Annual Report 2023-2024-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 17
Staff Changes in 2023-2024
Year in Review
This was a year of change, welcoming fresh faces to key programs.
The 2023-2024 Program Year saw increased normalcy, postpandemic. We saw increasing enrollment and participation
across ensembles, and the relaunch of the Instrumental
Ensemble.The events listed here represent only a few of the
activities of the Music & Arts at Plymouth Church.
Summer 2023: The Chancel Choir bid farewell to Mackenzie
Stern, who moved to the Twin Cities area. Taylor Peek joined
the choral staff.
July 2023: Susan Waller retired after 16 years of service to Plymouth’s
Matins, youth, children’s music, and creative arts programs.
August 2023:
• Ted Brimeyer, an award-winning choral director at Urbandale
High School, was hired to fill the part-time role of Director of
the Matins Choir.
• Beth Ann Edwards, a credentialed professional in music ministry
with specialties in handbells, visual arts, and marketing, was
hired as part-time Director of Creative Arts and a Director of
the Youth Handbell Choir.
• Michelle Breach was hired to join the Children’s Choir team.
• Brandon Record left employment as the Soul Singers Director.
Christopher Goodson has served as interim director during
2023-2024.
December 2023: Elaine Wedeking retired as a children’s choir
collaborative artist after 38 years of service.
Summer 2024:
• Sandy Miller, former Artistic Director of the Heartland Youth
Choir, and a classroom music teacher, will join the staff as
Director of the Soul Singers and a key part of the Teens
Music programming team.
• We expect to fill the collaborative artist position.
Fall 2024: We may add an additional Children’s Choir director
if enrollment increases.
Matins Director Search | Summer 2023
Susan Waller announced her intention to retire in early April
2023, which began a process of preparing to celebrate her time
at Plymouth while visioning and searching for the next Matins
Director. The decision was made to separate Susan’s work into
two primary part-time director positions: a Director of the
Matins Choir and a Director of Creative Arts, as well as a fulltime pastoral appointment.
June 2023:
• 6/4 | Matins Home Concert
• 6/8 | Chris and Sohee presented a session “Inside the
Choral-Organ Rehearsal” for the Central Iowa American
Guild of Organists with members of the Chancel Choir
• 6/9-6/16 | Matins Tour
• 6/24 | CONCERT Agape Ringers from Chicago
• 6/25, 6/27 | CONCERT Des Moines Gamer Symphony
Orchestra
July/August 2023:
• 7/15-7/16 | Susan Waller Retirement Celebration
• 7/20 | Chris led a Church Musician Roundtable discussion
and presented a session of “Considering Liturgical Movement
in Worship Music Selection” at the Iowa Choral Director
Association Summer Symposium (Pella, IA)
• 7/31-8/4 | Relaunch of the Plymouth Creative Arts Camp,
after a decade-long hiatus, led by Jade Fox and the PK-8
Music Staff.
August/September 2023:
• 8/30, 8/31, 9/6 | All PK-Adult Choral programming launched.
• 9/10 | Kick Off Sunday with Matins Choir, Chancel Choir,
and Plymouth Brass in worship
October 2023:
• 10/22 | CONCERT The Cornerstone Chorale and Brass from
St. Louis presented a religious program of music and narration.
• 10/27 | Sohee gave a masterclass session on service
improvisation to the organ studio at the University of Iowa.
• 10/31 | CONCERT Sohee Lee, joined by the Matins Choir,
Soul Singers, and Youth Handbell Choir, and others, presented
Plymouth’s second annual “Not Your Mummy’s Halloween
Concert” to rave reviews from a standing-room-only audience.
I was charged with managing the search for the director
positions. Both successful candidates were hired in August 2023,
after a particularly thorough vetting process for the next Director
of the Matins Choir. We are thrilled with the addition of both
Ted Brimeyer and Beth Ann Edwards to the team at Plymouth!
Rebranding
During the summer/early fall, the church launched a new website
and worked to clean up branding identity. As part of that project,
the Board of Music & Fine Arts became the Board of Music &
Arts; the Director of Music and Fine Arts became the Director of
Music & Arts; Arts@Plymouth became Plymouth Music & Arts;
and we added branding of the PK-12 program as the Plymouth
Academy of Music & Arts.
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