is that beautiful, it is really a fantastic feeling for the performer and the audience."

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, based at Clayton State University in Morrow, plans to bring that experience to a performance set for 3 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian Church, 800 S. Enota Drive, Gainesville.

The show will mark the first appearance in Hall County for the group, founded in 1994 by Shaw.

The group’s performance will wrap up Gainesville’s ProMusica Concert Series for 2009-10.

"We were asked by (ProMusica vice president) Mike Henry to come to Hall County and we were delighted to do so," said Shaw, whose sister is Kathy Amos, director of the Brenau University Learning and Leisure Institute.

Shaw founded the group at the request of Morrow-area administrators and teachers craving a children’s choir for south of Atlanta.

The choir began with 45 children and now has grown to three choirs featuring nearly 160 children, drawing from
17 counties.

"We’ve been all over the world and record every three to four years," said Shaw, also the director of choral activities at Shorter College in Rome. "We have had quite a successful run. We’ve been very blessed."

The program aims to provide professional instruction in vocals, musicianship and choral performance.

"Involvement also enhances young people’s lives, helping them to develop self-reliance, personal integrity, responsibility, compassion, teamwork and confidence in their abilities," according to Web information about the choir.

Shaw said the group particularly enjoys creating interest in children’s choirs in places that don’t have them.

"I think children all over America should be singing in choirs," she said. "It’s such a wonderful experience and teaches them so much."