The Sound of World Class Music at Emmanuel
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By Pat Reilly
onya Subbayya Sutton is the new president of the Association of Anglican Musicians, an organist and choirmaster for nearly 40 years who has led choirs in the most prestigious settings of Europe. She has now brought her worldclass talents to Middleburg as the new music director at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Just as the 178-year-old church was opening up for in-person services after the pandemic restrictions, its previous music director retired. Rector Eugene LeCouteur heard from parishioners that Sutton might be available. “Two of Emmanuel parishioners sang with me for years at St. Albans,” recalled Sutton, who had just left the Washington, D.C. church in 2016 after 20 years as organist and choirmaster. At their urging, she discussed the Emmanuel Church position with LeCouteur, whom she had met several years earlier. “We have similar ideas on building community through music,” she said. “I’m excited to see what she and God have in store for us in the coming months and years,” said LeCouteur. “We at Emmanuel have been blessed with a woman of extraordinary talents and love for God and the Church. Her creativity and skills are already making a difference in our worship.” That was on full display at the Fourth of July Sunday service, which included a ragtime piano piece, “Through the Gates of Eden” by William Bolcom, and “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa in a rousing arrangement by E. Power Biggs that Sutton played on the 8.5 rank tracker
Photo by Pat Reilly
Sonya Subbayya Sutton is the new music director at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. organ custom built for the church in 1976. “I feel like I have a true partner in ministry,” says LeCouteur, whose sermons often reflect his fondness for music. “We speak the same language and have the same hopes for this parish and how music can enliven worship and engage people in their spiritual growth.” Sutton is also music director of the World Bank/ IMF Chorus, which presents large-scale works for chorus and orchestra. She enjoys collaborations
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with other instrumentalists as an accompanist and chamber musician. Sutton writes compellingly about the intersection of life and the arts. She has found many ways to express herself, including a long-running blog Notes for a New Day, and most recently audio books. She has published two audio books on Audible – with music and stories about French composer Mel Bonis in Difficult Women and short stories based on music of John Hausserman titled Symphonic Preludes. Over the course of her long career, she has organized tours for choirs to sing in the great cathedrals of France, England and Wales, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Italy. She considers a onemonth residency at the cathedral in Capetown, South Africa and walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage n Spain with her son as highlights of her own spiritual journey. She earned degrees in piano and arts administration from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. She and her husband, The Rt. Reverend Eugene Sutton, who is the Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, have travelled extensively for work and leisure. They have four adult children in their blended family. In her speech to members on accepting the reins of the Association of Anglican Musicians in June, she said, “It’s time to be fearless, in our creativity, in our relationships, and in all the work we are doing to build up the Episcopal Church as a courageous voice in this hurting world.” Details: To see her work online, go to https://www. emmanuelmiddleburg.org/live-stream
