Dr. Jeanette Gross

Minister of Music

Jeanette Gross has been Minister of Music at First Congregational Church since 1993. She has a Doctorate in Organ Performance from Hart School of Music, an MA in musicology from Syracuse University and a BA from Connecticut college.

She has studied organ WITH Arthur Poister, Ludgar Lohman and John Holtz. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the life and career a late 19th century organist, Nathan Hale Allen, who developed a rich musical community around Center Church in Hartford, CT.

Jeanette also taught music at Choate Rosemary Hall for 10 years. In her other career as a registered nurse, she worked at Hartford Hospital and The Institute of living, and worked for ten years with the homeless in New Britain.

Jeanette directs the adult and several children's choirs as well as the handbells. The adult choir presents two choral sermons each year during Advent and Lent. In 2016, some members sang with composer Pepper Choplin and a group of 200 singers at Lincoln Center singing his @Sing it to the Mountains.

Jeanette plays all the Sunday worship services and directs special services during Easter and Christmas. She also plays services on most Sundays at Ashlar Village. This year she also organized a live nativity service on Christmas Eve at Beaumont Farm in Wallingford.

She has directed children's musicals for many years as a part of a church wide Epiphany Arts program. Children's musicals continue to be yearly events which have branched out into inter-generational musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sound of Music, Godspell, and Fiddler on the Roof.

At first Congregational Church Jeanette's focus and passion has been in planning worship services and programs which have brought people of all generations together.

Her vision is to bring the visual arts, drama and music together in worship services and programs involving a wide variety of church members in different ways. She welcomes anyone who would like to be a part of our church musical community.




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