Music at Old St. Andrew's ...

is central to our worship. In music and voice, we celebrate life and the presence of spirit in our lives. We give thanks and praise, too, through music.

At the 10 o'clock service, from just after Labor Day through Pentecost Sunday, our choir and organ (sometimes piano or other instruments) accent the Holy Eucharist. We intone the Gloria and the Pslam as well as congregationally sing at least four hymns. The choir usually present an anthem or special hymn at the Offertory.

At the core of Old St. Andrew's choir are a cadré of volunteer singers. One need not be a trained musician to join the choir and all interested parishioners are welcome. We are also fortunate to have three professional musicians leading our music program.

Soprano Lisabeth Miller is our Music Coordinator. Since 2002, Liz has graced OSA with her wonderful voice as well has her stellar sense of humor. Liz brings energy and great musical skill to our parish.

Liz received her master’s degree in voice performance from the Hartt School of Music, and a bachelor’s with honors in music from Brandeis University.  She was a finalist in Opera Theater of Connecticut’s Amici vocal competition in 2007 and 2009, and is an alumna of OperaWorks in Los Angeles, CA.  She is on the music faculties of Manchester Community College, Loomis Chaffee School, and Old St. Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, CT.

Liz recently made her professional operatic debut during the summer of 2009 with Opera Theater of Connecticut, as Suor Dolcina in their production of Suor Angelica, and recently made role debuts as Valentine (Les Huguenots) and Konstanze (The Abduction from the Seraglio) as a part of Hillhouse Opera’s Spring 2009 opera scenes concert.  Other roles include Nella in Gianni Schicchi and Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica with Hartt Opera Theater, Rosina in scenes from The Ghosts of Versailles (Opera New Jersey), and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy. 

Up next for the New Jersey native is Konstanze at the Music by the Brook festival in Armonk, NY, the title role in Alcina, and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Hill House Opera in December of 2009.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Lisabeth Miller recently sang excerpts from Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi) and La Boheme (Mimi), in “Opera in the Meetinghouse” at First Church in Windsor. She has been the soprano soloist in Trinity Methodist Church of Windsor’s Messiah in both 2008 and 2009, and has been honored to perform premieres of new music written specifically for her by local composers Nolan Stolz and Yves Venne. Liz has also joined CONCORA for the 2009-10 season. 

Michael Spaziani is a 20 year-old Vocal Performance & Music Management double major at the Hartt School of Music. He hails from Nashua, NH. Michael has just joined OSA.

Michael has studied voice classically under Michele Henderson for over four years, and while at Hartt has been a pupil of Jerome Pruett. His primary musical background centers on musical theater—his true passion. Michael has appeared in leading roles in Footloose!, Once On This Island, South Pacific, and Altar Boyz, among others.

Michael is thrilled to come to OSA and meet a new community of people. He says, “I really look forward to a long, fulfilling relationship with everyone in the Old St. Andrew’s family.”

Dana Kephart has joined the OSA choir this Fall. She got her first formal exposure to singing early in her elementary school years with the children’s choir of her home church in New Jersey. Since, she has gained experience in multiple areas of music and has been studying voice and choral singing. She is also a student of instrumental music and music theory. Dana is currently a sophomore at the Hartt School of Music with a double-majoring in vocal performance and music education.