SANCTUARY CHOIR
The Sanctuary Choir at Donelson Presbyterian Church is a loyal, welcoming, fun-loving, and wonderfully diverse group of musicians. Our roster not only boasts nationally acclaimed operatic voices and music teachers with decades of experience, but also includes disc jockeys, local karaoke legends, garage band singers, and even high school students who are finding their voices. We are more than just a choir – we are a group of friends who love and support each other through the ups and downs of life, and who count it a great privilege to lead this congregation in worship through song.
Our repertoire is as diverse as our membership. We believe very strongly that there is beauty and value in all types of music. From a requiem mass sung entirely in Latin to a month full of blockbuster movie music, from beloved old hymns to contemporary worship choruses, from the challenging choral anthems of the great English composer John Rutter to Celtic melodies and old Irish riversongs, we find our greatest joy in colorfully illustrating the Gospel of Christ and the powerful messages of our pastor with our wide variety of music.
SANCTUARY CHOIR MEMBERSHIP AND REHEARSAL
The Sanctuary Choir meets on Wednesday evenings from 7:30-8:45 pm downstairs in the choir room. We sing at least one anthem and other special pieces during Sunday services August through May. If you are interested in joining the choir, please contact Brooks Parker. Ability to read music and to match pitch are required and will be assessed by the director.
LOGOS WORSHIP CHOIRS
Betty Polk has led our LOGOS Worship Choir since the LOGOS program began at our church. During the LOGOS season, the children learn the joy and discipline of music by using their singing voices to lead in worship. With ever growing confidence in front of our church family, they share their gifts of love and faith and melt our hearts. As teens, our LOGOS students continue to be worship leaders in the Youth Choir with Brooks Parker. They also have an opportunity to further their musical training in the Youth Bell Choir and are part of our worship service on various occasions.
HANDBELL CHOIR
The Adult Handbell Choir is led by Tony Pritchett. The bells are a lovely and festive addition to our services during Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. During the fall, our Adult Handbell Choir rehearses diligently a full repertoire of Christmas favorites as a part of our Advent Services and their ministry to various nursing homes in the Nashville area. We are so proud of their hard work and valuable community outreach. The choir consists of Carrie Pfeiffer, Carol Battle, Debbie Jones, Donna Pritchett, Daphne Click, Laura Piper, Betty Polk, and Zora Mallory.
BLUEGRASS ENSEMBLE
The Bluegrass Ensemble enjoys leading worship occasionally and contributing regularly to our special services. Every spring, we devote an entire worship service to bluegrass music. All hymns, special music and responses are played with traditional bluegrass instruments, time signatures, and styles. Our ensemble consists of guitars, banjo, mandolin, dobro, fiddle, upright bass, and bowed psaltery. We are truly blessed with scores of talented musicians at Donelson Presbyterian Church, and the Bluegrass Ensemble is a great way to showcase many of them, adding a unique flavor to the musical life of our congregation.
MUSIC SUPPORT TEAM
The following individuals assist the Music Director Brooks Parker in organizing many of music offerings at DPC, as well as offering their music talent on instruments to periodically lead worship.
My mother was the dominant influence that led me to be a church musician for over half of my life. As a child, I watched her lead worship from the organ, direct choirs and set an example of faith and musicianship that I wanted to follow. She saw to it that her children had piano lessons and sang in choirs. When I went off to the University of KY to major in music education, she suggested that I try the organ to compliment my 12 years of piano. Later I did graduate work in music education and flute at Columbia Teacher’s College in New York City. After moving to Nashville, I taught flute at Trevecca Nazarene University for 28 years and was a staff accompanist at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music for 13 years. But my real calling has been fulfilled here at Donelson Presbyterian Church. [Read more...]
Clay Wilson grew up in Crossville Tennessee. He began playing the piano for a small Presbyterian church at age 10. He was organist for Brentwood Cumberland Presbyterian church for 10 years and been a supply organist for several different church's in Middle Tennessee area. [Read more...]