Announcing Lynn Swanson as Interim Organist & Choir Director
I am so excited to share with you that Lynn Swanson has agreed to serve as our Interim Organist and Choir Director. One reason I am excited is that Lynn and I had the opportunity to work together for a few years at my prior parish, St. Benedict’s, in Smyrna, Georgia. It was an honor to work alongside her as a newly-ordained curate and assistant priest, and she inspired me as a colleague whose humor and sincerity is matched by her skill, imagination, and compassion. I reached out to Lynn when I discerned with the wardens and staff that we needed a time of solid worship, music, and community-building, and I was overjoyed that she was able and willing to come among us to share her gifts.
Lynn Swanson is a native of the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia. She holds the Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from Shorter University, and the Master of Music Education in Choral Pedagogy from the University of Kansas.
She has a wealth of experience in developing and nurturing parish music ministries with both adults and children. In particular, she has a passion for supporting the gifts and strengths of singers of all ages as they share in the worship life of a community. It is important to Lynn that people feel empowered to sing and share their gifts! Her own gifts enable her to work nimbly with children and choristers even as she supports congregational worship and sacred choral performances that enliven the heart and enrich the soul.
She has enjoyed a significant international career, serving church positions in Germany that included a performance in the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Significant church positions where she has served as Music Director and as Organist/Choirmaster include All Saints Cathedral in Milwaukee; St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Smyrna, Georgia; Due West United Methodist Church in Marietta; and many others across the Atlanta region.
From 2017-2018 she served as Assistant Director of the Zhuhai Classical Children’s Choir in Zhuhai, China, near Hong Kong. During her lauded tenure there she conducted the chorus on national television in China in a performance at the Beijing International Music Festival. From 2018-2020 she served as Executive Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir.
In addition, Lynn served a number of leading positions with the Choral Foundation from 2006-2018. She founded the Cobb Summer Singers in 2006, the Northside Young Singers in 2008, the Cobb Festival Singers in 2009, and the Institute for Healthy Singing in 2015. She served as associate director of the Choral Foundation’s original ensemble, now called The New South Festival Singers, from 2010 to 2015, before her appointment as the second music director of the ensemble in 2015, a position she held until 2017. Lynn co-created the Summer Singers of Lee’s Summit in 2014, and served as Executive Associate Music Director of the Choral Foundation from 2011-2017.
Lynn’s conducting portfolio of choral-orchestral masterworks is extensive, including Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach: Mass in B Minor, Christ lag in todesbanden, and Wachet auf, Handel: Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Dettingen Te Deum and Coronation Anthems, Mozart: Coronation Mass, Solemn Vespers, and Missa Brevis in D, Beethoven: Mass in C and Mendelssohn: Elijah, along with many other works. Collaborations have involved musicians from the Kansas City Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Kazinetti Quartet.
At Grace, Lynn’s work among us will build on the excitement of our prior years: supporting a robust chorister program, developing and equipping an exceptional parish choir, and exploring potential for community engagement. Her first Sunday with us will be September 12.
I am so very grateful for Mike Henry and Ernest Plunkett, who will coordinate the adult choirs for three weeks in preparation for Lynn’s arrival with us. They will help lead worship on Sundays, August 22, 29, and September 5. In addition, I am grateful for Arielle Crumley who has offered to serve as a point person for helping develop our children’s choir ministries. Our leadership team is strong, and I am thankful for their willingness to step in.
I have no doubt that you will join me in welcoming Lynn to the community–and to thank Mike, Ernest, Arielle and all those who continue to offer their gifts in support of our common life.
Blessings, always,
The Rev. Dr. Stuart Higginbotham
Rector