October was an exciting month for Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor with the installation of our new Fritts organ, Opus 47. The organ replaces Fritts Opus 31 that moved to the home of Carole Terry in Seattle.

Opus 47 includes specially designed pipe shades that depict the Lamb of God, sheaves of wheat, grapes, a chalice and loaves of bread to highlight the case made of Douglas fir. The organ has mechanical key and stop action, tremulant and zimbelstern.

The dedication of the organ and dedicatory concert will be scheduled later in 2021.

Specification:

Manual I: Prestant 8’, Octave 4’, Octave 2’, Dulcian 8’

Manual II: Gedackt 8’, Octave 4’, Rohrflöte 4’, Nasat 3’/Cornet II

Pedal: Subbass 16’, Bourdon 8’

Shari Shull, Organist/Minister of Music

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We welcome Anne Lyman as our newest member. She is known to many of us, but I have included a short biography for those who may not have met her. We look forward to her participation in chapter events, and appreciate the expertise that she will bring in choral music.

Dr. Anne E. Lyman serves as Director of Choral Activities and Chair of Music Tacoma Community College. She is Artistic Director of the Sine Nomine Renaissance Choir in Seattle and is Director of Music Ministries at Skyline Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. Dr. Lyman currently also serves as President of the Washington State Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.

Dr. Lyman has previously conducted choirs at the University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Iowa, and Cornell College, as well as festival and honor choirs throughout the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Lyman holds degrees from The College of Wooster, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Iowa under Timothy Stalter and Christine Getz.

Dr. Lyman’s musical pursuits include early music research and vocal performance. She is the Artistic Director of the Tacoma Early Music Ensemble, which performs polyphony from the 14th through 16th centuries, and also runs the Tacoma Early Music Workshop. In 2007, she completed a nine-month residency in Leuven, Belgium under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship, receiving additional recognition for her work by the Society of Seventeenth Century Music, the Belgian American Education Foundation and the Stanley Foundation.

Dr. Lyman loves hiking, cooking, and gardening. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her husband Zach, son, Milo and daughter, Eleanor.

There were no objections to the proposed slate of officers, so the slate is elected by acclamation.

Please welcome Sheila Bristow as dean, and Cheryl Drewes as subdean, both in new positions. Sandra Tietjen will continue as treasurer, and I (Thomas Clark) will continue as secretary and webmaster.

Michael Menne joins the board as an at-large member along with continuing members David Dahl and Satya Jaech.

Noel Channon is moving from Lynnwood to Bremerton and has recently joined the Tacoma Chapter. Noel holds BA and MA degrees in organ from New Mexico Highlands University. He is currently the organist at Messiah Lutheran in Seattle where he also teaches organ lessons.

He notes that his house in Bremerton will have two grand pianos, a harpsichord, and a virginal. That sounds like an offer to host a party in the post-COVID world!

Please extend a welcome to Noel when the opportunity arises. We are happy that he has joined and look forward to his participation.

Our September meeting will feature our own Dr. Wyatt Smith discussing Bach’s Clavier-Übung III followed by a group question-answer session.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, this meeting will be by Zoom on September 21 at 7:00 PM. Closer to the meeting time we will send an announcement that contains a Zoom link. The Zoom link will be added to the online calendar at the same time.