Mountain Times- Volume 48, Number 51: Dec. 18-24, 2019
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LivingADE<br />
<strong>24</strong> • The <strong>Mountain</strong> <strong>Times</strong> • <strong>Dec</strong>. <strong>18</strong> - <strong>24</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
This week’s living Arts, Dining and Entertainment!<br />
Alastair Stout brings harmonies and much more<br />
to Grace Congregational Church<br />
By Brooke Geery<br />
At Grace Congregational Church in Rutland, music<br />
is an important part of the program, but it’s not just<br />
church hymns that echo through the tabernacle.<br />
The music ministry includes jazz, gospel, folk, music<br />
theatre and classical, and at the helm of it all is Alastair<br />
Stout. Born and bred in Scotland’s Shetland Islands,<br />
the organist, director and composer joined the church<br />
in 2017, ably filling the boisterous shoes of long-time<br />
music minister Rip Jackson.<br />
Stout’s interest in music began at a young age. His<br />
paternal grandmother was the local church organist<br />
on Fair Isle (a tiny island 25 miles south of Shetland.)<br />
His cousin is a very accomplished folk musician. He<br />
was also inspired by his environment.<br />
“Shetland is very wild and rugged (a bit like Vermont),<br />
and a very exciting place for a young boy to<br />
grow up! The sea, landscapes and turbulent weather all<br />
inspired me to write music,” Stout said.<br />
“I think music is a wonderful way<br />
to bring the community together;<br />
a piece of music is open to endless<br />
individual interpretation. Not<br />
everything you hear at Grace will be<br />
sacred. But everything you hear will<br />
be offered with spirit! You take from<br />
it what you want,” said Stout.<br />
At age 10, his talent was recognized and he was<br />
chosen to be a chorister at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire,<br />
UK. At age 15, he published his first solo<br />
organ composition.<br />
Stout graduated from the Royal College of Music<br />
with First Class Honors in 1997. He was awarded an<br />
MMus in composition from the Guildhall School of<br />
Music and Drama in 1998, and a PhD in composition<br />
from Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2002.<br />
With no more degrees to earn, Stout visited the U.S. at<br />
the urging of a friend who was working in Ohio. From<br />
there, he found a job at the Coraopolis United Methodist<br />
Church in southwest Pennsylvania, where he<br />
spent 15 years as the director of music, and also served<br />
as the director of the Pittsburgh Compline Choir. His<br />
music has been performed by ensembles and soloists<br />
throughout Europe, Australasia, North America and<br />
Mexico, broadcast on BBC radio, and is available on<br />
CD and iTunes.<br />
After all his world travels, Stout was excited to move<br />
to Vermont with his partner, Krista Johnston. (Full<br />
disclosure: Krista is the lead graphic designer at the<br />
<strong>Mountain</strong> <strong>Times</strong>.)<br />
“I often vacationed through New England, and<br />
jumped at the opportunity to work up here when the<br />
job became available at Grace Church.”<br />
At Grace Church, Stout is involved all elements of<br />
the music program from leading the 80-plus Rutland<br />
Area Chorus to working with the children’s choir program,<br />
to running the inaugural composition competition,<br />
in which Michael Sitton’s “O Emmanuel” won top<br />
honors. On <strong>Dec</strong>. 19 at 2 p.m., Stout will accompany cellist<br />
Marina Smakhtina on piano, as the duo performs<br />
holiday favorites in the beautifully decorated Grace<br />
Church Sanctuary. On <strong>Dec</strong>. 22, he will lead the choir in<br />
a service of “Lessons and Carols” during Sunday morning<br />
worship at 10 a.m.<br />
After the holidays, the music will continue.<br />
“Some upcoming highlights are the Folk Weekend<br />
(Feb 22-23) where we celebrate not just music, but<br />
food and dance. In May (May 2-3) the Rutland Area<br />
Chorus will collaborate with Castleton University in a<br />
performance of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana!’” Stout<br />
said.<br />
Stout encourages everyone to come and enjoy the<br />
music, no matter their faith. “A really important aspect<br />
of Grace Church is its inclusivity. That’s what attracted<br />
me to the job. Everyone is welcome at Grace, whatever<br />
you believe. I think music is a wonderful way to bring<br />
the community together; a piece of music is open to<br />
endless individual interpretation. Not everything you<br />
hear at Grace will be sacred. But everything you hear<br />
will be offered with spirit! You take from it what you<br />
want. Grace Church is also a wonderful venue in which<br />
to hear music. It has great acoustics, a very colorful<br />
pipe organ, and is, of course, a beautiful space!”<br />
Submitted<br />
Alastair Stout sits at the organ in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh. Stout is the minister of music at Grace Congregational.