Staff

“The art of improvisation is an exciting aspect of the organ world, one which I enjoy exploring every week. So I consider it a great privilege to serve God and God’s people as a musician at Broad Street.”

As a church organist, my primary responsibility is to set the tone for worship, to support the choir, and lead the congregation in the musical portions of the worship service. From earliest Biblical times, music has played an integral role in worship. Music has great spiritual power to reach places that words alone do not penetrate. It also conveys texts, giving them heightened meaning. Martin Luther was one of many who understood the importance of music, one of God’s finest gifts, as a vehicle of prayer and praise.

The organ has played a central role in public worship for more than five centuries. Broad Street Presbyterian Church has a beautiful organ that can produce a wide range of sounds: flutes and oboes, strings and trumpets, from the ethereal to the thrill of the full organ. There is a great wealth of repertoire composed for the organ, spanning at least five centuries, music to fit every liturgical, spiritual, and emotional occasion. There is something for everyone, from obscure yet attractive pieces by 17th and 18th century European composers, to masterworks of Bach, Mendelssohn, Franck, and others, to settings of African-American spirituals and original works by African-Americans, South Americans and Asians, to some of the most recently published settings of familiar hymn tunes. The art of improvisation is an exciting aspect of the organ world, one which I enjoy exploring every week. Our recently purchased Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano provides an even wider range of possibilities, from classical piano works and transcriptions to contemporary hymn settings. From time to time we also feature our talented instrumentalists during worship.

My father, Charles, worked for the Schlicker Organ Company in Buffalo, NY, where I was born. When I was a boy, I accompanied him on some of his organ service calls. These early experiences sparked my interest in the organ. Another influence was my singing in the Boychoir of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, under the direction of one of America’s finest service players and improvisers, Gerre Hancock. I received a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Sacred Music from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. For five years I served as Director of Music Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Griffin, Georgia, during which time I also sang in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus under Robert Shaw. I have been Organist of Broad Street Presbyterian Church since 1987. It is a blessing and privilege to serve God and God’s people as a musician at Broad Street Presbyterian Church. We affirm the famous words of J.S. Bach, which he penned in many of his scores: Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory.

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