This month marks the end of an era for the choral program at Paducah Tilghman High School. Long-time choir director and teacher Art Deweese is retiring after 22 years in the classroom.
During his tenure, Deweese has shaped an award-winning choral program; his students have performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and even sung masses at St. Mark’s in Venice as well as the Vatican. The Grand Rivers native has also guided high school students to professional caliber vocal performances in three recent musicals at PTHS, Les Miserables, Jekyll and Hyde, and Fiddler on the Roof. Todd Hatton went to Paducah Tilghman one sunny afternoon to speak to Art Deweese, a man who’s become something of a tradition himself, about his career, and his future.