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, through which he will study as a post-doctoral
research fellow in the School of Theology, University of
Oxford, England, in summer 2009.
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.
