FLORRIE MARKS CHOSEN AS DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MINISTRIES

Temple Lutheran Church is pleased to announce that Florrie Marks has been selected to serve as Director of Music Ministries.  Florrie's musical talent and leadership style is expected to be a wonderful match for the resources and needs of our congregation.  Beginning on September 26, 2010, Florrie will direct music for all worship services.  Accompaniment of traditional worship services will continue to include the pipe organ.  Florrie will be installed during both services on September 26.

 Florrie's Ministry at Temple Lutheran Church
Florrie and her family (Kyle, Valerie & Douglas Barger) have been members of Temple Lutheran Church since 1995. Florrie was first hired in 1999 as a keyboard player and has since taken on a significantly increased role in the development of the contemporary worship service, serving as Associate Director of Music Ministries since 2006. Participating in the Worship Task Force, Florrie is helping to shape a vision for the future of worship at Temple Lutheran Church that is both faithful to our history and open to new possibilities.  She sees the music program situated at the beginning of an opportunity and is very excited about moving forward, noting that this change and transition will require patience, commitment and willingness to work together.

 Florrie's Background and Accomplishments
Florrie studied composition and violin at the Juilliard School, and she has a degree in Music Education from Gettysburg College, where she studied organ, violin and voice and sang in the Chapel Choir. She also has a Master of Music in Violin Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was Assistant Director of the Collegium Musicum. For many years a professional violinist in New York City, Florrie studied with famed concert virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci and former New York Philharmonic Concertmaster David Nadien; she later played with the Greensboro (NC), Reading (PA), and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras. Since 1992, Florrie has been Music Director of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Chester County.

In 1996, Florrie received the award of Best Musical Director of the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, with festival adjudicator David Turner saying of her work, "Precision, interpretation, thoughtfulness were there throughout; I thought it was musical direction of a very high order." Her choruses have twice been recognized by the Festival for their excellence.

Florrie also serves as Worship and Praise Leader at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Clifton Heights.