Evan Chesney served as the Minister of Music at the Forest Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida, a position he held between 1994 and 209. In 1989, he enrolled at the Eastman School of Music, studying voice with Seth McCoy and conducting with Don Neun. After completing an M.Mus. at ESM in 1990, he continued study at Michigan State University, where he studied voice with Claritha Buggs and conducting with Charles Smith. While there, he accepted the minister of music position at Forest Lake. He completed a DMA at MSU in 1998.