Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth:
make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise (Psalm 98:4 KJV)
Music Ministry
Worship is the core of our church life, and music is a central part of our worship. We love beautiful music, and we are blessed with the moving sounds of it each Sunday. Music has the power to allow us to feel the presence of God and to inspire our faith, expressing the otherwise inexpressible and offering hope. Through it we praise God and celebrate our love for God and God’s love for us.
Our 11:00 AM service is a traditional service, including participation by our choir. Ours is a choir of dedicated volunteers open to CCC members and friends. Our choir members come from a wide variety of music backgrounds. Some have years of formal training and can read music off the page, and some have sung primarily around their home and learn music better by listening and repeating. Regardless of an individual’s music background, our choir is a welcoming place for anyone who is interested in singing, a nurturing and supportive community, and God. Participation in the choir offers a vital spiritual resource and forges lasting relationships with others on the journey.
The choir fills our beautiful sanctuary with choral anthems and leads our congregational singing in hymns. They grace our Sunday services with their voices year-round, singing as a full choir from September through mid-June. They sing a broad range of music, from the masterworks of classic sacred repertoire through new compositions that honor the traditional feel of our 11:00 AM service. During the summer months, choir members are encouraged to offer solos, duets, trios, quartets and instrumental music. The choir also sings in special services during Advent and Christmas, Lent and Holy Week. Organ and piano solos and accompaniments complete the offerings of our music ministry.
Our music ministry is led by our Director of Music, Robin Lynne Frye. Our choir meets for weekly rehearsals on Wednesdays from 7:00-8:15 PM, and warms up at 10:15 AM on Sundays to sing at our 11:00 AM services.
We are always happy to welcome new members to our choir, and all are invited, from those of middle school age to 110! No prior choral experience is necessary. To join or to find out more, please contact Robin Lynne Frye at 910-315-6049 or robinlynnefrye@gmail.com. You will be joining a very friendly, fun group of people who share a commitment to an important ministry of our church.
About our Director of Music
Mezzo-soprano Robin Lynne Frye, a concert repertoire specialist, has received widespread critical acclaim for being “vocally and musically. . . a most impressive singer” in her performances in oratorio, chamber music, recital and opera. She has appeared as soloist in all of New York’s major concert halls and with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, the Connecticut Early Music Festival, the choir and orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola and the New York Virtuoso Singers. She has also appeared as soloist with the North Carolina Master Chorale at Meymandi Hall, with the Choral Society of Durham at Duke Chapel and with Cumberland Choral Arts and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. She presented a solo recital at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines.
Ms. Frye is a frequent duo-recitalist performing with baritone Robert Mobsby as “Music Made for Two,” with recent performances at The Village Chapel in Pinehurst, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Southern Pines, at St. Mary the Virgin in New York and at First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, Connecticut. Recent engagements include Handel’s Messiah, programs of opera arias and ensembles and a concert of the chamber music of Brahms, including his Liebeslieder Walzer.
Other performances include Verdi’s Requiem, Copland’s In the Beginning, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Bach’s solo Cantata 170, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Vierne’s Les Angélus, Mozart’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, Vaughan Williams’ Magnificat and Serenade to Music and the role of “Sesto” in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito.
Future performances include a Music Made for Two duo-recital at Haymount United Methodist Church in Fayetteville and a performance of Respighi’s Il Tramonto with string quartet at Community Congregational Church in Southern Pines.
Ms. Frye is a past member of the music faculties at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Methodist University and St. Andrews University, teaching voice, opera, foreign language diction, music theory and sight singing. She holds the degrees of Master of Arts in Music Education and Bachelor of Music with a major in voice performance and a minor in piano performance. She has pursued further studies through Westminster Choir College, as well as the analysis of the singing voice with Donald G. Miller, developer of the VoceVista software program. Ms. Frye is a longstanding voice student of David L. Jones of New York City.
Recognized by the New York Singing Teachers’ Association as a Distinguished Voice Professional, Ms. Frye has served as a choral clinician and as a competition adjudicator for organizations such as the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Music Teachers’ National Association and the American Choral Directors’ Association, and is a member of The American Guild of Musical Artists. She is the Director of Music at Community Congregational Church in Southern Pines, conducting the adult choir and serving as organist and pianist. She is an organ student of Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III. She maintains an active voice and piano teaching studio in Pinehurst. Her students have found success as professional performers, in competitions and in leading roles in concert, opera and musical theater.