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Musical Groups at Calvary
Calvary Bell Choir
Calvary has a bell choir which adds to our worship service
monthly. We
practice each Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. and
play in worship on the 4th Sunday each month during the school
year. We ended our "season" with Music Appreciation Sunday on June
1. We will begin again in the fall.
Dr.
Jim Brown leads the Bell Choir. We welcome experienced and
novice ringers, and would love to have you come and join us this
fall.
 Calvary
Choir
Calvary’s choir participates in worship at our 8:30 and
11:00 services in our lovely sanctuary. Whether singing from our
loft or at the front of the church, the choir adds an uplifting
musical component to worship at Calvary. We closed our season
with Music Appreciation Sunday on June 1. We are now on a break for
the summer and resume in the fall.
Dr. Jim Brown
leads the Calvary Choir. If you would like to give the choir a
try, come to rehearsal on Thursday nights at 7:15 beginning this
fall. In
addition to a great musical experience, you will find new
friends and fellowship!
Deeper Life Band
Our
Deeper Life Band provides music for our Deeper Life worship at
9:45 a.m. on Sundays. It is a group diverse in age and musical
experience, and also rich in spirit and fun. We practice on
Monday nights at 6:30 p.m. We play throughout the year, summer
included. If you are interested in joining our
group, contact the church office or email Tony Willing, our
director at
tony@calvary-elca.org.
Tony
Willing
Church Musician,
Composer,
and
Director of Deeper Life Band
Low Brass Ensemble
Calvary's newest musical group is
the Low Brass Ensemble. The group played in worship on May 18.
We welcome new players to this group, as it has just recently
been formed. We tentatively plan to meet on Thursday evenings this
summer to rehearse and possibly play for worship again this
summer. For more information contact
Tony
Willing.
Dr. Jim Brown
Calvary Choir & Bell Choir Director
Praised for his “generous tenor” by Early Music America,
choral director, stage director, singer and voice teacher James
L. Brown is an active proponent of both early and new music.
James is the Chair of Vocal Studies at Pacific Lutheran
University in Tacoma, WA where he oversees a large and diverse
voice program. As the director of that school’s Opera Workshop,
he has been the recipient of several grants including a Regency
Scholarship Grant and a Production Grant from the Kurt Weill
Foundation for Music in New York, NY.
Opera News stated that “His lyricism is most appealing.” Brown
has sung with such opera companies and presenters as New York
City Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia,
Bronx Opera, Rogue Opera (Oregon), Chautauqua Opera, Seattle
Early Music Guild, Skylight Opera Theatre (Milwaukee), Aspen
Opera Theater and The Spoleto Festival in Spoleto, Italy. The
tenor has sung roles under the baton of such well-known
conductors as James Conlon, John DeMain, Richard Hickox, Julius
Rudel and Robert Spano and early music directors Rinaldo
Alessandrini, Arthur Haas, Andrew Lawrence King and Stephen
Stubbs.
James has introduced many world premieres in the last several
years, among which are: Russian composer, Vladimir Ryabav’s The
Border Between Light and Darkness, Sheila Silver's The Thief of
Love (recently released on DVD), Jack Beeson's The Equilibrists
and Mexican/American composer Riccardo Zohn-Muldoon's Comala at
the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
As a concert soloist, James has appeared at Lincoln Center’s
Alice Tully Hall, Seattle’s Town Hall, Harris Concert Hall at
the Aspen Festival, The Ravinia Festival in Chicago and the
Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. James
sang the title roles in New York State Baroque’s productions of
Rameau’s Pygmalion, Handel’s Jephtha and Bach’s St. John Passion
(Evangelist).
Recent performances have taken Brown back to New York for the
title role in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Stony Brook), Boston for
three Fringe Concerts at the 2007 Boston Early Music Festival,
Seattle for Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo
with the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera, and Britten’s
Serenade and Cantata Misericordium with Choral Union in Tacoma,
WA (2008).
Brown holds a Bachelor’s Degree in voice performance from Loyola
University/ New Orleans, a Master of Music degree in voice from
the Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from
the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Music News from Calvary
Tony
Willing Leads Big Band at Strawberry Festival Vashon
Island's Portage Fill-Harmonic Big Band, under the direction of
Tony Willing, will be performing twice at the Vashon Island
Strawberry Festival on July 12, 2008. The first performance will
be from 1-2 p.m. on the Main Stage at Ober Memorial Park,
kicking off the Festival's three days of live music, and the
Portage Fill Big Band will return at 7 p.m. for the annual
Street Dance, held right in the center of town. Both
performances are free of charge and dancing is encouraged! The
Portage Fill Big Band is an 18 piece jazz ensemble specializing
in music from the "Big Band Era" and featuring tunes made famous
by Glenn Miller, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman, just to name a
few. The Portage Fill has been a part of the Vashon music scene
for over 35 years and is made up of island professional and
amateur musicians who are dedicated to keeping the music of the
30's and 40's alive.
June 1st was Music Appreciation
Sunday.
We love our musicians!
By Marj Hause, Chair Worship & Music
We at Calvary are uniquely blessed with the highest caliber
Church Musician, Choir Director and many talented and dedicated
musicians. We have fantastic instruments, including our organ,
pianos and handbells.
On Sunday, June 1, our congregation celebrates all Calvary’s
musicians. We will recognize the inspiration and beauty they
bring to our worship, and the amazing amount of time and talent
they dedicate to prepare their offerings to glorify God.
Our Bell Choir rehearses each Thursday, and plays once a month
for both the 8:30 and 11:00 worship. The ringers arrive just
after 7:30 a.m. to get their bells out and warm up before the
first service, and stay to put the bells away after they have
been played for the 11:00 service. If they play in front of the
sanctuary, the table covers are folded, the pads removed, the
tables collapsed and all is trekked down the stairs and set up
for the service. Afterwards it all has to be set up in the loft
once again. This is a dedicated group who enjoy the fun of
swinging, plunking, shaking and ringing to declare God’s love
for us.
Our Calvary Choir likewise rehearses on Thursday evenings
learning a folder full of music to sing at alternate services
each week. During Lent and even before Advent, rehearsals are
more frequent and the folders bulge with music for regular
Sunday worship as well as for all the festival and special
services that are enhanced by their gift of song. And choir
members are in the loft early for warm-ups before singing, even
on those dark, cold rainy days. The presentation of each musical
offering shows the conviction of the singers that their voice in
song brings the message of our Savior’s grace and mercy.
Our Deeper Life band rehearses on Monday evenings putting
together their song and sound, and learning new music that
brings freshness and energy to our contemporary worship. These
musicians have no Sundays off as the choirs do, and they play
right through the summer. They also expend their energy setting
up equipment and instruments requiring them to arrive early and
stay late. This commitment to each other and their ministry is a
rich blessing for the Deeper Life ministry feeding the soul and
praising our Lord.
We thank God for each one of these musicians and their
commitment to prepare the music that enhances our many worship
services. We appreciate Tony Willing for his boundless energy
and the many hours he prepares, composes, accompanies and leads.
We recognize Jim Brown for his brilliant room-filling smile and
his incredible talent, teaching, leading, giving us confidence,
creating and composing. For all the members of the Music
Ministry at Calvary, YOU ARE AN AWESOME BLESSING!
Jim Brown to share his gifts at
Summer Academy
Our own Dr. Jim Brown will be the tenor faculty at Lutheran
Summer Music from June 22 through July 20, 2008. This annual
music academy and festival is held at Gustavus Adolphus College
in St. Peter, Minnesota. More than 150 qualified band,
orchestra, choir, piano and organ students from the U.S. and
abroad, and from all faith backgrounds will gather to improve
their music skills and connect with their personal faith. As one
of 35 faculty artists from the best college music departments
and professional ensembles, Jim will be singing solo
performances, teaching and running sectionals, and performing
with a faculty quartet called Sine Nomine.
Summer Music The choirs are on a break for the summer. If you sing or play an
instrument and would like to provide special music for worship, please sign up in the church lobby for a convenient
time and let the office know your selection for the bulletin.
Instrumental or vocal solos, or ensembles would be most welcome.
If you need help choosing music, or need an accompanist, please
contact
Marshia Nicholson, Jim Brown or Tony Willing.
Hear Original Compositions at Deeper
Life Service
Did you know our Church Musician,
Tony Willing, is also a gifted composer? Come worship with us at
the Deeper Life services at 9:45 a.m. in our Great Room
and hear some of the great songs Tony shares with us!
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