David Perry Ouzts is Associate for Music and Liturgy of Church of the Holy Communion, Memphis, Tennessee, where he conducts the Parish Choir, Motet Choir, Holy Communion Ringers, and Taizé Schola; coordinates the music for the weekly Taizé and Celtic evening services; and directs the diverse musical life of the parish.

A native of Woodruff, South Carolina, Dr. Ouzts brings twenty years of full-time church music experience to Holy Communion, having served parishes in West Virginia, Texas, Kansas, and now Tennessee. At Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka, Kansas, he was Canon Musician and Liturgist, serving on the diocesan liturgy and music commission and the advisory board for the Leadership Program for Musicians. In Houston he served as senior associate musician for the 8,400 member St. Luke's Methodist Church, serving also on the executive committees of the Houston American Guild of Organists, Choristers Guild, and American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. In West Virginia he was parish musician of Trinity Episcopal Church in Huntington, music and liturgy consultant for the Diocese of West Virginia, music director of Congregation B'nai Sholom, and adjunct organ instructor at Marshall University.

In addition to his duties as music director at Holy Communion, Dr. Ouzts presently serves as Professional Development Coordinator for the Memphis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and sings in the Rhodes College MasterSingers Chorale. He also serves as Chapel Organist for St. Mary's Episcopal School, which shares the facilities of Church of the Holy Communion. A member of the American Guild of Organists, Association of Anglican Musicians, American Choral Directors Association, and the Royal School of Church Music, Dr. Ouzts is listed in International Who's Who in Music and was honored by the Order of Kentucky Colonels for his contributions to the arts communities in the tri-state region of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. He has served as clinician for liturgy, organ and organ improvisation workshops, and he has performed organ recitals throughout the United States, including the St. Thomas Church in New York City, Washington National Cathedral, and the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. He is also a life-member of the VoiceCare Network, where he completed studies in vocal pedagogy.

Dr. Ouzts holds a Bachelor of Music in organ performance from Furman University, a Master of Music in organ performance from Yale School of Music, a Diploma in Sacred Music from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Diploma in Anglican Studies from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He has studied organ with W. Lindsay Smith and Robert S. Baker, organ improvisation with Gerre Hancock, and liturgy and church history with Jeffrey W. Rowthorn. He has also taken post-graduate studies in organ and church music at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, studying organ and church music with Marilyn Keiser and choral conducting with Michael Schwarzkopf; there he also served as Graduate Assistant to department chair Larry Smith. In 2008 he completed the Doctor of Sacred Music degree at the Graduate Theological Foundation and has been named an Oxford Foundation Fellow to study systematic theology at the University of Oxford, England, in Summer 2009.

David Ouzts is on sabbatical leave for June, July, and August.
Follow his sabbatical activities at http://davidperryouzts.blogspot.com/

 

phone: 901-767-6987 ext. 13
email: first name initial plus full last name @holycommunion.org.*
example: jdoe@holycommunion.org

*We have chosen not to include the specific email address of our staff members to protect them from being used inappropriately by internet spiders.