Jerry S. Cribbs is the founder and former Artistic Director and Conductor of Cape Fear Chorale. Mr. Cribbs has served public schools in North Carolina from 1974 until his retirement in 2004 as a music educator, as Director of Arts Education and Public Relations, and as a Director of Human Resources. He also served as an adjunct instructor for the Music Department of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and in the Fine Arts and Humanities Department at Cape Fear Community College.

As an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the Eastern United States, Mr. Cribbs has conducted well over 100 district choruses, festivals, and school and church clinics. He has a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in Music Education degrees, as well as a Certificate of Supervision from East Carolina University, inclusively.

Mr. Cribbs is a member of the North Carolina Chapter of American Choral Directors Association and has served on the board. He currently maintains membership in the Wilmington Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Mr. Cribbs is a member of and past president of the North Carolina Music Educators Association. In 2008, he received the Lara Hoggard Award for Distinguished Service in Choral Music in North Carolina, presented by the NC-ACDA, and in 2009 was awarded the East Carolina University School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award.

Mr. Cribbs is dedicated to the promotion of choral music and has encouraged a life-long love of music, learning, and exceptional artistry in countless members of our community. His commitment to the musical education of people of all ages, as well as his service to the citizens of our state, is a legacy which inspires musicians and music educators throughout North Carolina. In great appreciation of these contributions, Cape Fear Chorale is delighted to confer upon Jerry S. Cribbs the permanent title of Artistic Director and Conductor, Emeritus.