About Consort Immanuel
Consort Immanuel is a multifaceted musical arts
organization dedicated to bringing God-centered music to Houston and
the surrounding communities.
Multifaceted:
Consort Immanuel was birthed in
2007, and from the start, this organization has embraced a holistic
approach to music. The unique identity of the organization is
wrapped up in the fluid integration of
performance elements, service elements, and educational elements. We sponsor concerts, provide music
services to the community, and offer educational opportunities to all who
want to learn.
Concerts:
Consort Immanuel presented two concerts during the first
year of operation. Our goal is to have a full series of concerts every
year, all featuring music which has God at its center. This
doesn't mean that all of the music will be Christian music. It is our
objective to bring the "fruits of the spirit" to our listeners
through music as a medium of communication. This means we will not
perform angry or music or any kind of music which might be associated with
an unsettled spirit. Music Services:
In II Thessalonians Chapter three, Paul says,
"We were not idle when we were with you, nor did
we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked
night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden
to any of you."
Consort Immanuel is modeled on this principle. This is
not a charity organization. We have every intention of "working
night and day" to support the free concerts and selected workshops.
We hope to perform enough professional services each year that we will never need
to call on the public for donations or other forms of financial support. That
said, we are readily available to perform in weddings, church services,
and any other event that calls for musicians. The current director of
Consort Immanuel has been in the
music business for over twenty-five years as a freelance musician, and
brings his invaluable experience into the leadership of this
organization.
Consort Immanuel is not our way of breaking into the music business.
More than anything else, it's our way of breaking out of
that industry (and the mold that industry forces musicians to conform
to) and bringing God back into the center of our careers the
way it should have been all along. By hiring Consort
Immanuel for your music related functions, you are contributing to your
community and helping to bring enriching, peaceful, God
centered music to the community. Educational
Opportunities:
Consort Immanuel offers educational opportunities to
musicians of all ages and levels. Sometimes these are connected to the
performances and sometimes they are free standing workshops on various
musical and/or Christian topics. Topics range from
jazz improvisation to very specific trumpet workshops for high school
players. There are workshops on music software, composition techniques,
and motivational topics. From time to time we will also
offer free workshops on Christian topics. These will always be clearly
advertised as free workshops and are a continuing part of our collective
ministry.
Eddie Lewis,
the director of Consort Immanuel, is also a Christian
trumpet player who maintains a vibrant and stylistically diverse career as
a freelance trumpet player in Houston, TX. Performing with as many as
fifty bands each year, he has decades of experience playing jazz,
classical music, salsa (and other tropical musics), rhythm and blues,
tejano and even klezmer music. Eddie is a regular member of the David
Caceres Band (jazz and dance music), and the Quail Valley Church Praise
Band (contemporary Christian music). He is also active as a studio player
and one of the CDs he recorded in 2005, Chicanismo by Little Joe
and La Familia, won a Grammy in the Tejano category for that year.
Eddie has composed over
three hundred original works for various brass and jazz ensemble
instrumentations and does arranging and copy work for local Houston bands.
His compositions have been recorded by the Tom Borling BeBop Band, the
Texas Brass and the Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra and are performed world
wide. Eddie has been active as a music educator for over twenty-five
years; teaching private lessons, giving clinics and master classes,
participating in workshops and even teaching jazz improvisation as a class
at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts for five
years.
Dr Pearl Lewis is the administrative manager for
Consort Immanuel. Dr Lewis is a South African native and new to the
Houston area. She has a PhD in
Physics and eighteen years of experience doing research and teaching
in that field at the University of Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University. She brings her experience as educator and
project manager to enrich the organizational and administrative
departments of Consort Immanuel. |
