Staff Musicians

Jillian Durant

Jillian Durant, soprano, is a versatile and dynamic performing artist who was recently named Savannah’s Best Local Vocalist by Connect Savannah. Known for her soaring high notes and effortless legato, Jillian has been performing recitals and masterworks since 2012 – most notably for The Friends of Cathedral Music, The Savannah Philharmonic, Moon River Opera, Savannah Arts Academy, Georgia Southern University, and Savannah State University.

Jillian earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in vocal performance from Georgia Southern University, where she held leadership roles with Georgia Southern Opera and the award-winning Southern Chorale. As a local recitalist, Jillian has performed with the Savannah Music Festival and the American Traditions Competition.

Jillian’s current appointments include serving as staff soprano section leader and soloist at The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Administrator for the Friends of Cathedral Music, and maintaining a private voice studio.

Nancy Thornock

Nancy Thornock, soprano and Cathedral Children’s Choir Director, completed her musical training at Pacific Lutheran University where she studied voice with Mira Frohnmayer and sang with the Choir of the West under the direction of Dr. Richard Sparks. Nancy has been an active soloist and section leader for the past 20 years in three Cathedrals and most recently with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia, WA. Nancy has performed with the Columbus Bach Ensemble, Lancaster Chorale, Columbus ProMusica, and several other professional ensembles.

Colin Harrison

Colin Harrison, bass-baritone, grew up in Savannah and received his Bachelor’s of Music Education degree from Georgia Southern University in nearby Statesboro. Colin has served as a Bass Choral Scholar for the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist since 2020 and enjoys singing and performing high quality repertoire with great musicians each week. Colin has served as a public school music educator, community chorus director, and taught private music lessons for several years. Colin also sings with the Servire Chorus, a professional choral ensemble focusing on serving our community and the world at large through service projects, educational outreach, and benefit concerts. Currently, he is finishing up a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from South University.

Braelyn Snow

Braelyn Snow, mezzo-soprano, has been singing at the Cathedral since 2016 and with the Cathedral Choral Scholars since 2020. She performed and competed in choirs and instrumental ensembles throughout high school and her undergraduate studies at Indiana Wesleyan University. During her time in Savannah, she canted at Christ Church Anglican’s Compline services and has done various ensemble and solo performance work. Braelyn holds an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has taught art and music, both in schools and private lessons. She has participated in several musical theatre productions, performing on stage and working on set and costume design. She believes music is the language of heaven.

Sharon Mays

Sharon Mays, soprano, is a Choral Scholar of the Cathedral and a conductor of the Schola Stella Maris for the Latin Mass at Sacred Heart Church. She also serves as Artistic Manager of the Savannah Philharmonic. She has performed with Highland Consort, Taylor Festival Choir, Selwyn College Chapel Choir, Cambridge University Chamber Choir, Chorworks Young Artists Program, Samford University A Cappella Choir, and Choir of the Cathedral Church of the Advent (Birmingham, AL). Sharon received her Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music from Samford University and her Master of Music in Choral Studies from the University of Cambridge, with additional studies in Gregorian chant from the Catholic Institute for Sacred Music.

Andrew Whitlow

Andrew Whitlow, tenor, is a conductor and singer with interests ranging from sacred chamber music to barbershop. He holds a B.M. in Church Musicand an M.M. in Choral Conducting from Furman University and East Carolina University, respectively.  Andrew has held several directorship positions, including past duties as Music Director of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Rocky Mount, NC. He currently serves as Director of Fine Arts Operations and Choir Director at Calvary Day School in Savannah, GA.  In addition to his scholastic work, Andrew is the co-founder and artistic director of Servire Chorus, a professional choral ensemble with a mission to aid local non-profit organizations through the means of benefit concerts, educational outreach, and hands-on service projects.  Whitlow has also enjoyed performing experiences with Chorworks Early Music, Duke’s Bach Cantata Series, Chicora Voices, and as a staff singer and featured soloist at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, GA.

Demetri Chrissos

Demetri Chrissos, bass-baritone, is a Choral Scholar, Cantor of the Cathedral, and Co-Director of the Schola Stella Maris at Sacred Heart Church on Bull Street. He has served in music ministries since he was a boysoprano in Washington, DC. As a cantor at St Matthew Cathedral, he was selected to sing at weddings and services attended by President George W. Bush, then-VP Joe Biden, the Supreme Court, and other VIPs. While attending DePaul University, Demetri continued to perform in professional ensembles around Chicago including the William Ferris Chorale, and the Da Capo opera. In 2015, Demetri was invited back to DC to cantor for Pope Francis during a midday mass at St. Matthew. Relocating to Savannah, Demetri teaches privately at his production and teaching studio, Chrissos Music Studios. As an active MTNA member, he is working on national certification. Demetri also performs in multiple nonliturgical projects, focusing on voice and keyboard improvisation.

Zachary Boor

Zachary Boor, countertenor, earned his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Valparaiso University in 2016, studying voice with Dr. Christopher Cock. During his undergraduate career, Zachary was twice named the winner of the Valparaiso University Concerto Competition, honored as a finalist in the Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition with the Kentucky Bach Choir, and as a semi-finalist in the Classical Singer University Level Vocal Competition. Prior to relocating to Savannah, Georgia, Zachary resided in Columbus, Ohio, where he collaborated most recently with the Schola at St. Joseph Cathedral.

Abigail Crafton

Abigail Crafton is the Cathedral Basilica Organ Scholar and a high school junior.  She has studied piano since the age of three, singing since the age of four, and began trumpet in elementary school.  At the age of ten she began the organ. In the spring 2023, Abigail won both the local and Southeast Regional division of the American Guild of Organists Quimby Competition. As a result, she will be performing at the National AGO Convention in San Francisco, CA as a “Rising Star” in the summer of 2024. She has attended the Eastman Summer Organ Academy where she studied with both Nathan Laube and David Higgs, and most recently placed second in the Baylor University High School Organ Competition. Abigail is a frequent recitalist as well as the Organ Scholar here at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist.  Abigail’s former teachers include Daniel Sañez and Doug Brown and she currently studies with Dr. Paul Thornock.

Colleen Crafton

Colleen Crafton, Cathedral Children’s Choir Director, is from Endicott, NY.  As a trombonist, she was the first female to win a trombone position with The Army Field Band, where she served for three years.  Mrs. Crafton has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Syracuse Symphony, The Savannah Philharmonic, and the Hilton Head Orchestra, and has been a featured concerto soloist with the Eastman Wind Ensemble and The Army Field Band.  She has taught trombone and low brass at Ithaca College, Colgate University, Hamilton College, as well as public and private schools in Maryland, New York, and Virginia.  As an organist, pianist, and choral director, Mrs. Crafton has served church programs in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and New York.  Mrs. Crafton holds music degrees from The Catholic University of America (BM) and The Eastman School of Music (MM), with post-graduate accreditation in the Ward Method Level I, II, and III, and Gregorian Chant Practicum I at The Catholic University of America.  She is the co-author of “A Brief History of the Ward Method and the Importance of Revitalizing Gregorian Chant and the Ward Method in the Music Classrooms of Parochial Schools,” published in the Winter, 2015 Sacred Music Journal. Mrs. Crafton is an executive assistant at SightReadingFactory.com, and enjoys spending any free time with her husband and six children.