Dr. Michelle L. Louer
Director of Music and Fine Arts
(317) 253-6461
Music and Fine Arts Support
The comprehensive Music and Fine Arts Ministry at Second Presbyterian Church, which includes four choirs, two instrumental ensembles, and a year-round arts gallery among its many offerings, is supported jointly through the annual budget of the church and the generous gifts of individual donors.
Donations may be designated in the following ways:
- Income from the Music and Fine Arts Endowment Fund supports performance events of the Sacred Arts at Second Series, as well as special worship services.
- The Kevin Trager Sanctuary Choir Section Leader Endowment Fund provides support for a professional double quartet to supplement the outstanding volunteer Sanctuary Choir in continuing the history of musical excellence in worship at Second Church.
- The Dorothy Mengering Fund for Music is a newly established endowment fund that supports the development of a Choral Scholar program for college students who desire to provide music leadership in the church.
- Income from The Organ Fund is accessible for major repairs and maintenance of the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ in the Sanctuary.
- The Music Fund is accessible in full for any need in the Music and Fine Arts Department.
Also, we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Penrod Society for music outreach in service to the community.
Contact:
Music and Fine Arts Office
(317) 253-6461, ext. 309
MFA@SecondChurch.org
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Director of Music and Fine Arts
(317) 253-6461 | MFA@SecondChurch.org
Michelle L. Louer received the doctoral degree in choral conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying under Jan Harrington, Carmen Helena-Téllez and Thomas Dunn. She holds both Master of Music and Master of Divinity degrees from Yale University where she graduated summa cum laude, and a Bachelor of Music in piano and church music, magna cum laude, from Stetson University. In addition, she studied with noted conductors Fiora Contino and Joseph Flummerfelt.
Dr. Louer is in her twelfth year as the Director of Music and Fine Arts at Second Presbyterian Church where she leads a comprehensive program for children and adults, providing vocal and instrumental opportunities for education, ministry, and performance. Dr. Louer conducts the 70-voice Sanctuary Choir and the Beecher Singers (a professional chamber choir) and oversees a talented music staff that directs children and youth music, handbell ensemble, wind ensemble, and a vibrant fine arts area.
She is a former Adjunct Professor of Choral Music at Butler University, and prior to her appointment at Second, served on the faculties of University of Evansville and Oklahoma City University, and as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Kokomo (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for 3 years.
Dr. Louer has led the Sanctuary Choir in annual performances of choral/orchestral masterworks, including Beethoven’s Choral Fantasie with André Watts, J.S. Bach’s Johannes Passion with Alan Bennett (Evangelist), Verdi’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
For six seasons, she served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Chorale Singers of Lafayette, Indiana where she was known for innovative programming of works such as James Whitbourn’s Annelies and a retrospective of the choral music of Leonard Bernstein. In the summer of 2016, Dr. Louer led choral groups on a performance tour through Germany and parts of the Czech Republic. Equally comfortable leading orchestras, she has conducted Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“New World”), Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919), and in 2018 served as Guest Conductor of the 14th Annual International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece. Dr. Louer also serves on the Sacred in Opera Committee of National Opera Association.
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Dr. John Allegar
Organist and Assistant Director of Music and Fine Arts
(317) 253-6461