Page 29 - 2016 Annual Report with Financials - Booklet

Alec Davis, Director of Music

This will be the first Annual Report for which I have been the Director of Music throughout the entire year;
I’m very proud of what this music department was able to prepare and accomplish in 2016, and for me
personally, it marked a period of significant learning, as I have continued to better familiarize myself with
the people and customs of this congregation. I have heavily relied on the feedback of individuals and staff
members to help in this process, and I encourage more people to not only give feedback, as they are
comfortable, but also to participate in the music program, as this is the most effective method of
contribution to the development of the program.

My goal is for the every ensemble to be one of education, not just of performance preparation, and to
create an environment where musicians of varied levels of experience can create community and
compelling musical experiences. Ultimately, however, the goal of any sacred music program should be to
harness the way the music affects us, and use it to help others to worship and find a sacred space, while
also reaching out to share our resources with the community. Below are many of the key events that took
place throughout 2016 towards these goals:

January 3 - Haskell Small (pianist, composer, teacher) from the Washington Conservatory joined us in
worship to share his compositions for piano as a musical, as we continued to reflect on the poetry of Laura
Martin and the quilt exhibit by Ann Harwell.

February 7 - We centered this service around honoring our friend and long-time choir leader George
Singleton, as he completed more than 40 years as the Bass Section Leader. George was invited to choose
many of the pieces performed that day. In addition, Four former Westmoreland Directors of Music, all of
whom served during George’s tenure, added to the service with their words, music, and presence,
including Harold Ash, Roger Ames, Sondra Goldsmith Proctor, and Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez.

February 10 - Lent 2016 began with an Ash Wednesday Service during which our neighboring French and
German congregations joined us. We included choral and organ works by both French and German
composers in order to acknowledge this camaraderie. We later celebrated Maundy Thursday with these
communities, on March 24th.

February 28 - The Festival Chorus prepared Mozart’s Missa Brevis as a contribution to our Service on the
Third Sunday of Lent. The sermon series during Lent centered around the ideals of minimalism, exploring a
different gerund each week; “Singing” became the focus of that Sunday, and we were happy to invite
members of the Apollo Symphony to accompany us.

March 27 - Our celebration of Easter, as is called for, was musically grand. In addition to a mix of traditional
and new repertoire, we added two trumpeters, a timpanist, and a flutist to join the musical texture.
Combined with our wonderful Bell Ringers, it was a very celebratory service. In addition, it marked the
culmination of the series of reflections throughout Lent, which included original piano works by Timothy
Johnson and myself.

April 17 - As we entered into our Pentecost season, we invited members of the congregation to join us for
Choir For a Day. Westmoreland is blessed with an abundance of talent, and while I wish that everyone who
loved to sing could join us each week, for some it is not practical. This was an opportunity for those
members to participate in the choir, or to “test the waters” to see if they were interested in joining more
regularly. In addition, as part of the season, a sermon series on Revelation was presented, which provided
an opportunity to present two collective works throughout these Sundays: The Hildegard Organ Cycle, by
Frank Ferko, and my own set of Introits based on these Revelation texts.

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