Join us 9:30am Sunday, June 7th as we give thanks to God for our Choir Members. A reception will follow worship.
CANTOR: David D. Harp
ACCOMPANIST: Kris Burns
LEADER OF MUSIC WITH CHILDREN & YOUTH: Heather Caporaso
Meet Our New Choir Members
If you have been attending worship services during this program year, you will have noticed several new people in our Adult Choir. Since there will be Choir Music Appreciation on June 7, it seems appropriate that we should especially welcome and appreciate those who have joined with us in leading the congregation in song since last September. All of these five people joined Saint Matthew Church because of our strong music program and the friendliness of the people in the congregation. They have felt most welcome here.
Those new in the soprano section are Katherine Lee and Elizabeth Miller.
Katherine Lee has not only been singing, but also playing the flute during our worship services. She was born in Newport News, VA and raised in a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Bedford, MA. She and her husband Bob have two grown children, Alexandra and Stephen, and she shares a musical bond with them. She began playing the flute at the age of 10 and played in church, school and community bands beginning in 8th grade. She has sung in church choirs since she was five years old and sang in school choirs beginning in 4th grade. Hymns and music are important in her life to keep her centered in the Word, and she finds tunes going through her mind on walks, long drives and other places. She is thankful to have used her voice and her flute in our worship of the Lord and we are grateful that she has shared them with us. Kathy has been employed at Lockheed Martin for 15 years and will be retiring this month. She and Bob will be relocating to South Carolina. We certainly wish them well.
Elizabeth Miller was a member of Saint Matthew Church for several years before moving to Pitman about 15 years ago. She served on our Congregation Council during those years and also sang in the choir. She recently moved to Holiday Village in Mount Laurel and we are happy she has come back to us and to the choir. Her son Tom Miller and his wife Desiree and granddaughters, Bailee and Kylee, are also members here. Liz was born in the Bronx and has a long Lutheran background. She played the violin in junior and senior high schools and sang in school choirs and choruses. She has also sung in many church choirs, including St. James Lutheran in Pitman. She was a nursing home administrator for 35 years and retired from that but did not like retirement, so she found another job as Office Manager at First United Methodist Church of Glassboro where she continues to work four days a week. When she has time, she likes knitting, crocheting, reading, and doing sudoku. She says that Dave Harp and the choir members have been so friendly and have helped her to acclimate to the choir’s routines and practices.
Barbara Duffy and Clara Kerr are our new altos.
Barbara Duffy was a public school music teacher before retirement and still teaches a few piano students. She sang in high school and college choirs and church choirs. She also directed choirs when she was teaching. Here at Saint Matthew Church, Barbara has played the piano during worship services and also rings in the handbell choir. Barbara was born in Edgerton, OH and her church background is Methodist and Episcopalian. She lives in Holiday Village with her husband Chris. They have a son Mark (wife Tamara) and two grandchildren, Laura and Aren. In addition to playing the piano she enjoys reading, gardening, watching HGTV and spending time with her grandchildren and friends. She is currently training to become a Stephen Minister in our congregation. She feels valued and welcomed in the music program at Saint Matthew and is impressed with David Harp’s musical abilities. She also likes the emphasis on grace and forgiveness at Saint Matthew and the opportunities for involvement and outreach.
Clara Kerr is a Philadelphia native and a life-long Lutheran. She was an administrative secretary at Lincoln Technical Institute in Philadelphia for 22 years where Skip Nice was her boss and invited her and her husband Bob to join Saint Matthew Church many years ago. Her previous musical experience includes playing violin in her high school orchestra and singing alto in the choir in her previous church for 33 years. She enjoys gardening, cross stitch, and photo/ scrapbooking for her grandchildren. Clara and Bob live in Cinnaminson and have been married 49½ years. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren, ages 4 to 17½ years: Robert II (Lisa), Amanda and Ashley; Brian (Felice), Donald and Regan; Cynthia (Michael), Courtney, Evan and Christopher. They do many thing with the family and “enjoy every minute”.
Michael Kruse joined the bass section in the choir. He was baptized in the Presbyterian church and raised in a Swedish Lutheran Church but joined the Catholic church when his children were growing up. He is a native of St. Paul, MN and is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, MN where he sang in the concert choir under the direction of Paul J. Christiansen (the youngest son in a family of legendary Lutheran choral conductors). He also played baritone in the high school and city bands. Obviously music plays an important part in Michael’s life. He had 9 years of vocal training, plays the guitar and “fiddles” around with the piano. He played guitar and sang with a college outreach singing group at Concordia and he also directed a high school choral group for a few years after he and his wife Laura were married. He and Laura both sang for weddings until their children became “the center of their lives”. Mike began working for Campbell Soup Company in Worthington, MN following his college graduation. Five years later he transferred with them to Maxton, NC and then to Camden 19 years ago, where he is a Director in the IT Department. Mike and Laura live in Cherry Hill and he enjoys working around the house, helping family and friends and visiting their grown children in the Midwest, West and South: Benjamin, in graduate school in Ames, IA; Joseph in San Diego, CA; and Megan in San Antonio, TX.