Alyese Cross
Alyese Cross, a native of Fayetteville, GA, is in year two of being Hollis Hand Elementary’s Music and Arts teacher. Education and music have always been significant in her life, so it’s only natural that she incorporates her love of music with her passion for teaching. Since a young age, she has been “teaching,” playing both school and teacher with her sisters. In fourth grade, for Christmas, she asked for teachers’ equipment, such as an overhead projector, whiteboards, and all the works. Just as she played teacher growing up, Cross has also played music since a young age. She always knew that teaching and music would be a part of her life.
“My older sister started taking piano lessons when she turned 5. It was her birthday present, and I wanted to be like her. So I started taking lessons when I was three years old. My sister eventually dropped it, but I kept going with it. I loved my lessons; my sister, not so much. I was known as the ‘piano player’ in my family. I played the piano, and my sister sang.”
Throughout her childhood, Cross participated in her church’s choir. She volunteered at summer camp in her church. Her faith has been a constant in her life, and she loves singing gospels. While growing up, singing gospels felt natural and like home.
“People always ask me what I like to sing, and there’s nothing better than singing good gospel songs. Songs that are about faith and encouraging and inspiring. That’s the root of all music; music comes from that. That kind of music always pulls me in and grounds me.”
Cross is an alum of both LaGrange College and Belmont University. At LaGrange, she attended with the intention to study Piano Performance, but changed her mind and switched to Vocal Performance her junior year after taking voice lessons.
“I was involved in Choir at the college, and my Choir teacher stopped me one day and convinced me to start taking voice lessons. I had not taken any voice lessons up to that point, my junior year of college. I ended up loving it; I loved them so much. I honestly loved them more than my piano lessons, so I switched majors from Piano Performance to Vocal Performance.”
At Belmont University, she received her Master’s and had the fantastic opportunity of participating in a fellowship with the Nashville Opera. Because she was a fellow, she participated in the Opera’s Chorus and all of their productions, including a touring Children’s Opera.
Cross was drawn back to the community after college and grad school and took a job at LaGrange Academy, teaching music to ages Pre-K through 12th grade. At LaGrange Academy, Cross conducted Chorus and trained her students, just as her choral teachers trained her. Being a Music Teacher allowed her to blend two of her loves: music and education. Cross is now the Music and Arts Teacher at Hollis Hand Elementary and loves it.
“At LaGrange Academy, I conducted Chorus and trained girls for literary competitions. I grew up in middle school and high school doing those same things, and now I’m teaching it. So to come full circle, that’s pretty amazing. I love kids, and I love my job. I can share my love and joy of music with children and hopefully inspire them with the same level of passion that I had growing up and still have to this day. There’s nothing cooler than that.”
While attending LaGrange College, this community made an impression on Cross. She moved away for grad school and chose to come back to settle and build a family. For a small town like ours, LaGrange dreams and thinks big when it comes to the arts. We have multiple concert venues, such as Sweetland Amphitheatre and Pure Life House of Music (formerly known as Pure Life Studios), and multiple opportunities for weekly gigs. You can find live music in all corners of LaGrange.
“The live music scene in LaGrange is nothing like Fayetteville. It wasn’t a thing there when I was growing up. It’s awesome for small-town LaGrange that they are doing something like that. Multiple nights of the week, you can go out to eat, and there’s someone playing music. Then you add in LaGrange College and the community they have built there; as students studying music, we were constantly given opportunities for gigs. I didn’t realize gigging was a thing until then. That doesn’t happen in other small towns. The support and community that LaGrange has are one of the things that makes LaGrange so special.”
Alyese Cross is vibrant, and her lively energy is contagious. She is passionate about children and music and instilling dreams and ambitions in our young people. She is a talented and driven young woman. You will have the wonderful opportunity to listen to Alyese and get to know her on May 1 at ListenLaGrange, a benefit music festival to fight poverty. All donations go to support Circles of Troup County. For more information, visit our social media or purelifelagrange.com.