Sumner moved to Lynchburg in September, 2016 to assume the position of Organist/Choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. He has held similar positions in Connecticut, Tennessee, Virginia (on the faculty of Chatham Hall, Chatham, VA), and Maryland. While in Memphis he served as Organist/Choirmaster at Calvary Episcopal Church, where he was responsible for a program that included two adult choirs, a children’s choir and a handbell choir. He served as Artistic Director and Concert Manager for “Calvary & the Arts,” conducted and managed Calvary’s yearly concert presentation of Messiah, and was responsible for the restoration of Calvary’s 1935 Aeolian-Skinner organ.
In addition to his work at Calvary in Memphis, he served as a Stage Manager at Theatre Memphis. Among the shows he managed were House of Blue Leaves, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Amadeus, Sound of Music, and many others. He has worked with Renaissance Theater in Lynchburg as Music Director for the 2022 production of Kiss me, Kate, and most recently was part of the pit band for Virginia Episcopal School’s production of Mamma Mia (March 2023). He will be Music Director for Renaissance Theater’s production of Once Upon a Mattress, in the fall of 2023.
Mr. Jenkins holds a BMus (1985) in Church Music and a MMus (1987) in Organ Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, VA. and has done additional study with Dr. Wilma Jensen and Diane Meredith Belcher. He is an active member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists. His work as a composer includes the anthem, “Even When God is Silent,” written for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance), published by St. James Music Press – the text is a translation of words found written on a basement wall in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.