The Conductor Who Showed Up on a Tuesday

In 2019, the community choir in Millbrook, Alabama was three weeks from disbanding. Their director had moved away, membership had dwindled to eleven voices, and the church basement where they rehearsed smelled of mildew and old hymnals. Then Marcus Cole walked in on a Tuesday evening. Cole had spent twenty-two years conducting professional orchestras — the Atlanta Symphony, guest appearances with the Chicago Philharmonic.…