Community Congregational Church in Short Hills welcomes its new
Director of Music Ministries, F. Allen Artz, III. Artz will direct the Chancel Choir, lead worship with the splendid Austin organ of 54 ranks and will also oversee the activities of the church's Youth and Bell choirs.

Artz received his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania and a Masters of Arts degree (summa cum laude) with a major in organ performance from Montclair State University studying with Dr. Jon Gillock (of the Julliard School). He has held full-time positions as Education/Music Director in several large parishes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and, more locally, he served as Associate Director of Music/Organist at Newark's Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

As Director of Music/Organist at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, South Orange for nearly 10 years, Artz developed a music program involving four choirs which sang at Masses on a weekly schedule. He was Artistic Director for "Musica Sacra," a monthly series of choral, organ and other instrumental ensemble concerts at Our Lady of Sorrows from 1999-2006.

Artz continues to serve as Director of Music at the Far Brook School in Short Hills, a private, independent school of 240 students in grades Pre-K - 8. On the faculty since 1990, he conducts 4 choirs, the school orchestra, handbell ensembles and teaches classroom music. An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Artz served as Dean of the Metro NJ Chapter from 2002-2004. He is also a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the American Choral Director's Association.

As a recitalist, he has performed in several Midwestern and
Northeastern states and in England, and has had the distinct honor of playing Vespers at the Cathedral-Basilica in the presence of Pope John Paul II and President Bill Clinton.

Artz founded and directs a select choral ensemble of 22 singers, the "Carrollton Chorale", which specializes in mostly a cappella music of the Renaissance, but not strictly limited to that period. The chorale
is gaining a reputation for achieving an exquisite choral sound and beautiful phrasing and musicality.

Sunday family worship at Community Congregational Church takes place at 10:30am, and the fall music program at Community Congregational Church includes a Halloween Concert on October 31 and the annual Christmas Concert on December 12. The Chancel Choir rehearses on Sunday mornings at 8:30am and singers from the community are welcome to attend.