2023-2024
Trinity Music
Trinity Music
Ministry
The Music Ministry at Trinity offers special services and concerts for all to enjoy and experience God’s presence and power through music. May these programs uplift and lighten hearts, and bring hope as we trust in God’s faithfulness.
-- Sharon Carleton Boone,
Music Minister and Organist
Guest Harp Duo
September 24
at the 5:30 Celtic Service
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Two harpists, Sue Richards and Martha Hill, will offer music at our 5:30 Celtic service on September 24. They will play for ten minutes before the service, and throughout the service.
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Sue & Martha are both members of the group Harpa, which plays authentic Celtic music. Their ensemble of five has traveled to Norway, Sweden, and Scotland. Come early and enjoy this special music!
The choirs of Trinity, Central Methodist, and First Presbyterian will sing both separately and together in this celebration of our neighboring churches. These three choirs make up a mighty musical force! Music directors and accompanists include Sharon Boone, James Taulbee, Jessica Schaeffer, Linda Haggard, Corey Powell, and Jeremy Roberts. The Church Street Collaborative seeks to explore opportunities to work together for the better good of our neighborhood as well as the greater Asheville community.
Church Street Choral Festival
Friday, October 27, 2023, 7:00p
Central Methodist Church
David Woodard
Vocal and Euphonium Soloist
Friday, November 17, 2023
Renaissance Italian songs and Arias, Afro-American spirituals, as well as American Folk Songs will be performed. A Euphonium solo piece premiered by Mr. Woodard's Honor Band & soloist in Chicago, 1998 may also be included as well as vocal works by Mozart and Handel.
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David C. Woodard, Jr.,BME, MME
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Photo credit Marie Woodard
Following 31 years teaching music in South Carolina, Mr. Woodard retired to Western North Carolina in 2010. Since moving to the Asheville area, Mr. Woodard has sung with the Trinity Episcopal Church Chancel Choir and performed with Trinity’s Handbell Choir.
Mr. Woodard’s vocal experience in Asheville additionally includes Asheville Lyric Opera’s productions of Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Barber of Seville, La Traviata (in which he was “ The Singing Servant”), and The Magic Flute. Additionally, in 2016 he participated in the Asheville Symphony Chorus (ASC) and Chamber Singers 2017-2020, and soloed in Benjamin Brittan’s "Rejoice in the Lamb." He performed Bass solos “Thus saith the Lord,” “But who may abide the day of his coming,” & “Refiner’s Fire” in the 2017, 2018, & 2019 ASC Sing-Along-Messiah Concerts as well as at Trinity Episcopal.
Mr. Woodard arranges music and performs on euphonium. He has studied voice with Joyce Guyer, Mark Owen Davis, as well as the late Samuel Sheffer and the late Gene Ferguson. He is currently a vocal student of Mirosław Grabowski of Warsaw, Poland.
During the Pandemic, Mr. Woodard refocused on transportation and on his new website musicreadingforall.org which features Solfege-based videos for interested music learners of all ages.
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David will be accompanied by James Taulbee. A native Angelino, James was born and grew up in Long Beach, California. His love for music started at the age of 9 when he began piano instruction. He was a boy soprano at his local church at the age of 11, where he grew quickly for a love of traditional church music. His organ studies began at the age of 16 and after High School he entered Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He was awarded the coveted Alexander McCurdy award – the highest award and scholarship awarded an organ student at the college. At the completion of his studies with a double major in Organ Performance and Church Music he returned home to Los Angeles where he was privileged to study with the incomparable organ teacher Catharine Crozier. He later received his Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from USC, studying with Cherry Rhodes. He held numerous church jobs in the area; most recently as Organist/Choirmaster at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He retired recently from UCLA Medical Center, working in Quality Management and Occupational Health for 23 years. He is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville where he very much enjoys singing in the Choir and playing the organ on occasion. He lives in Woodfin with his two Dachshunds and one cat!
Music for Advent Series
Wednesdays, 12:00 PM
Brief recital followed by lunch
Join us for a noon-time space for reflection as some of our finest local musicians present a half-hour recital. Lunch will be offered for a donation of $7 following each concert. This is a great way to spend your lunch hour!
december 6
polly feitzinger, piano
"The Leipzig Connection"
Works by J.S. Bach, Clara and Robert Schumann, Brahms, and Mendelssohn who all had ties to Leipzig.
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Polly Shaw Feitzinger is a professionally trained pianist, lecture-recitalist and has served in various capacities on the boards of the Asheville Chamber Music Series, the Asheville Symphony, and the Asheville Area Piano Forum.
Her music degrees are from Oberlin Conservatory and Columbia University, with two years of additional study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She has taught in music schools in New Jersey, New York State, and in Asheville at the Asheville School. She has had articles on piano pedagogy published in leading music journals and has served as an adjudicator in piano competitions in New York State, North Carolina, Oregon, and Tennessee.
She was an Administrative Assistant for the Oberlin-in-Salzburg program and since moving to Asheville in 1991, she co-founded the Asheville Area Piano Forum which has grown as a 501 C-3 organization to serve the Asheville area with numerous performance and educational opportunities for piano students of all ages. She has served on the board as president several times and for 10 years was the chair of the Competition Committee.
Since 1992, she also has been president of the Asheville Chamber Music Series several times and for the last eight years has chaired the program committee which selects the ensembles to perform in its series. She instigated the Rising Stars Concerts in collaboration with the Asheville Art Museum and has been the liaison with the young musicians selected to perform in this new series.
December 13
gray pearson, piano and organ
Gray Pearson is an oboist, pianist, and organist based in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a fourth-year student at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University where he studies with Jared Hauser, Heather Conner, and Malcolm Matthews. At Vanderbilt, Gray is an active collaborator and ensemble musician, frequently performing with the school’s wind symphony and orchestra. Gray has been the manager of the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony since 2021.
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Gray is a prolific church musician and intends to pursue a graduate degree in sacred music after his graduation in the spring.
December 20
Jessica schaeffer, harp
kate steinbeck, flute
Jessica Schaeffer
Asheville harpist Jessica Schaeffer started her career as an adventurous professional freelance harpist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Memorable moments from the last 20 years include playing principal harp with the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia, recording two albums with the harp-and-bassoon duo “The Harpoons”, and collaborating with The Broken Consort, a nationally-touring experimental chamber ensemble. Forging relationships with local and regional ensembles and composers, Jessica has garnered a reputation as a reliable, consummate musician and skilled, creative collaborator.
Jessica was one of the top entertainment harpists in the greater bay area with a wide-ranging repertoire, tasteful arrangements of popular music, and general versatility. She has played for celebrities and for those without a home. She has played for audiences of two up to 20,000. She has worn ball gowns for black-tie events and performed for events where the suggested attire is 'athleisure'. She has played San Francisco from top to bottom. (Literally. Everything from cocktails on the top of the Salesforce tower to busking at BART). Jessica was also part of the harp team at UCSF medical center, lead by bay area harpist Laura Simpson, which provides live harp music in the hospitals 4 hours a day, five days a week. Whether your event is a wedding at the Biltmore or a corporate gathering at the Grove Park Inn, or even an intimate dinner for friends in West Asheville, Jessica delivers the perfect music for your special moments.
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Jessica's other great passion is sharing the power and joy of music-making with people of all ages. She served on faculty at Holy Names University Preparatory Music Program and maintains private teaching studios in Asheville and online. She is also a certified Dalcroze Education instructor, a wide-ranging somatic-based method that continually informs and inspires her own practice as a performer and teacher.
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Originally from the Dayton, Ohio area, Jessica's formal education includes Interlochen Center for the Arts, Aspen Music Festival, Northwestern University (B.M.), Longy School of Music (M.M. & Dalcroze Education Certification).
Kate Steinbeck
A little about me…I am a flutist, music producer, flute teacher and mother living in Asheville, NC.
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I love connecting with people and exploring other cultures. I love to travel, especially with my children.
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I love learning languages. I speak German and French, and I am learning Spanish.
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I began playing flute in a public-school music program in Western North Carolina. From then on, I was hooked!
After high school, I went to Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio to study flute with an amazing teacher, William Hebert, who played in the Cleveland Orchestra. After college, I won a Fulbright Grant to study in Belgium.
After several years in Europe, I moved to California for graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory.
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I moved back to these mountains in 1997. In 1999, I created Pan Harmonia, a music company which has presented over 400 concerts all around the Southeast. I love sharing music with people of all ages and walks of life.
Music truly is universal. Its beauty ennobles our world and has the power to affect people and change lives. It is both an individual and communal mode of expressing that for which words do not suffice. To me, music is the closest expression to connect with the Divine that we as humans have.
Candlelight Advent Lessons & Carols
December 10, 2023, at 5:30 pm
This full, traditional candlelight service of Nine Lessons and Carols is modeled after the famous service at King’s College, Cambridge. Ancient prophecies foretell the coming of a Messiah, and choral anthems and beloved carols illuminate the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth. The Chancel Choir of Trinity and a Brass Quintet will lead this service.
Prelude to
Christmas Eve Services
December 24, 2023
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5:30 service with 5:00 prelude by the Trinity Chancel Choir and a Brass Quartet
11:00 service with 10:30 prelude by the Trinity Chancel Choir and a Brass Quartet
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Christmas Eve’s prelude includes festive choral and brass music and congregational singing of familiar carols.
"Marilyn and Her Babies" Organ Recital
January 18, 2024 at 7:00
Tickets $20 Adults; $10 Students.
Tickets may be purchased at trinityasheville.org after January 3, 2024.
Marilyn Keiser is one of the greatest performers and teachers of our time. In 1970, she became organist and director of music at All Souls Parish in Asheville and music consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. She held both posts until 1983.
During that time, she taught many students who took on the title, “Marilyn’s Babies.” She also has babies from her days teaching in Indiana. This concert will be a celebration of Dr Keiser’s devotion to her profession, and for the great skill she passed on to her talented students. Come experience the joyful camaraderie of her and her thriving students, who are great performers and church musicians in their own right.
Marilyn Keiser was Chancellor's Professor Emerita of Music at the Jacobs School of Music, where she taught sacred music courses and applied organ for 25 years. In 1998, she was presented with a Teaching Excellence Recognition Award from the Jacobs School. In 2002, she was named Chancellor's Professor at Indiana University, the most prestigious academic appointment at IU that recognizes faculty who have served as pioneers in their field with an extensive record of accomplishment and leadership in teaching, research, and service.
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From Springfield, Illinois, Keiser started her organ studies with Franklin Perkins. She earned her Bachelor of Sacred Music degree at Illinois Wesleyan University, studying with Lillian McCord. After her undergraduate career, she attended Union Theological Seminary in NYC, where she studied sacred music with Alec Wyton, and graduated summa cum laude in 1965 with a Master of Sacred Music degree. In 1977, Keiser earned her Doctorate of Sacred Music from UTS.
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Keiser served as assistant organist of The Riverside Church in NYC, and soon after was appointed as associate organist and choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where she worked from 1966-1970. In 1970, she relocated to North Carolina where she was organist and director of music at All Souls Parish in Asheville and music consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. She held both posts until 1983.
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Keiser is in constant demand as an organ recitalist, workshop leader, lecturer, and performer. She has appeared throughout the United States, playing in concerts sponsored by churches, colleges, and chapters of the American Guild of Organists. Keiser has also been featured overseas at the International Congress of Organists in Cambridge, England; the Royal Victoria Hall with the Singapore Symphony; the American Cathedral in Paris; the Southern Cathedrals Festival in Winchester, England; and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
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In addition to her concertizing career, Keiser specializes in giving lectures and workshops for music in small churches. She has served as president of the Association of Anglican Musicians, a contributing editor to the hymnal Ecumenical Praise, served on the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Church Music, and was a consultant to the Hymn Music Committee for the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. For five years, she was the chair of the Advisory Board for the Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations, is past-chair of the Worship and Music Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, and was director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington, Indiana. She has synthesized her knowledge in a publication in the Church Hymnal Teaching Series titled Teaching Music in Small Churches.
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Since her previous schooling, she has received several accolades. In 1995, she was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters from the Virginia Theological Seminary. In 1997, she was presented with the Unitas Citation from UTS. She was awarded a second Doctor of Humane Letters from her alma mater, Illinois Wesleyan University, in 2002. In 2013, she was awarded the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Artist Award.
Ned Tipton received his BM in piano and his MM in Choral Conducting from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio. His later organ studies in Paris were with Marie-Madeleine Durufle, wife of the organist-composer Maurice Durufle. He was Canon for Music and Organist at the American Cathedral in Paris for 21 years. In 2010, he began a tenure at St. John’s Cathedral in Los Angeles. As an organist he has played recitals all over Europe and the United States, and he recently appeared with the National Symphony of Costa Rica. As a conductor he led the Paris Choral Society, and he served as adjunct professor of music history for the Paris year-abroad program of Trinity College, Hartford. He returned to his hometown of Asheville to be with his family and to maintain his performing career. He was Director of Music at Grace Episcopal Church, North Asheville. He currently serves as Music Director and Organist at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in New Canaan, CT.
Kyle Ritter has served as Canon for Music at The Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville, North Carolina since 2002. Prior to his appointment at All Souls, Mr. Ritter was Minister of Music at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, a position he held from 1993-2002. He earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Organ and Church Music from Indiana University, where he was a student of Robert Rayfield and Marilyn Keiser. Mr. Ritter is a past regional officer and Placement Advisor for the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM), and served for several years on the editorial board for the AAM Journal. He is currently the President of AAM. He taught in the Episcopal Dioceses of Washington and Virginia for the Leadership Program for Musicians (LPM), and served as chair of the National Board. He has also served the American Guild of Organists in various chapters as dean and treasurer, as well as State Convener for North Carolina.
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Dr. Patrick Pope studied with Dr. Keiser at Indiana University, receiving both his master’s and doctorate, and sang in her choir at Trinity Church in Bloomington. He is currently the Director of Music at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Charlotte.
Music Revue and Steak Night
THURSDAY, February 1, 2024, 6 pm
With the help of the Parish Life Team, the now-annual “dinner and a song” tradition began in 2015. It has grown in the number of attendees (standing-room-only) and now includes a sirloin steak dinner. Hear the talents of our stars and enjoy a great night of entertainment! The cost of dinner is $25. A cap for immediate household members is $50. Reservations are required.
Lenten Evensong
Trinity's Chancel Choir
February 25, 2024, 5:30 PM
The Chancel Choir will sing a traditional candlelight Evensong as the service of The Word at our Celtic service. Evensong is traditionally held near sunset and is focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. The entire service is sung or chanted by the officiating minister and the choir. Music will include works by Stanford, FaureÕ›, and Trotta.
Palm Sunday Celtic Evensong
march 24, 2024, 5:30 pm
Now a beloved tradition at Trinity, AVE joins us for this service. They will provide all of the music for our worship and will present stunning pieces of sacred music with which to usher us into Holy Week.
Easter, March 31
Easter Vigil at 6a
Music for this beautiful candlelight service is provided by an a cappella quartet. Most of the music is from the Renaissance period. Beginning outdoors, the congregation enters a dark church, progressing through the liturgy, until the church becomes fully lit during the singing of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”
Easter Services
9a and 11a
A brass quartet and the Chancel Choir all join forces to celebrate this festive day. The two services are identical.
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Joyce Guyer and David Woodard
Vocal Recital
April 12 at 7:00
Join us for a delightful evening with soprano Joyce Guyer and baritone David Woodard.
Joyce Guyer was a valued principal artist for 16 seasons at New York’s Metropolitan Opera with roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Sophie in Werther, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
An active recitalist and concert soloist, she appeared in such works as Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bach’s Weinachts Oratorium, and Handel’s Messiah in Carnegie Hall, and sang the role of Kontanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Sarail with the New York Philharmonic, Sir Colin Davis conducting.
In 1981 she was a national winner in the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, having won the regional audition in New York.
Miss Guyer is known for her versatility on both the operatic and concert stage throughout the U.S. and in Europe. In New York City she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall and Avery Fisher Hall with such notable conductors as James Levine, Sir Colin Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Gerard Schwartz and Robert Bass.
In Europe Miss Guyer spent five years at the Bayreuther Festspiele as Woglinde and Die Waldvogel in Wagner’s Ring Cycle conducted by James Levine.
Miss Guyer has appeared with the New Orleans Opera singing Gilda in 2003 and the four heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann in 2004. Following an extremely well received Susanna in Figaro with the Pittsburgh Opera, she moved to the role of La Contessa at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. The critics approved and noted that audiences were consistently moved by her show stopping Dove sono.
Miss Guyer can be heard on the DDG recordings of Le Nozze di Figaro, Parsifal, and Idomeneo, all conducted by James Levine, on the Newport Classic recording of The Devil & Daniel Webster as well as on CDs of John Philip Sousa's Theatre & Parlor Songs by Premier Recordings and a collaboration with noted French Horn artist, David Jolley, of music of the French Romantic composers on Arabesque
Her teaching career includes positions as professor at Florida State University and the University of Washington, and she served for two years as a vocal consultant to the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. She has given Master Classes both in the United States and Europe.
Photo credit Marie Woodard
Following 31 years teaching music in South Carolina, David Woodard retired to Western North Carolina in 2010. Since moving to the Asheville area, Mr. Woodard has sung with the Trinity Episcopal Church Chancel Choir and performed with Trinity’s Handbell Choir.
Mr. Woodard’s vocal experience in Asheville additionally includes Asheville Lyric Opera’s productions of Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Barber of Seville, La Traviata (in which he was “ The Singing Servant”), and The Magic Flute. Additionally, in 2016 he participated in the Asheville Symphony Chorus (ASC) and Chamber Singers 2017-2020, and soloed in Benjamin Brittan’s "Rejoice in the Lamb." He performed Bass solos “Thus saith the Lord,” “But who may abide the day of his coming,” & “Refiner’s Fire” in the 2017, 2018, & 2019 ASC Sing-Along-Messiah Concerts as well as at Trinity Episcopal.
Mr. Woodard arranges music and performs on euphonium. He has studied voice with Joyce Guyer, Mark Owen Davis, as well as the late Samuel Sheffer and the late Gene Ferguson. He is currently a vocal student of Mirosław Grabowski of Warsaw, Poland.
During the Pandemic, Mr. Woodard refocused on transportation and on his new website musicreadingforall.org which features Solfege-based videos for interested music learners of all ages.
Asheville Vocal Ensemble
TBA MAY, 2024
The a cappella ensemble Ave (formerly Pastyme) returns with a delightful concert of music from different periods and genres.
