Christopher W. Priest 

Christopher Priest immigrated to Atlanta in 1991 with his wife and daughter from London, England. Early in his career Chris had been in sales and marketing management positions with two notable blue-chip corporations in the United Kingdom. 

Prior to immigrating, he held a marketing management position for The Salvation Army’s international trading section in London, England. He was a member of the International Staff Band (The Salvation Army’s premier brass band) for over twelve years as bass trombonist. 

After 36 years of service with The Salvation Army, there are many achievements: The worldwide establishment of Salvation Army music publications and recordings. “Spiritual to the Bone,” a four-disc collection where he is one of the players achieved record sales. Various event and production management opportunities including a 5-day convention for The Salvation Army when over 20,000 attended from 115 countries to Christmas productions like the drive-through Nativity in Atlanta, Georgia.

Christopher Priest spent his final twenty years of employment as Director of Communications, where he increased awareness of The Salvation Army in 15 States and the District of Columbia. He established professional resources in the fields of Brand Management, Communications, Media Production, and Web Management.

Christopher Priest is also an accomplished musician, composer, and arranger, with over 60 choral and instrumental works published by The Salvation Army, and other publishers. In the non-Salvation Army music world, he has been commissioned to arrange music for Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards, has a song recorded by the world-famous King’s Singers, and co-founded/directed the Georgia Brass Band. For over 50 years, Christopher has directed many music groups, instrumental and choral, and has traveled to every major continent as guest conductor/performer/clinician, and latterly as a filmmaker. 

Chris describes himself as a ‘builder’, creating many initiatives and productions. He loves to cook, enjoys gardening and home DIY, travel, and photography/video. Chris and his wife Heather retired to The Villages in August 2021. They have a daughter, and grandson.