David Parker, B.S. (Music Education), Bob Jones University; M.M. (Vocal Performance), Bob Jones University; D.M.A (Vocal Performance) University of Michigan; CMVT (Certified McClosky Vocal Technician) McClosky Institute of Voice; lyric baritone

David Parker received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan in voice performance in 1986 where he was invited to join the prestigious Mu Phi Epsilon professional music fraternity. While at Michigan, David was a soloist with the Michigan Graduate Chorale on an international goodwill tour representing the United States to Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. His voice teachers have included Andrew White, John McCollum, Sherrill Milnes, Charles Koelsch and William McCauley. In 2006, he became a Certified McClosky Vocal Technician through the McClosky Institute of Voice in Boston, MA, where he continues to teach adjunct on the McClosky faculty for summer seminars and workshops and serves on the executive board of directors.

David is retired from the voice faculty of Bob Jones University (41 years) where he taught private voice, Diction for Singers, Vocal Pedagogy, Music Technology, and Opera and Oratorio Literature. In 2002, he was appointed chair of the BJU Department of Voice. In January of 2017, he was an adjunct professor at the Bob Jones Memorial College in Quezon City, Philippines ,singing a recital and presenting numerous workshops including instruction in the McClosky technique. David has sung under many prestigious conductors including Robert Shaw, Donald Neuen, Lloyd Pfautsch, Gustave Meier, Bingham Vick, and Dwight Gustafson.

Besides being an active educator, church musician, adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States and abroad, David stays very active as a baritone soloist resulting in over one hundred and thirty solo performances with regional and community orchestras. These solo orchestra engagements have included multiple performances of the Brahm’s Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Bach Mass in B Minor, Bach St. Matthew Passion, Bach Magnificat, Mendelssohn Elijah, Beethoven Ninth Symphony and sixty-nine solo performances of Handel’s Messiah. Recent solo performances with the Greenville Symphony at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts have included the Verdi Requiem, the Brahms’ Requiem and Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Serenade to Music. He joined the Greenville Symphony and Chorale again in October of 2016 singing the role of Cantor in Ernest Bloch’s Avodat Hakodesh. Other recent performances at Bob Jones University include the role of “Tevye” in the BJU production of Fiddler on the Roof, the role of “Ferrando” in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and the role of Old Hebrew in Saint-Saens Samson and Delilah. In October of 2019, David was the bass soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and the Greenville Chorale at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts. In December of 2019, he was the bass soloist for the Bob Jones University production of Messiah. In Feb of 2024, David sang in an onstage backup ensemble for an Andrea Bocelli concert.  Later in  2024, he was the bass soloist for the BJU production of Haydn’s Creation and in the Fall of 2024, he soloed with the Greenville Symphony and Chorale on the R. Vaughan Williams Hodie and Handel’s Messiah.

David is president and owner of SacredSheetMusic.com and SacredAudioMusic.com, web based, digital music downloading companies offering over three thousand selections of print music and a growing library of digital recordings. David enjoys living in the country at his mountain home near Table Rock, SC, and taking scenic rides with Linda, his wife and soul-mate, through the beautiful scenery of the Carolina countryside in their classic 1997 BMW Z3.

David has been continuously involved in music-ministry positions in fundamental, Bible-believing churches since 1978. Although his primary employment has been in Christian higher education since 1985, David considers his church ministry involvement vitally important to knowing how to train the next generation of Christian musicians and keep himself grounded in exercising his gifts for the glory of God and benefit of others. He currently serves as music pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC.

Dr. Benjamin Downs enjoys a multi-faceted career as educator, scholar, and performer. As an educator, he has served on the faculty of Macalester College, and as an instructor at Stony Brook University, University of Cincinnati, and the University of Illinois. He also has 20 years of experience teaching pre-college piano and music theory. Before coming to Shattuck-St. Mary’s, he was teacher and director of the MacPhail Center for Music’s pre-conservatory program.

As a scholar, Benjamin completed his PhD in Theory and History of Music from Stony Brook in 2018, specializing in philosophies of listening and avant-garde music since 1968. As a scholar, his work has received many awards including a Fulbright Research Grant (Germany), the Paul Sacher Stiftung Stipendium (Switzerland), and a Graduate Council Fellowship. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Music Theory Spectrum, the Music Research Forum, and Mosaic: Journal of Music Research. Benjamin has also written program notes for many ensembles and institutions including the Great Lakes Music Festival, Cincinnati Chamber Music Society, the JACK Quartet, and the Emerson Quartet.

Benjamin also holds a doctorate in Piano Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. As a student, he studied primarily with James Tocco and Ian Hobson, with additional studies with Elisabeth Pridonoff and Michael Chertock. He has performed throughout North America, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland as a soloist and with his wife, cellist Rebeccah Parker Downs. He has also collaborated with cellist Yehuda Hanani, and members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony, and Minnesota Symphony. Benjamin has won prizes in many national and international piano competitions including the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, the Chautauqua International Piano Competition, the Northwestern Piano Competition, and the Cincinnati Chamber Music Competition. Benjamin is especially committed to performing new music. Recent performances include the first book of etudes by György Ligeti, the Ligeti horn trio, Allegro sostenuto and Guero by Helmut Lachenmann; as well as midwest premieres of works by Missy Mazzoli and Molly Joyce. In 2018, he was awarded a McKnight Foundation Artist Development Grant to perform Unremembered by Sarah Kirkland Snider.

Rebeccah Parker Downs joined Mill City String Quartet in May of 2023. Ms. Downs is a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher based in the Twin Cities. She has performed throughout the United States and Europe, including appearances with orchestra performing the Lalo Cello Concerto, Elgar Cello Concerto, and Faure Elegie. She frequently performs chamber music with her husband, Benjamin Downs. They have appeared together at the WMP Concert Hall (NYC), Music Festival of Lucca (Italy), Linton Chamber Music Series (OH), Chautauqua Music Festival (NY), 113 Composer Collective (MN), and others. Rebeccah frequently performs as an orchestral and chamber music musician in the Twin Cities with An Opera Theatre, 113 Composer Collective, Duluth Superior Symphony, Mankato Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, Minnesota Chorale, Des Moines Symphony, American Opera Project, and others. When not performing, she teaches cello privately, at Northern Lights School for Strings. Rebeccah has a Master’s and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.