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Adult Music Ministry

The adult music ministry provides many options for adults to be integrally involved in leading and facilitating worship at South Main. Adult music ministry members take advantage of opportunities such as Sanctuary Choir, vocal ensembles Agape (women's) and One Accord (men's), the Adult Handbell Choir, South Main Brass, and our organs as they sharpen their skills and use their gifts to the glory of God. The congregation at large is a very important part of this ministry through the hearty singing of great hymns and gospel songs each Sunday.

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Sanctuary Choir
Our Sanctuary Choir leads us in worship each week, supporting our congregational singing. Our choir has a long history of excellence; for example, in 2003, we performed Mendelssohn's Elijah for the sixth time in our church’s history. The choir regularly performs major works and concerts in addition to their Sunday morning duties (King David, Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom and Peaceable Kingdom, Handel’s Messiah; the Requiems of Brahms, John Rutter, and Gabriel Faure, among other works). The choir presents a Christmas concert each Advent season called Christmas Candlelight Celebration. Tour groups taken from the choir have toured the northwest U.S., Canada, and the U.K. in recent years.  In the summer of 2006, the choir presented Arthur Honegger's King David.

Our Sanctuary Choir has made two recent recordings:  Sunday Morning at South Main 2 and the Music for the Ages: A Centennial Heritage.

If you are interested in joining the Sanctuary Choir, please contact Thomas Coker (tcoker@smbc.org). The choir rehearses from 7:30-9:00 on Wednesday nights.

Visit the publications link on the main page at smbc.org and read our most recent Inchoirer to find out more about our Sanctuary Choir.

Vocal Ensembles
We have two adult ensembles at South Main:  One Accord, our men’s ensemble, and Agape, our women’s ensemble.

One Accord is made up of six talented men and their accompanist, who are active both in the church and in the community. Stephen Bedford leads them as director.

Agape is made up of 10 women chosen from the Sanctuary Choir and their accompanist. These women are active in worship and in the community at large.

Both ensembles rehearse on Wednesdays and are chosen by personal invitation.

Instrumental
Our South Main Brass instrumental group plays for selected worship services and special programs throughout the year. The South Main Brass is open to players with medium to high proficiency.

The South Main Brass meets on Wednesday nights for rehearsal from 5:45 - 6:25 p.m. If you are interested in being a part of this instrumental group, please contact Thomas Coker (tcoker@smbc.org).

Organs at South Main
Great traditions have flourished at South Main over the past 100 years, and the organs at the church are no exception. Our sanctuary organ is the Thad Roberts Memorial Organ. This Original Kilgen Organ was installed in 1934, rebuilt by John Fort of Dallas, Texas, in 1987, and has since undergone significant work. The original chapel organ was built by the John Fort Organ Company in 1965. 

In 2005, South Main installed a new organ in the Westmoreland Chapel, a process which has made possible the viewing of the chapel's entire stained glass window.  Three presentation concerts introduced the new organ, beginning with Daryl Robinson's Friday March 11th concert (7:30 p.m.).  Dr. Joyce Jones presented the dedication concert on Friday April 15th (7:30 p.m.).  The series concluded when the Sanctuary Choir, accompanied by Daryl Robinson, presented a concert on Sunday May 22nd (6:00 p.m.).

Daryl Robinson, South Main Organist/Music Associate, joined the staff of SMBC in August of 2003. Daryl has concertized throughout the state of Texas and the United States, including Baylor University, Waco, Texas; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Shreveport, Louisiana; The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; and Moody Memorial United Methodist, Galveston, Texas. Previous teachers include Shirley McCord, Dr. Jo Deen Blaine Davis, Dr. Joyce Jones, Dr. Joby Bell, and Dr. Robert Bates. Daryl attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas, and is currently working toward an organ performance degree at the University of Houston.

Sanctuary Organ Stop List (pdf file)

Adult Handbells
The Adult Handbell Choir is made up of talented ringers who perform periodically in morning worship and on other occasions. Daryl Robinson serves as director of the choir. The Adult Handbell Choir rehearses on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.

SMILE Chorale
The SMILE Chorale is made up of ladies who are students in the SMILE program. They rehearse at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesdays from September to May.

Bach to Broadway

Over the past eighteen summers, South Main has presented a number of musical performances.  This summer, South Main presented The Music Man on August 9, 10, and 11.  Previous Bach to Broadways have been full-length Broadway musicals including The Sound of Music (2005), Man of La Mancha (2004), Hello, Dolly! (2003), and Fiddler on the Roof (2002).  For more information, contact Music Minister Thomas Coker at 713-529-4167 x130 or tcoker@smbc.org.