Music Ministries
Abington Presbyterian Church is both a center for worship and a
place for the exchange of ideas and cultural opportunities for the
community, a tangible symbol of God's presence in our everyday
activities. Music has long played an important role in the
life of this church.
Musical leadership for our ongoing worship life includes two
children's choirs, a youth choir, and an adult choir, as well as
bell choirs for children, youth, and adults incorporating ringers
of all ages and abilities.
Musical Leadership
| John Sall |
Director of Music Ministries |
| G. Stanley Powell |
Minister of Music Emeritus |
| Ethel Geist |
Organist & Accompanist |
| position open |
Director of Handbells |
| Ruth Ideen-Sall |
Director of Children's Choirs |
Kathryn Vance
|
Chair, Worship and Music Council |
| Alan Keiter |
Chair, Music at Abington Committee |
| Alan Keiter |
Organ Curator |
John Sall
Director
of Music Ministries
jsall@apcusa.org
John Sall serves Abington Presbyterian Church as Director of
Music Ministries, where he leads youth, adult, and handbell choirs
and the Abington Symphony Orchestra and oversees congregational
music programs and the Music at Abington concert series. With a
background including organ, choral, and church music studies,
Kenyan percussion choral accompaniments, and work with children,
youth, and adults, John brings a variety of personal and
professional experiences to the musical worship life of Abington
Presbyterian Church. He has developed unique and creative programs
which combine the rich and varied community resources of the
Abington Symphony Orchestra and Oratorio Choir in literature
ranging from baroque cantatas to newly composed works for a
cappella choir or solo orchestra, as well as classic large
Oratorios from the 18th to the 20th Century.
John Sall's interest in music was fostered in the rich resources
of strong school, church, and private music study in Holdrege,
Nebraska, and through the Lutheran Summer Music Academy. A graduate
of St. Olaf College (Minnesota), John was uniquely involved in the
strong performance tradition of the school as a member of the St.
Olaf Choir, St. Olaf Orchestra, and St. Olaf Band in addition to
his studies in Church Music and Organ with John Ferguson; he
received the Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music and Organ
with high honors. John Sall studied conducting with Alan Harler and
completed the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Temple
University's Boyer College of Music and Dance in 2007 and was
honored with the Elaine Brown Tribute Award, presented by the
choral department each year to an outstanding student for their
work in relating music to broader issues of community-building and
human expression. Following graduation from the program, John was
immediately invited by the faculty to teach conducting to
undergraduates, recently to lead the Women's Chorus, and he has
been repeatedly invited to cover rehearsals with Temple's
Contemporary Music Ensemble. John has studied choral conducting and
worked in masterclass settings with Joseph Flummerfelt, David
Hayes, Dale Warland, and Robert Scholz, and has studied orchestral
conducting with Luis Biava and Steven Amundson.
John Sall appears regularly as a conductor and singer with the
Skylark Ensemble and enjoys composing for his choirs and in other
settings, distinguishing himself as the Grand Prize winner in the
First Annual Composition Contest for Young Composers, Riverside
Church, New York, with his anthem, "Is Not This The Fast That I
Choose?" composed for choir, organ and string quartet. This work
was selected by the Harmony of Hearts program of Cross
International as one of their featured pieces in 2009. (An
interview about the piece is here.) John is a member of the American
Guild of Organists participating in the Philadelphia chapter
through regular appearances on the Tuesday recital series, as a
conductor for a chapter hymn festival, and on the program
committee. He served as president of the Rochester (Minn.) Area
Chapter of the Choristers Guild, and is a member of ACDA. John came
to Abington in 2001 and makes a home with his wife Ruth and their
daughters Lily, Miriam, and Ruby in the historic Isaiah Hubbs'
"Corner House" (1796) alongside the church.
Ethel Geist
Organist
and Accompanist
Organist Ethel Geist, daughter of a Lutheran pastor, began her
church music involvement playing piano, then organ, while growing
up in Ohio. With a major in clarinet, and as concert mistress of
the touring concert band, she received her Bachelor of Music
Education degree (cum laude) from Capital University in Columbus,
Ohio, and her Master of Arts in Music Education from The Ohio State
University.
Although Ethel's life as an educator consisted of 32 years
teaching public school music in Ohio and New Jersey (15 years in
Voorhees, NJ), she remained active in church music.
Most recently, Ethel served Trinity Lutheran Church in Perkasie,
PA, as Director of Music/Organist and Associate in Ministry,
leading an extensive music ministry.
Ethel is active in the Philadelphia American Guild of Organists
(AGO) Chapter, where she served as the Dean from 2003 to 2005,
chaired Promotion for the 2002 National Convention, and served as
Education Chair and as an Executive Committee member. She is also
involved with other AGO chapters, Choristers Guild, American Guild
of English Handbell Ringers, Association of Lutheran Church
Musicians, Organ Historical Society, and the Hymn Society.
When Ethel retired from teaching school, she began to study
organ, concentrating on its concert repertoire, with Dennis Elwell,
and continues this "hobby." She and her husband, Norm, who is also
a church musician, live in Quakertown.