Music Notes

On October 1, 2006 APC celebrated a unique milestone. Our Chancel Choir helped APC acknowledge 20 years of service by Gisele Becker, our Director of Music. Gisele began as APC’s Director of Music on October 4, 1986. She is the longest serving music director APC has ever had and we appreciate her.

Sopranos Susan Etherton and Judy Robb presented Gisele with a beautiful bracelet to commemorate the special occasion.

Previous choir members returned to join current members and sing at APC in honor of Gisele’s accomplishment and Steve Tuttle captured the moment along with visiting minister Rev. Samuel Bisse (bottom right) next to our pastor, Sharon Core.

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Music at APC...

Shows the breadth of the Spirit in our lives. From Tallis and Bach to modern expressions, our choir brings joy to worship. We join in special music at Christmas, Easter, and throughout the year.

APC Chancel Choir

Choir practice is every Sunday morning at 9:00 except during the month f August when our choir takes a break. We have special performances throughout the month by members and friends. Join us throughout the rest of the year to sing!

Youth Choir practices the first three Sundays of each month (September through June) at 12:30 pm in the Choir Room. They sing in Worship Service on the fourth Sunday of each month. We invite you to encourage your children to experience God in this wonderful and unique way.

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APC Choir Welcomes Your Voice

-- Diana Lewis-Chun

Why do I sing in APC’s choir? Besides the fact that I just love singing? And what does it mean to help lead worship through music? Honestly, I don't think of myself as being a leader at all when I don a choir robe and open my throat up front in the sanctuary. It's just what I do.

Among other things, God is a God of beauty, and to be part of creating something beautiful to offer back to our Creator brings me joy. If that also leads others to lift their hearts and voices, so much the better!

We rehearse every Sunday at 9:00 in the Sanctuary. Join and sing!

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We would like to introduce you to those who have been called to the ministry of music at APC:

Our Music Director: Giséle Becker

Giséle Becker, Music Director of Arlington Presbyterian Church since 1986, is one of the Washington area's leading choral conductors. Ms. Becker is Music Director of Cantate Chamber Singers, Assistant Conductor of the Washington Bach Consort, Chorus Master of the Cathedral Choral Society, and has also served as Assistant Director of the Oratorio Society of Washington. She is the founder of the Early English Ensemble, a choir comprised of leading area professional choral singers, specializing in performance of a cappella music of the English Renaissance. A graduate of Catholic University of America, Ms. Becker has served on the conducting faculties of Trinity College in Washington and the Shenandoah Conservatory.

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Our Two Organists: Rick Berg and Steve Beck

Rick A. Berg began his musical studies with the piano at age six and organ studies at age 12. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from the University of Minnesota where he studied organ with Dr. Heinrich Fleischer. While living in Spain, Rick studied in Madrid at the Escuela Superior de Música Sagrada, specializing in ancient Spanish organ music. Rick has an impressive concert list including: participating in the First International Festival of Organ Music in Fasano, Italy in 1980 where he performed an all American program; earning first prize at the 1989 International Music Course for Spanish Music in Santiago de Compostela; and playing recitals in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Andorra, Washington D.C., Virginia, and Minnesota. Rick has been organist at the Base Chapel, Torrejón Air Force Base, Spain, for the English Speaking Catholic Church of Madrid and from 1975 to 1981 for the German Lutheran Church of Madrid. From January 1983 to January 1989, he was the choir director/organist at St. John’s Episcopal Church of Arlington, VA. From 1989 to 2005, he was organist/choir director at Faith Lutheran Church, Arlington, Virginia.

Steven E. Beck was born in Washington, D.C. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from Peabody Conservatory in 1976, and that summer was assistant director of the Gregg Smith Singers, conducting their Fourth of July concert in that Bicentennial year. He received his Master of Church Music degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in 1976. In 1979, he was awarded the Choirmaster (Ch. M) degree of the American Guild of Organists, winning the prize for the highest marks in the nation-wide examinations that year, and in 1985 was made an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO). He has served in several churches, recently completing a fourteen-year stint as director of music and organist at Emmaus United Church of Christ in Vienna, Virginia. He has been the director of the Convivium choral ensemble since 1999. He and his wife Pamela reside in Burke, Virginia.

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