Music Director

Elizabeth (Betsy) Fulford has performed with Washington Revels since 1993 and has served as its overall music director since 2004. In that capacity, she provides musical direction for the annual Winter Revels production, Spring Revels, and the year-round performing ensembles Gallery Voices and Heritage Voices. In 2017 her work with the Washington Revels choruses was honored when Washington Revels received the Ovation Award for Choral Excellence from the Choralis Foundation in the “Outstanding Specialty or Show Chorus” category. Betsy has produced three recordings for Washington Revels: Sing & Rejoice (2013; winner of the 2014 Best Classical Recording “Wammie” from the Washington Area Music Association); Hard Times Come Again No More: American Music of the Civil War Era (2011); and Le temps des Fetes: French Canadian Music & Dance in Celebration of the Winter Solstice (2010).

Betsy is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM ’80 and MM ’82) where she performed roles in many operas, oratorios, and chamber works.  She was awarded three separate fellowships to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School in the areas of choral music, vocal chamber music, and opera theater. An active professional musician in the D.C. area, Betsy led Washington Revels Heritage Voices collaboration with the Capitol Hill Chorale in a concert featuring the music of the Shakers in June 2024. She has also sung with many local groups, including the Wolf Trap Chamber Singers, Washington Bach Consort, Washington Master Chorale, Washington National Opera Chorus, and The Choral Arts Society of Washington. After retiring from the Library of Congress as a librarian and webmaster in 2023, Betsy continues to support the Library’s Veterans History Project and serves as director of music for Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C.