Music & Arts

Elder: Melissa Masles

Staff Liaison: Jeffrey Anthony

Members: Susie Brousseau, Susan Constance, Darla Gilchrist, Pamela Gustafson, Lisa Kroese, Tom Masles, Karen Paisley

Mission Statement

Provide opportunities for people to express their faith and love of Christ through music and all the arts. Encourage the development of people’s gifts in their chosen area and thereby enrich the life of the congregation.

2022 Goals

Diversify Arts at the Rocks events and raise funds needed to operate. Continue our relationships with Pinnacle High School and Cactus Shadows High School Key Clubs.

Encourage our youth to get involved in our activities.

Engage congregational members to share and teach their talents in order to enrich our church family through workshops and other music fellowship activities. Support the new DHPC music school however we can.

Continue to gather data on attendees, especially first time visitors, with the goal of community involvement and the ultimate increase of church membership. Continue our advertising and publicity efforts to maximize attendance.

Advertise our scholarship for youth pursuing music, art and drama workshops in the Phoenix and surrounding areas. Support the development of skills in all the arts.

Advance our Artists-in-Residence relationship with the Fountain Hills Saxophone Quartet which maximizes our community visibility and attracts local involvement.

2022 Accomplishments

Arts at the Rocks 2022-2023 Season included six events: Urban Nocturnes chamber music ensemble, The Renaissance Yuletide Feaste, the Yale Spizzwinks a capella choir, HEDY! The

Life and Times of Hedy Lamarr-a one woman play followed by a half day S.T.E.M. workshop, The Phoenix Boys Choir and The Valley Chamber Chorale.

Created a professional-looking Arts at the Rocks season brochure featuring the artwork of church member Virginia Brooks and showcasing the six performances and the season sponsors as well as promoting the Desert Hills Community School of Music.

Raised $14,350 from individual donors and sponsors and received $10,000 grant from the DHPC Foundation to support the Music & Arts performances and activities.

Continued our Artists-in-Residence relationship with Fountain Hills Saxophone Quartet for another calendar year. Added three new members to the Music and Arts Committee: Susie Brousseau, Pamela Gustafson and Lisa Kroese. We have had interest in the Ministry from two additional members and we will continue to encourage their participation.

Hosted two thank you pizza parties with the Key Club students at Cactus Shadows and Pinnacle Peak High Schools to show our appreciation for their volunteers at Arts at the Rocks events.

Supported the Desert Hills Community School of Music through Melissa’s participation on the task force committee. Developed a new collaborative relationship with Lee and Susan Berk, directors of the music and arts program at Sagewood Senior Living.

Involved DHPC youth through participation in Renaissance Yuletide Feaste.

2023

Goals

Create opportunities for people to express their faith and love of Christ by offering programs that support the interests of the DHPC congregation while attracting increased attendance and participation from members of the community.

Music & Arts

Continue to support DHCSM and find ways to integrate the mission of the school with the Music and Arts Ministry activities.

Increase the visibility of DHPC in the community through the Artists-inResidence program. Find ways for the Music and Arts Ministry to support the growth of the Family/ Children’s Ministry and encourage involvement of our youth.

Diversify Arts at the Rocks and raise funds to support events and activities.

Establish a Summer Series to engage the congregation and the community who are year-round members.

Respectfully submitted, Melissa Masles

Music & Arts Elder

Desert Hills Community School of Music

Administrator: Heather Baldwin

Committee Members: Jeffrey Anthony, Lee Batson, Ruth Dugue, Lisa Loran, Melissa Masles, Vitaly Serebriakov, Gail Thiele

Staff liaison: Pastor Jim Noble

MISSION: To offer world-class music instruction that draws students from all over the valley and make it available to students with financial need through sponsorship and scholarship programs. To bring people of all ages into the church through music lessons and programs and to leverage music as a vehicle for outreach into the local community.

2022 Goals

Open a School of Music on the campus of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church. Launch a sponsorship program with the goal of pairing students in need of financial help with members of the congregation who want to support youth and music.

Establish relationships with local schools. Understand the local demand/needs for instruction and build programs to support them.

Offer free, high-quality concerts, open to the public, to raise the visibility of the school and bring in people from outside the church.

Launch Saxophone Ensemble with the aim of bringing together saxophone players of all ages and abilities, from all over the valley, to play music together at DHPC and in the local community.

2022 Accomplishments

School officially named and launched in summer of 2022.

State-of-the-art piano lab installed at DHPC.

Grew to 50+ students by year end.

Launched the sponsorship program and paired two families in need of financial support with sponsors from the congregation.

Hosted a Carefree Christian Academy field trip to introduce their students to the music school, resulting in two new piano students and an ongoing relationship between the Academy and the School of Music.

Initiated relationship with Cave Creek director of bands and cooperatively began to explore ways the music school could support the public school band program.

Held two Saxophone Ensembles (performances at the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion in June and October), which attracted saxophone players ages 13 to 84.

Provided live music (by the Fountain Hills Saxophone Quartet) for the annual Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce awards breakfast.

Provided a Music Exploration class at no cost to True North Academy students. Held studio class for school-age piano students and end-of-year celebration for adult students to give everyone opportunities for performance and fellowship.

Put on two free concerts – a faculty performance in September and a two-piano performance of “The Nutcracker” in December, the latter of which raised $1,365 in donations to the school.