With so many talented composers in our catalogs, we want to take time to highlight the creativity, process, and passion of those with new music releasing. Each month of 2025 we will feature a composer who has a new piece coming out soon or who has recently published with us in an installment of "Beyond the Score." Today, we are talking with Evelyn Larter.

What inspired you to begin studying music? 

I have had the privilege of being surrounded by music my entire life. Growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, my mother was our church organist, a profession in which she continued into her early nineties, and my older brother preceded me at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music. Having begun piano lessons at age seven, three years later I started to play for a children’s club at my church and have been involved in church music ever since. I started arranging music for my Youth Fellowship choir in my late teens, and nearly forty years later one of those arrangements (updated in Sibelius software) was my first published anthem! 

What motivates you musically today?  

For the last twenty-one years I have been the Director of Music at historic Deerfield Presbyterian Church in Southern New Jersey, where for the first time, I became fully responsible for a church choir singing weekly anthems. I began to create accessible arrangements for their skill level--the singers did not all read music, which turned out to be an issue common to many small church choirs. At the other end of the spectrum, I am blessed with many wonderful Christian professional musician friends who are very willing to play or sing for their own church services but have a hard time finding pieces that are musically satisfying, or even a little challenging. For them I create solo and ensemble music, and when I got around to offering these for sale on my website, I found that they are quite popular, demonstrating the need for such repertoire. 

What do you draw on for inspiration as you begin a new composition?  

I am never without ideas for new music, sometimes because a melody is in my head and I decide to look for a hymn text that would work with it, and sometimes because I am struck by a text and look for an existing melody to pair with it or begin to write my own. 

What is your favorite piece of music and why? 

I have many favorite pieces of music – the Sanctus from Bach’s B Minor Mass, Elgar’s Nimrod, and the slow movement of Rachmaninoff’s cello sonata, to name a few. I never pass up the opportunity to hear a performance of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony though, as the sheer visceral thrill of the final climax with soloists, choir and orchestra at full volume is like a glimpse of the glory of Heaven.

What draws you to write music for the church, and how do you approach text and music for ensembles that are mostly music-loving amateurs? 

My main guiding principle is always the enhancement of worship through appropriate music.  I seldom write an anthem my own choir could not sing, unless on commission, as I want my choir to progress beyond notes and technique to be able to communicate the text with freedom and joy.

What is one experience that you have had that wouldn’t have been available if you hadn’t been in the music world? 

One of my favorite performance opportunities is playing recitals on the world’s largest pipe organ at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ. As a former Dean of the SouthWest Jersey Chapter of The American Guild of Organists, I stepped in to replace the Coordinator of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Convention held jointly with the SouthEast Jersey Chapter. This brought me into close contact with the staff of the Historic Organ Restoration Committee at the hall where we planned to take the attendees on the final day. This in turn led to me being added to their roster of daily/weekly recitalists. Perhaps nothing else I have done surpasses the thrill of playing that enormous instrument at full current capacity.

What is a favorite hobby or interest outside of music? 

When I am not involved in music I am always happy to be in my kitchen! Over the years I have catered weddings and other festive events, and I love to bake for family, friends and church. My claim to baking fame is my authentic Scottish shortbread which I mail all over the country at Christmas!

I am very grateful to Augsburg Fortress for publishing so much of my music – from anthems to instrumentals to vocal solos - and I hope to continue the relationship for many years to come.

Soli Deo Gloria!

We are grateful for Evelyn's work and the impact it has on the ministry we serve. To learn more about Evelyn's and her work, check out her website at www.evelynlartermusic.com and explore her releases through Augsburg Fortress here.