Concerts Canceled, the Song Still Goes On…

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During this month of May I would have conducted concerts with the UNCA University Chorale, the Reuter Center Singers, and the Givens Estates Choir. But with COVID-19 raging through our community, communal singing had to be paused. With so many of us isolated by the virus, I am reminded of just how powerful it can be to blend my voice with others. Yes, I can still sing, but I didn’t realize, until forced to, just how much I need to sing WITH others - to be lost in the cacophony of choral sound. While I missed the opportunity to gather together with these various groups to collectively make music, I rest in the assurance that since the beginning of humanity, humans have been singing together, and will sing together again. I am reminded of the final line in the third stanza of the old hymn, Holy God We Praise Thy Name. It states: “And from morn to set of sun, Through the Church the song goes on.” Yes it does…and so it does through you and through me. We will sing together again…very soon.

Licensed Pastor!

I am simultaneously proud and humbled to announce that today I was one of 40 who became a licensed pastor with the United Methodist Church at their Annual Conference. Read more about it below!

 
 

L'Amour with Asheville Choral Society

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It was an honor to prepare and conduct the Asheville Choral Society in presenting the concert: L’AMOUR: AN EVENING OF CABARET. The venue was a unique choice for Choral Society but appropriate for the content. From the silly to the sublime, the songs danced and delighted. I look forward to having a chance to work with these amazing singers again sometime soon.

https://ashevillechoralsociety.org/past-concert-l-amour-an-evening-of-cabaret

Earth Day Concert Video!

What a concert! Enjoy this video highlight of The UNC Asheville University Singers, Asheville Singers, and the Reuter Center Singers performing The Rain Is Over and Gone by Paul Halley in Lipinsky Auditorium, UNCA. (Directed by Chuck Taft)

Soloist: Margaret Kvalvik
Sop. Sax: Jim Anthony
Oboe/Clarinet: Misty Theisen
Cello: Ben Smith
Guitar: Chris Morgan
Bass: Jim Simmons
Drum Kit: Will Younts
Percussion: Matthew Richmond
Organ: Melodie Galloway
Piano: Brad Curtioff

"Sing, Love, Dance!" - 200+ singers celebrate global unity

Sing, Love, Dance! concert, presented on March 3, 2018, included singers from the Asheville Choral Society, Asheville Singers, and my students from the UNCA University Singers and various instrumentalists under the direction of Dr. Melodie Galloway.

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The joyful program featured Bach's Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen, and Dan Forrest’s global expression of unity in seven languages, Jubilate Deo.

Thank you to Jesse Ingham for creating and compiling this video.

This Weekend: "While I Still Have Breath" at First Presbyterian Church

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This weekend, join a chorus of 120 voices from UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Singers, the Givens Estates Vesper Choir, and the Biltmore United Methodist Choir for "While I Still Have Breath," a musical meditation on the journey and possibilities of aging. 

This unique program explores the possibility of embracing aging with our heads held high, using ancient and contemporary texts, carefully set to music, that point toward a time when, as the final song of the program proclaims, "all shall be amen and alleluia." 

The concert is Sunday, November 19 at 3pm in First Presbyterian Church (40 Church Street) in Asheville. I hope to see you there!