Fall Concert Series Begins

Trent Sims will perform a free organ concert on Friday, October 1^st at Noon at The Parish Church of St. Helena in downtown Beaufort. This concert will kick off the fall season of Music at St. Helena’s.

Sims is a native of Dayton, Ohio and began playing the organ at the age of seven. He began classical organ instruction at 16, studying with the late Paul Ray Jones. Trent accepted his first professional church organist position at a large downtown Dayton church when he was 18 and still a senior in high school. Over the next eight years he continued classical organ studies under Rev. John W. Neely and Ms. Lee McGinty.

Trent’s musical versatility has placed him much in demand in both the classical and theater organ concert settings. For 20 years Trent performed regularly on several Wurlitzer pipe organ installations in musical themed restaurants. He has played both theater and classical organ concerts across the United States, the most recent programs having been played in Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan and Rochester, New York. Trent is frequently invited to perform for the Noonday Organ Recital Series at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio on the church’s spectacular 124-rank Casavant organ, one of the largest instruments in the Midwest.

Trent’s European concert tours have taken him to the United Kingdom and Germany. British audiences have experienced his artistry in 1993, 1994, 2004 and 2005 at both theater and classical venues. He made his concert debut in Germany in June, 2008, again playing both theater and classical organ concerts. The highlight of the German tour was an invitation to perform on the famous 1693 Arp Schnitger organ in Hamburg’s St. Jacobi church. Trent has standing invitations in both countries for further performances.

Trent has served as Director of Music at Oak Creek United Church of Christ in Kettering, Ohio since 1996. During this time he has directed the Oak Creek Choir in several major works, including Handel’s Messiah and John Rutter’s Requiem. In 2008 he instituted the Lenten Organ Recital Series in which he played six weekly concerts consisting of music from every major genre of organ literature, including his own improvisations. Trent accepted his latest appointment in 2010 as Ballroom Organist at Cincinnati’s historic Music Hall where he performs on the recently installed Wurlitzer pipe organ. In addition to his solo organ work, Trent is also very much in demand as an accompanist in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas.