Director, Baker Lawrimore
INSPIRO Director Baker Lawrimore hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied voice, keyboard, and conducting. There, he was awarded the Barbara B. Bair and Thomas J. Stone Awards in Music Education, and the Presser Foundation Music Scholarship.
Immediately following his studies at UNCG, Baker began a 4-year tenure as Director of Choral Music and Drama at Reidsville Middle School in Reidsville, NC. In this role, Baker tripled sign-ups for 7th grade chorus in his first year, coordinated fundraisers, started club-chorus and composition club, and instilled a tradition of rigor – transitioning the program from two yearly performances to eight.
While in Reidsville, Baker served on a grant-based think tank through UNC Greensboro and the Reidsville Area Foundation to research potential for establishing an Arts Pipeline for Reidsville-districted elementary, middle, and high schools. This work was later complemented by his training of middle school student-leaders in the recruitment of rising 6th-graders. Additionally, with the Rockingham County Education Foundation, Baker collaborated with other arts teachers to provide an off-campus intensive in which students explored university grounds, attended rehearsals and masterclasses, and considered the abundant opportunities in post-secondary enrollment.
Baker currently serves as the Director of Music for Children and Youth at First Baptist Church Greensboro, where for 8 years he has worked with children, youth, and adults in choral, handbell, and instrumental ensembles. His most recent endeavor at First Baptist is INSPIRO, a choral offering for the Triad committed to providing equitable singing experiences at the intersection of race, culture, class, religion, and identity.
