Staff Sergeant Verlene Faust is originally from Homestead, Florida. In May 2023 she earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Florida Atlantic University. Before joining the Soldier's Chorus in September 2023, she was a 2018 Merit Winner in the Singer/Songwriter division of the National YoungArts Foundation. In 2021, she was a first-round winner of the Classical Singer competition and was selected a winner of the Certified Artist Award. She was selected to represent the Birmingham Chapter for the Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarship in Classical voice for the National Selection and played the role of Serpina in the FAU Opera Workshop's Production of La Serva Padrona. In her free time she enjoys biking nature trails, playing guitar, crocheting, and cooking.
The Soldiers’ Chorus, founded in 1957, is the vocal complement of The United States Army Field Band of Washington, DC. The 24-member mixed choral ensemble travels throughout the nation and abroad, performing as a separate component and in joint concerts with the Concert Band of The Musical Ambassadors of the Army. The chorus has performed in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, India, the Far East, and throughout Europe, entertaining audiences of all ages.
The immense talent of Soldiers’ Chorus personnel provide the ensemble with unique flexibility, and in addition to presenting selections from the vast choral repertoire, each member of the ensemble is an accomplished soloist in their own right. Performances often include the music of Broadway, barbershop quartet, Americana, as well as Pop, Rock, and R&B. Critics have acclaimed recent appearances with the Boston Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, and the Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville, and National symphony orchestras, giving the chorus a nationwide reputation for musical excellence and inspiring patriotism.
Other notable performances include four World Fairs, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Kennedy Center Honors Programs, the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, the 100th anniversary of Grand Canyon National Park, PBS’s annual National Memorial Day Concert, and the state funerals of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter.