MUSIC MINISTRY
Faith Lutheran Church is blessed to have a first-class music program, orchestrated by Joe Holt, Director of Music, and Jim Walton, Church Organist. Together, they provide a wide range of spiritual and classical music for congregants and community members. Throughout the year, there are special musical events offered at Faith Lutheran highlighting local and nationally known musicians.
Dr. Joseph Holt , Director of Music
Joseph Holt enjoys a wide-ranging musical career as conductor, pianist, chamber music performer, arts administrator, educator and arranger. This is his fourth season as Artistic Director for Gloria Musicae, Sarasota’s professional choral ensemble. Under his leadership, the organization has grown and garnered accolades for its innovative programming and superior vocal quality.
Gloria Musicae has presented premiere performances in Sarasota as well as internationally for a series concerts at the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival, 2012. With the Sarasota Orchestra, Dr. Holt has prepared choruses for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a salute to the Boston Pops and a commemorative program for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Gloria Musicae will be the featured chorus for the Sarasota Orchestra’s Salute to Broadway in January, 2014.
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In the community of Sarasota, he is Director of Music at Faith Lutheran Church, and has appeared as pianist and conductor for the Artist Series Concerts and the Sarasota Orchestra. With June LeBell, he is a co-host for the Musical Mondays series of the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning and he also sits on the board of the Sarasota Music Archive. Dr. Holt served more than twenty years as principal pianist with The United States Army Chorus in Washington, DC, performing for US Presidents, dignitaries from around the world and military officials. He also held the position of Associate Music Director for The Choral Arts Society of Washington for fifteen years. During his tenure with Choral Arts, he conducted Singers For All Seasons, a community outreach ensemble, and successfully led the organization in the highly popular Family Christmas Concerts at the Kennedy Center.
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Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap (a production still seen on public television today), compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children's play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.
