Meet the St. James Choir
We see and hear the St. James Choir each week, and we might know the faces. With this Grapevine issue we begin to introduce the members of the choir, beginning with those who have served longest, and who share what it’s like to lift our praises to the glory of God and in service to St. James Parish by means of a very special ministry.
- ANN HALE - "My first choir
was the youth choir at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greensboro, N.C., my hometown. I started piano lessons at a young age, and when I was in high school, I sang with the glee club and then accompanied the group on the piano. I was a member of the girls’ chorus and a smaller vocal ensemble my first two years of college. I did no choral singing for many years after that but enjoyed singing in the congregation of various episcopal churches, including St. James, which I first attended in the mid-1980s while I lived in Wilmington. My career path took me back to Raleigh, where my husband Bill and I joined the choir at Christ Episcopal Church after we were married in 1993. We also joined the choir at St. James shortly after we bought a condo in 2004 for weekend trips to Wilmington. We loved working with Candy and David Williams and, although Raleigh was still our principal residence, we sang with the choir here whenever we were in town. We finally made Wilmington our permanent home in 2015 and were thrilled to become full-time members of the choir and of St. James. The St. James choir includes a lot of very interesting, talented, and friendly people. I have enjoyed working with John Sullivan, who, in addition to being a skilled musician, is someone I admire and consider a dear friend. I love singing with the St. James choir and consider it a privilege to do so." - VANCE MOSER - "Choir has been a part of my life since I was age 10. I was a soprano then and the choirmaster paid about 8 of us boys $1 a month to sing at the regular 11 PM service. After 2 years we moved and life occurred so it was about 22 years before I was in another choir. However, I had been playing the trumpet and singing in college so music was still important to me. I sang in my next church choir for about 25 years and in a local oratorical society. Life intervened again, we moved to Vermont, and Carol and I were not churched for the next 15 years, but I did get to sing in the Dartmouth College Alumni Glee Club and 2 years with the Handel Society at Dartmouth College including performing at the Christmas show in Carnegie Hall. Then we came to the Wilmington area in 2005 and I started singing with the Cape Fear Chorale. After Carol died in 2014 I joined the choir at St. James. Singing means a lot to me on several levels. There could be no God if humanity was not able to sing his praises."
- SARA WESTERMARK - Sara Westermark, lyric soprano, is a celebrated regional soloist, renowned private voice teacher, and metalsmith. Sara graduated with a Master’s in Voice Performance magna cum laude from the University of Missouri School of Music where she performed such roles as Pamina from Magic Flute, Susannah from Floyd’s Susannah, Mother Hansel and Gretel, Poppea l’incornatione di Poppea, and Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro. Sara has performed as a soloist with the Wilmington Symphony, UNCW Opera, Tallis Chamber Orchestra, Opera Wilmington, Wilmington Oratorio Society, Southeastern Oratorio Society, the Wilmington Choral Society, the Wilmington Guild of Organists, and serves as a soprano section leader for the St. James Episcopal Church Choir. Her students have won top state, regional, and national accolades and awards through the National Association of Teachers of Singing Student Auditions, the Schmidt High School Classical Voice Competition and they have received admission and scholarships to top music conservatories and universities. Sara’s work with young singers was published in a book by Karen Brunssen, “The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Through the Lifespan”. An avid animal lover, Sara enjoys spending time with her family and animal companions and pursuing new creative projects. Sara shared, "I came to St. James after the death of my beloved choir director Larry Cook from St. Paul’s. I had been sick with Lyme disease and needed income to pay the expensive treatments. I asked John Sullivan if he needed a soprano section leader and he hired me when a space opened up. This was a godsend to me. My kids began to attend choir and church with me because they knew how much energy climbing the balcony stairs and singing for two services took out of me. For the first three to four years I slept the rest of Sunday after singing for two services. I love listening to the inspired rectors at St. James. The act of service in singing for God, listening to the organ, singing with such talented choir members, and praying with intercessors for health has been instrumental in my healing journey. Today I function at about 85-90% normally in my life. St. James is a big part of my healing journey because you gave me a place to serve when I was broken. You lifted me up and welcomed me and my family to be a part of the community. You accepted my non-binary child and made them feel welcome. St. James is a community of love and is my church family. I’m grateful for the blessings I have received from St. James."
- BOB WORKMON - Tenor Bob Workmon, grew up near Savannah, Georgia, with his three younger brothers. He graduated from the music program at the University of South Florida in Tampa with a B.A. in music. His long public radio career began while an undergraduate at USF. Bob has been a soloist with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Chamber Singers, and the Greensboro Oratorio Society. His opera experience includes roles in Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Verdi’s La Traviata. A Wilmington resident since 2006, he joined the St. James Choir in 2007 and has been a member, with a couple of breaks, to the present. Bob had often said, “There’s no better feeling than singingwith people who feel almost like family. That’s what the St. James Choir is to me. And, for me, there’s no more intimate prayer than one offered up in song.” Bob is known, too, for his Wilmington Theatre Award-winning performance as Tony in Opera House Theatre Company's The Most Happy Fella, and for Javert in the company's production of Les Miserables. He is a freelance arts correspondent for the Wilmington Star-News when not singing at St. James. He is most proud of his grown children, Ben and Julia.
Tags: Music & Choirs