College!  Why not take at least one class in everything I was considering as a major, so math, English, and music theory.  Oh yes, choir, and piano lessons, and organ lessons!  Does this look heavy in the area of music?  Well, as it happened, music was what I thought I just could not NOT do.  By my sophomore year, I again had a church organist job (this time for pay) and had decidedthat my first love was playing the pipe organ.  Every practice session ended with me pulling out all the stops on something, and I was devouring the new music--lots of Bach, especially. Dr. Austin Lovelace of Denver was my first professor, and he let me learn as much as quickly as I wanted to go, so it was often 3 new pieces per week.  By the time I had my Bachelor of Music, I was definitely ready for a career as a church musician.  

Karen Stoody

Organist

Carillon Handbell Choir Director