Music

On August 10, 2018 The Rev. Peter Mayer sent, via email, the following to the congregation.

We are very excited to announce that we have a new Director of Music at St. Margaret’s!

Jim Douglas, a talented and notable organist, choir director, professional singer, conductor, arranger, and youth chorus leader will begin his work at St. Margaret’s at the end of September.

He is currently the Director of Music Ministry at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pennington, NJ, where he serves as parish organist, director of three choirs and oversees the development of a graded chorister program for children and youth, an expansion of regular liturgical offerings and a sacred music internship.

Prior to St. Matthew’s, Jim was Director of Music and Organist at St. James’ Church, Long Branch, NJ, where he served as parish organist, choirmaster and cantor. There he established a high school choral scholar program, reestablished a children’s choir and coordinated a highly- regarded recital and concert series.

Jim received his initial musical training at Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City, and he became head treble chorister in the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys under Gerre Hancock, singing five weekly services and more than 400 choral pieces each season. He performed with the likes of Carly Simon and Jessye Norman and can be heard as a treble soloist on the recording “Christ the Fair Glory.” He studied multiple instruments and played and conducted for weekly chapel services while in high school at Saint James School, Hagerstown, MD, studying voice with Corey Rotz and keyboard with Susan Gable and Barbara Wischmeier. He studied sacred music, organ, piano, voice and conducting at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ, and was a soloist in several of the school’s renowned ensembles.

Jim has performed under such renowned conductors as Robert Spano, Neeme Järvi, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Lorin Maazel, Harry Bicket, Joseph Flummerfelt, Joe Miller, Andrew Megill and John Scott, among others, and has performed, recorded and toured with numerous ensembles, including the Saint Thomas Choir, Trinity Wall Street Choir, Vox Vocal Ensemble, Kinnara Ensemble and the Westminster Choir, among others. He has also performed in American premieres of choral works by John Tavener and Tarik O’Regan.

He has served on the Bishop’s Advisory Commission on Music for the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey and is an active member of the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM) and the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in America. He has served on the music faculty of the RSCM America King’s College Course since 2010 and will serve as Director of the 2018 Diocese of New Jersey Summer Choir Camp in Cape May, NJ.

We welcome Jim, his wife Abbie, son Oliver, 2, and daughter Charlotte, 2 months. Please keep them in your prayers as they navigate their move to Annapolis.