SEQUIM — With an eye for local musical talent, the staff at St. Luke’s in Sequim is bringing Tom Reis — an optometrist and choir director for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church — to its Music Live program today.
Reis, a tenor, sings with Cynthia Webster on piano and Debra Soderstrom on saxophone for the program he calls a tribute to “Light in the Darkness.” The tribute features a number of memorable songs, including “On Eagle’s Wings” by Michael Joncas, “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert and “Holy is His Name” by John Michael Talbot.
The show begins at 1 p.m. today in the sanctuary at 525 N. Sequim Ave., with dessert afterward in the parish hall.
Tickets cost $10 in advance or at the door. The church office is open from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays-Thursdays. For more information, call 360-683-4862.
Next month, pianist/soprano Heidi Fivash performs April 14, and classical pianist Anson Ka-Lik Sin performs May 12.
Music Live formed more than 35 years ago as a musical outreach to the community with all proceeds helping local, regional and global concerns.
About the artists
Reis, a Pacific Northwest native, graduated from Seattle University in 1985 with degrees in humanities and health sciences. He completed a doctorate in optometry at the University of California, Berkeley and has practiced in Port Angeles and Sequim since 1991. Six years ago, he became a diplomate certified by the American Board of Optometry.
Reis said he’s studied piano since age 9, voice since he was 16 and choral conducting since 29. He serves St. Joseph’s as its music coordinator, cantor and choir director.
Webster, a soprano and pianist, has performed across the globe with the Detroit Concert Choir, serving as coach, soloist and featured composer. She teaches piano and voice students from her private and online studio Voice Bistro in Sequim, and writes fiction under the name Eva Stanfield. Webster also assists as pianist for St. Joseph.
For more information about Webster, visit www.evastanfield.com and www.voicebistro.com.
Soderstrom said she picked up the saxophone as a ninth-grader and earned a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Long Beach. She taught music at the high school level and privately for several years.
In Sequim, she’s performed with the Sequim City Band on both alto and soprano saxophone since 2015 and helped form the Saxologists Quartet.
Soderstrom also serves her church as an instrumental soloist playing soprano sax, and she’s played solos for the Port Townsend and Port Angeles symphony orchestras.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
