The Music and Fine Arts Ministry of First Baptist extends beyond Sunday morning to offer outstanding recitals, concerts and theatrical performances throughout the year.

Our recently acoustically-renovated sanctuary offers a magnificent venue for organ, piano and vocal recitals as well as large orchestra and choir offerings. Organizations such as Apollo's Fire and The Heights Chamber Orchestra present some of their concerts here. Many other visiting musical ensembles have performed here.

The Happy Ending Lyric Players (HELP), the church's resident performing theatrical troupe, yearly presents a Broadway musical. 2010 marked HELP's 34th Season and the musical was Fiddler on the Roof. This coming 2012 Spring production will be Guys and Dolls!

The Arts Outreach Ministry was begun at First Baptist Church as an additional expression of the arts which would help the congregation reach further into the city with opportunities for performing and visual artists and audience members. We envision using theater, dance and other artistic outlets to feature programs bridging cultures, generations and races, and engage people in works that deal with topics of concern.  

2011-12 Music & Fine Arts brochure

 Acclaimed for his strong communicative skills in numerous styles, exceptional use of the organ’s capabilities, and creative, audience-friendly programming, Jonathan Ryan has quickly emerged as one of North America’s premier young concert artists.  With a repertoire spanning the 16^th to 21^st centuries, he has performed at celebrated venues throughout the United States, Germany, and France.  Among the few organists ever distinguished with six First Prize awards at major international and national competitions, he most notably received First Prize in the 2009 Jordan II International Organ Competition.  Founded in 2001, the American-based Jordan Competition is one of the premier organ competitions of the world and offers one of the most substantial First Prize awards of any organ competition.  At the 2009 Jordan Competition, Jonathan was additionally awarded the LeTourneau Prize, given for the best performance of a newly commissioned work for organ and percussion ensemble.  Additional testaments of his capability include First Prize in the 2006 Arthur Poister National Organ Competition, the 2006 John Rodland Scholarship Competition, the 2004 Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition (Young Professional Division), and the 2003 Augustana Arts-Reuter National Organ Competition.

 As a recitalist, Jonathan’s performances have taken him to numerous prominent venues including the Cathédrale St-André in Bordeaux (France), the Nicolaikirche in Leipzig (Germany), the Marienkirche in Lübeck (Germany), the Hauptkirche St. Petri in Hamburg (Germany), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, and Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL.  He has additionally been featured as a solo recitalist at the 2010 Organ Historical Society National Convention in Pittsburgh, PA.  Upcoming and recent solo performance engagements include his début concert tour of Germany with nine recitals at important venues, recitals on the Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s prestigious Spotlight Series (Charleston, SC), the inaugural concert series at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, CA and the Cathedral of St. John Berchmann in Shreveport, LA, the inaugural recital at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter in Charlotte, NC, recitals at Church of the Holy Family in New York, NY, Church of the Epiphany in Miami, FL, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Dallas, TX, California Lutheran University in  A native of Charlotte, NC, Jonathan first started playing the organ at age eight.  He studied organ primarily with André Lash before entering the studio of Joyce Jones at Baylor University.  He then went on to complete a Bachelor of Music degree with academic honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied organ, improvisation, and church music with Todd Wilson.  During Jonathan’s undergraduate studies in Cleveland, he was awarded the Henry Fusner Prize for outstanding achievement in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s organ department, and also served as Prof. Wilson’s assistant at Church of the Covenant.  As a student of David Higgs, he received a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where he studied improvisation with William Porter.  Additionally, Jonathan holds the revered Fellow certificate from the American Guild of Organists, the Guild’s highest ranking professional certification, as well as the Choirmaster certificate for which he received the 2006 Choirmaster Prize for the highest national Choirmaster certificate exam score that year.

Also a dedicated church musician and at home as a conductor, Jonathan is Visiting Artist at St. James Cathedral (Episcopal) Concerts in Chicago, IL, and on the music staff at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, IL.  He has served as organist and faculty at summer Colloquium conferences of the Church Music Association of America, and previously held director, conducting and organist positions at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, IL and St. Anne Church in Rochester, NY where he was Artistic Director of the Music at St. Anne concert series and University Organist at the University of Rochester.  An advocate of new music, he has performed and conducted the premiere of many liturgical and solo works.