Tag Archives: music

Administrative Council, Church Staff, Music and Choirs

Xiaoya Gao (Sisi)

Originally from Urumqi, China, Xiaoya Gao (Sisi) is a pianist and music educator. Gao has performed in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including the Lawrence Chapel in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Blackbox Theatre in New York, and the Palais Corbelli in Vienna. Gao has an extensive music training background.

In 2019, she earned a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Lawrence Conservatory of Music, Lawrence University, Appleton WI. In 2021, she received a Master’s degree in piano performance and an Advanced Certificate in Piano Pedagogy at New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Gao is currently working towards her Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of South Carolina. She is also a dedicated accompanist and piano teacher in the Columbia area. During her free time, Gao likes to cook and take care of her plants.

Church Staff, Music and Choirs, Worship

Dr. MARK DANIEL MERRITT

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Grace’s Choirs and Music are under the supervision of Dr. Merritt.

MARK DANIEL MERRITT, D.M.A., M.M., is a Choral Conductor and an ASCAP composer and arranger. The recipient of numerous commissions, Merritt received a major commission, funded by the Kentucky Arts Council and the Catlettsburg, Kentucky Leadership Club, to compose the score to the musical play River Dreams. From 2002 to 2012, Merritt was Associate Director and then Director of the regionally acclaimed, semi-professional choral ensemble, VOCE in Mount Airy, North Carolina, that he helped to found. Merritt was previously the Minister of Music at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in San Antonio, Texas. Groups under Merritt’s direction have performed his music at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference, the Biltmore Estate, historic Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Texas Collegiate Women’s Choir Festival, and the Mystic Area Ecumenical Choir Festival. Merritt studied composition with Henry Hallstrom, a pupil of iconic American composers, Randall Thompson and Howard Hanson, and completed his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting under John Silantien at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of South Carolina under Larry Wyatt.