We are excited to welcome pianist-composer-vocalist-author Dr. Deanna Witkowski to lead our choir and congregation in joyful songs as we feature her musical compositions in worship this Sunday at the 11 o'clock service!

Known for her adventurous and engaging music that heals the soul, Dr. Witkowski moves with remarkable ease between Brazilian, jazz, classical, and sacred music. Her first book, Mary Lou Williams: Music For The Soul (Liturgical Press, 2021), is the winner of the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award and the 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Biography of the Year. Her seventh recording, Force of Nature (MCG Jazz, 2022), reached number five on the JazzWeek nationwide radio chart and remained in the top ten most played albums on jazz radio for more than ten weeks.

Dedicated to bringing communities together through jazz, Witkowski has worked as a guest music leader in over one hundred churches across the United States. Her YouTube series, “Off the Page: Sacred Jazz,” shares practical resources for church musicians, and her jazz hymn arrangements, as found on her recording Makes the Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns, have been purchased by over 500 churches. Following in the steps of her chosen soul companion and lifelong mentor, Witkowski relocated to Mary Lou Williams’ hometown of Pittsburgh in 2020.

In April 2024, she successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “Jazz in the Pews: ‘Experiments in Sunday Worship’ in the 1960s,” at the University of Pittsburgh. She will be presenting her research at the Hymn Society conference later this week.

Deanna Witkowski’s book and CDs will be available for sale after the service, as well as at deannajazz.com.