Williamsburg Women's Chorus

LEADERSHIP

Karen Ives, ACCOMPANIST

Karen Ives is director of music at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Williamsburg, where she is organist and directs two adult choirs and a handbell choir. She holds a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, and a master's degree from the University of South Carolina. Karen also has a vocal performance degree from Columbia College where she was the faculty staff accompanist for 18 years. She accompanied Columbia’s Sandlapper Singers, a semi-professional choral ensemble specializing in American music. She served six Lutheran churches in the Columbia area as director of music, and was cantor at Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden, NC, before moving to Williamsburg.  Karen assists Augsburg Fortress Publishers with music clinic events around the U.S. In addition to the Williamsburg Women's Chorus, Karen also is accompanist for the Williamsburg Choral Guild.

Rebecca Davy, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & Conductor

Growing up in Washington state, Rebecca Davy began playing the organ at age 10; a year later, she was playing for services in her home church. She earned her bachelor of music degree in organ performance at the University of Puget Sound under Edward Hansen. While an organ student of Ladd Thomas, she earned two masters degrees from the University of Southern California, in organ performance and music history, and completed additional theory and history studies, concentrating on early 20th-century music. Today, she is music director and organist at historic Bruton Parish Church, where she directs three adult choirs and handbells, plans liturgy, plays for weekly services, and oversees more than 130 Candlelight Concerts each year, in addition to overseeing and playing weekend organ recitals in the Wren Chapel at William & Mary. She continues to be in demand for additional solo, choral, and orchestral engagements in the local community and beyond.