Biography


	*Biographies*

	Dr. Daniel Barta is Associate Professor and Director of Theory and Composition at Roberts Wesleyan College. For fourteen years, he served as Chair of Music Theory and Composition at Philadelphia Biblical University. Dr. Barta holds the DMA, M.Mus. and B.Mus. from Temple University, where he studied with Clifford Taylor, Maurice Wright and Matthew Greenbaum. His commissions include works that range from solo voice to large instrumental ensemble. He particularly enjoys collaborating with artists of other disciplines—his setting of three Hans Christian Andersen stories for chamber ensemble and narration were performed with storyteller Roger Petersen at the International Hans Christian Andersen Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Recently, Emily Britton premiered his new work for horn and piano, As the Sparks Fly Upward, at the Eastman School of Music. Two of his works for keyboard, Suite for Piano and Toccata Joyeuse (for organ), have been released on the DTR label. A Hymn Sing: Five Sacred Songs for violinist David Kim and Variations of All Creatures of Our God and King for duo pianists Paul Jones and Samuel Hsu have been recorded and released by Paul Jones Music, Inc. Dr. Barta is published by Concordia and Choristers Guild. He and his wife, Peggy, reside with their two children in Rochester, NY.
	Dr. Roy W. Brunner is Organist of historic Park Street Church (Congregational) on the Boston Common and is Professor of Music at Gordon College, Wenham, MA. Dr. Brunner received degrees at Houghton College (B.M.), the University of Nebraska (M.M.) and Combs College of Music (D.M.A.). Prior to teaching at Gordon, he taught for five years at Grace University, Omaha, NE and 18 years at Philadelphia Biblical University, Langhorne, PA. He held his first church organist post at the age of 12 and subsequent positions as Organist/Director in United Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches. His numerous collections of organ music have been published by H. W. Gray (a division of Warner Bros. Publications), Beckenhorst Press, Lillenas, and FJH Music Co. Dr. Brunner is married to Norma (Udd) Brunner who also teaches music at Gordon College and together they have two married sons, Joel and Jason. His hobbies include gardening, amateur photography and Boston Terriers.
	Robert Carwithen has had multiple careers as an organist, choral conductor, carillonneur, church musician, composer/arranger and performer. His undergraduate study was with Alexander McCurdy at The Curtis Institute of Music after which he received the M. Mus. in conducting at Westminster Choir College. Other eminent teachers have included Mme. Madaleine Duruflé-Chevalier, Xavier Darasse, Virgil Fox, Vladimir Sokoloff, and André Isoir. Carwithen taught on the faculty of Westminster for more than 45 years and currently teaches at Philadelphia Biblical University where he has been an adjunct professor since 1994. While at Westminster, he served as conductor of the world-renowned Symphonic Choir (1966-71) preparing the choir for Stokowski, Bernstein, and Ormandy among others. As Professor of Music he taught organ and courses in theory, improvisation, French Romantic and French Classic organ literature. As a church musician he held posts at First Presbyterian, Germantown (1960-86), Wayne Presbyterian, Wayne (1986-88), First Presbyterian, Philadelphia (1988-90) and Tenth Presbyterian, Philadelphia (1990-97). For three years he was the Wanamaker organist (Philadelphia, 1962-65), and was Music Editor of The Worshipbook Hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA) 1972. Carwithen has been Music Director and recording artist for Schulmerich Carillons and was the carillonneur for the World's Fair three times-in Brussels, Seattle, and New York. He has served as accompanist for various groups performing in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, and at Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall, New York City.
	Adam Dieffenbach holds degress in Music Composition from Philadelphia Biblical University and Temple University's Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance. His principal teachers include Matthew Greenbaum, Richard Brodhead, and Daniel Barta. Dieffenbach is also an active organist and is currently serving as Minister of Music at The Reformed Church of Willow Grove. He has also served as Chapel Organist at St. Cornelius the Centurion at Valley Forge Military Academy, a trumpeter in the 553rd Air Force Band (PA Air National Guard), and as a Chorister at Tenth Presbyterian Church. He is an organ student of Robert Carwithen and has also studied with Christopher Garven. For samples of his work and more information, see his website: http://www.societyofcomposers.org/user/adamf.dieffenbach.html.
	Paul S. Jones, D. M. has been Organist and Music Director at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA, since 1998. There he conducts the Tenth Church Choir and Tenth Chamber Players, is Artistic Director of the Tenth Concert Series and oversees the entire music program and staff including music interns. Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, his earliest musical training began at the age of five in the Toronto and Western Ontario conservatory programs. Dr. Jones holds undergraduate degrees in music (performance and composition) and in Bible from Philadelphia Biblical University, where he served as a faculty member for eight years, the master's degree in piano performance from Indiana University and the Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University in choral conducting. Dr. Jones also serves on the Council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and the board of the Alliance of Christian Musicians.
	Evelyn R. Larter was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. She won the prestigious Governor's Recital Prize for piano, and graduated with honors in concert piano and music education. She performed with the Highlands Sinfonia, and on Scottish television. Since moving to the United States with her husband and family in 1988, Evelyn has been active in the Philadelphia area, performing with well-known soloists and ensembles. She was on the music staff of historic Tenth Presbyterian Church for 11 years, regularly substituting on the organ. Evelyn became Director of Music at Deerfield Presbyterian Church, South Jersey, in September 2003, where she organizes recitals with world class musicians. As a composer, Evelyn writes anthems for her small church choir, and instrumental and vocal solo hymn arrangements for use as preludes and offertories. She has also arranged music for a small brass ensemble at her church. Five of her anthems have been published by the Lorenz Corporation and two by the Saint James Music Press. More anthems are currently awaiting publication by Lorenz, St James Music Press, Augsburg Fortress and Abingdon Press. She recently served as Dean of the SouthWest Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Evelyn has a strong interest in maintaining the goal of excellence in worship music, and has consulted with many churches on issues concerning the introduction of contemporary worship. She enjoys all kinds of music, and teaches many gifted students. She is married to Rev Dr Ken Larter, the minister of Deerfield Presbyterian Church. They have four adult children, and three grandchildren.
	Peter Leibensperger is a senior at Temple University, where he studies Music Theory with Cynthia Folio and Edward Latham. He will begin graduate studies in the Fall. His analysis of Mahler's "Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgeh'n!" was selected recently by the Music Theory Society of the Mid Atlantic Region to be presented at the Library of Congress. He has studied piano with Maria del Pico Taylor, composition with Matthew Greenbaum, and conducting with Paul S. Jones. He has served on the music staff of Tenth Presbyterian Church for four years. As a conducting assistant there he directs the Tenth Men's Choir, works with the Tenth Church Choir, and composes for the various ensembles. His compositions include sacred works for the Tenth Chamber Players, Westminster Brass, and for David Kim's solo album, The Lord Is My Shepherd. In 2007 Mr. Leibensperger conducted Puccini's La Bohème with the Berks Opera Workshop, and he will lead Mozart's Don Giovanni with the same organization in 2008.
	Deborah Rojas received her B.S. in Bible and B.Mus. in Church Music from Philadelphia Biblical University where she began composing under the tutelage of Daniel Barta. Robert Carwithen, Samuel Hsu, Paul Jones, and Al Lunde have also had an impact on her musical development. She previously served on the musical staff of Tenth Presbyterian Church, and served in various musical capacities at First Presbyterian Church in Enterprise, AL and New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Newton, MA. Deborah currently resides in Dover, DE, where she lives with her husband Richard, an Air Force chaplain, and her four children. She homeschools her two eldest children, and teaches piano and violin.
	Timothy Shaw, a native of New Hampshire, is Assistant Professor and Chair of Music Theory and Composition at Philadelphia Biblical University (Langhorne, PA) commencing Fall, 2008. He is completing a Ph.D. in Music Theory and History at the University of Connecticut where he taught courses in music theory and history as an adjunct Instructor and Graduate Assistant. He holds degrees from Temple University (M.Mus. in Composition) and Philadelphia Biblical University (B.Mus. in Composition, B.S. in Bible). His research interests include the music of Olivier Messiaen, nineteenth-century chromatic music, and American shape-note hymnody. In addition to his academic work, he has served as Music Director and Organist in Independent, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches throughout the Northeast. As of August, 2008, he holds the post of Associate Music Director at historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He has composed widely for the church, and his sacred octavos now appear in the catalogs of Augsburg Fortress, Choristers Guild, Concordia, Fred Bock, MorningStar Music, and Neil A. Kjos music companies. Portfolios of his hymn settings for piano and organ are published by Augsburg Fortress, as are many of his alternate accompaniments of hymns for the piano. An active composer, he regularly fulfills commissions, including those for David Kim (Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster), the Turtleledge Woodwind Trio ( Storrs , CT ), and the Presbyterian Church of Coventry, CT, among others. His music has been recorded by violinist David Kim and the duo piano team of Samuel Hsu and Paul S. Jones. Timothy and his wife, Lauren, are the proud parents of two boys. For more information, please visit his website: http://shawmusic.blogspot.com.
	Jeremy Strong is Music Director and Organist at St. John's Lutheran Church in Westville, NJ. A native of New Jersey, Mr. Strong spent the first 18 years of his life in Uruguay and Argentina as a child of missionary parents, where he first took piano lessons with his mother. He later studied piano and composition at Philadelphia Biblical University, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance and composition, and a Bachelor of Science in Bible. In 2003, he earned a Master's degree in composition from Temple University. For several years he was on the music staff of Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. He resides in New Jersey with his wife Missy, and children, Ethan, Owen, Lorelei, and Jackson. Besides being a stay-at-home Dad, Mr. Strong teaches piano and guitar, does freelance recording and editing, and works with music notation software.
	The Westminster Brass (Kenneth Laudermilch, James Hala, Dan McCartney, Thomas Elliott, and Timothy Witmer) has specialized in presenting sacred music concerts throughout the United States and Canada since 1976. Each member brings with him years of experience performing with such notable organizations as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, and the American Christian Symphony. Some of the members have had the privilege of working under the batons of Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, and Wolfgang Sawallisch in such great American concert halls as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Members of the Westminster Brass have earned degrees from The Curtis Institute, New England Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon University, and Westminster Theological Seminary. Their professions are as diverse as their education: church pastor and lecturer, university music professor, high school music director, seminary professor and author, and freelance musician and teacher. The quintet is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a regular part of Tenth Presbyterian Church's music ministry. The group is heard each week heralding the start of the international radio broadcast, The Bible Study Hour. It is also frequently heard on Family Radio. The ensemble has long been an integral part of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformation Theology and Ligonier Ministries Conferences.

Home Recordings Compositions Consulting Performing Teaching Writing Speaking Orders

Last Update: August 19, 2003