Bryan Newman

Joel Endicott, director of worship at Risen Savior Lutheran Church, announced that two key events have taken place at Risen Savior, which will enable it to significantly expand its Choral Ministries beginning this year. “First, we took occupancy of our new 700-seat combination Worship Center/Performing Arts Center and adjoining Youth Educational Wing last December. In addition, in May of this year, Ms Teresa Murphy, our choir director since 2019, earned her Master’s Degree of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the ASU School of Music. She was also chosen this year’s ASU Doctoral Candidate in Choral Conducting, enabling her to teach at ASU as a Teaching Assistant, Director of the Sol Singers (ASU’s Treble Voice Choir), and Assistant Conductor of the ASU Concert Choir,” Mr. Endicott added.

Ms Murphy is a classically trained mezzo-soprano soloist who performs opera, oratorio, and Latin jazz/pop music. She has received classical voice training from ASU School of Music, the NEC School of Continued Learning, and AIMS (American Institute of Musical Studies) in Graz, Austria. In 2018, Teresa entered the RICCO (Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra) Collegiate Classical Voice Competition, where she was chosen the Collegiate Mezzo Soprano Soloist, granting her a performance of Mozart’s and R. Schumann’s repertoire with the orchestra.

Teresa completed a double major in music and Spanish at College of the Holy Cross near Boston. While there, she was the student conductor of the concert choir, where she led the choir in numerous concerts. While on tour, she conducted the choir at prestigious national venues, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Additionally, Teresa has demonstrated her talent for composing with various pieces for solo voice and choir. In particular, “Salmo 13,” a work for men’s chorus based on the Spanish text of Psalm 13, has been performed multiple times in the U.S. Further, her “¡Proclama mi alma!” (a Spanish language setting of the Magnificat) has been performed on tour in the U.S. and La Plata, Argentina.

Teresa is also a leader in planting successful music education ministries. Using her musical and linguistic skills, she has created global Christian ministries in Peru, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Argentina during her summer breaks from college/grad school. Her largest ministry was the 2015 cofounding of Latidos (Heartbeats) Music Foundation in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, which provides the youth of the Carucieña barrio alternatives to gang violence. At Latidos, Teresa solicited musical instrument donations, recruited teachers, and taught choir/piano classes for the first three months, as the program grew to 125 students. Today, Latidos serves over 200 youth.

“Going forward, Teresa will continue to direct the choir and serve as church cantor. In addition, she will lead the development of innovative strategies to grow our choral ministries. We sincerely look forward to working with her over the next three years … when she will also complete her Doctoral studies at ASU to receive her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting,” Endicott concluded.