Trinity Episcopal Church in Mount Airy will host an organ concert Sunday afternoon, February 9th, at 3:00 PM, with Organist
Carol Wiles Springfield, Soprano Susan Elkins Roberts, and Clarinetist Earle Dhus.
The concert is free and the public is invited.
Trinity Church built in 1896, located in downtown Mount Airy, is the oldest building existent of local granite. The tracker organ
was built and installed in 1992 by Fritz Noack of Georgetown, Mass. The organ has eight ranks of pipes controlled by the
organist through mechanical action.
About the musicians…
Carol Wiles Springfield grew up in a small town in Kansas where she became the organist for her church at age thirteen. She played her first organ
recital there at that age. She graduated from Ottawa University, Ottawa Kansas, as an organ major and with a Music Education degree. She taught public
school music in Kansas, Indiana and Maryland and did graduate work at the University of Maryland. For a number of years she was assistant
organist/choirmaster at the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., where she also played when President Johnson visited, and many times when
President Carter was a member there. She and her husband retired to Cary, N.C., in 1995.
Susan Elkins Roberts, a native of Wilmington, N.C., moved to Raleigh in the summer of 1998. She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal
Performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois. While in
Illinois, Susan performed many opera roles including Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, La Boheme, Carmen and The Coronation of Poppea.
She has also preformed many musical comedy rolls for summer stock companies in Massachusetts, Florida, and Illinois. In addition to her musical
background, Susan also holds a law degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill, and now is currently staying home with her young daughter.
Earle Dhus is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he majored in music composition, studying with Samuel Adler. Mr. Dhus was a
saxophone player in the jazz lab band and studied clarinet with Lee Gibson. He played in numerous Jazz bands, including San Kenton and Woody Herman.
He was a member of the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, New York, where he served as an arranger and composer and performed with the band
on saxophone and clarinet. Following a career in the computer business, he resumed his musical interests and has recently substituted with the North
Carolina Symphony and plays regularly with the Wood, Brass and Ivory Wind Quintet and the Triangle Wind Ensemble.
