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Jeff Ayers, Director of Music
Jeff Ayers has served on the music staff of Virginia Highland Church for over 14 years. As Director of Music, Jeff shares the responsibilities as Organist and Choir Director with Scott Dunn. He is also President of Allen Organ Studios of Atlanta, a business dedicated to design, sales, installation and service of church organs throughout Georgia and Tennessee. |
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Jeff attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC majoring in Church Music with concentration in voice and organ, where he studied under Dr. Robert Irwin and Antonia Dalapas. He is an active member of the American Guild of Organists and The American Theatre Organ Society. He also donates much time to helping other Organist understand the organ and how to use it effectively in both contemporary and traditional worship services. In 1983-1984 Jeff served as a Resort Missionary for the North Carolina Baptist Association.
Jeff believes that music is the glue that holds the worship experience together. He strives for a musically diverse service, that assists the congregation in the worship of God while creating a spirit of emotion for those present.
In addition to the his responsibilities as Music Director at Virginia Highland Church and President of Allen Organ Studios, Jeff also is a volunteer with the Virginia Highland Church Parish Council and President of A&F Ventures, a Flat Fee Real Estate company, that is currently in the top 11 Real Estate companies in the United States.
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J. Scott Dunn, Associate Director of Music
Scott Dunn joined the music department of Virginia Highland Church in 2007 as the Associate Director of Music. Scott and Jeff, as a team, are responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating the incorporation of music in the life of Virginia Highland Church. Directing the choir, accompanying congregational singing, and finding and extending invitations to guest vocalists and instrumentalists are some of the responsibilities that he shares with Jeff. |
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Scott loves church music, which he has been singing and playing since he was four years old. By the age of 13, he was the staff musician at his home town church and also toured the Southeastern United States as accompanist for several regional gospel groups. He continued to play through college, serving as a staff musician for several churches in Chapel Hill, NC. While attending UNC, he was exposed to a variety of styles of music, which motivated him to expand and improve his keyboard skills and vary his musical style. After college, he moved to Atlanta and since has accumulated over 25 years of musical leadership experience at several area churches. Recently, Scott has completed coursework in theology, worship, and preaching at the Interdenominational Theological Center and the Emory University Candler School of Theology. His passion for preaching is only exceeded by his passion for music.
Having had little formal training, Scott believes that his musical abilities are gifts from God. Out of deep gratitude, he strives to prepare and create theologically sound, eclectic musical experiences that encourage his faith community to participate in the worship of God, whether meditatively or demonstratively. Scott is known for his spontaneous improvisations, lush chords, and his spirited, creative arrangements of hymns on piano and organ. He's quick to tell you that he enjoys and is quite comfortable playing all types of organs--from powerful pipes to those amazing Allen's--but his first love is the B3. Scott says, "As a child and young teen, music was how God spoke to me. Of course, in my childhood church tradition, God could only speak through the whir the tremolos as you spun up the Leslie, or through the beat of drums...really loud drums. Oh, and He (because God was a man at my church) definitely only spoke through religious music. I am thankful that my life's experiences have taught me that God's voices are infinite in number and varied in style! I'll always hear God speaking through the winding up and down of that Leslie, but now, now I can also hear her speak in Beethoven, not just BTab. Moreover, I also have learned that God's voice isn't constrained to "sacred" music. Whether it's the Grateful Dead, the Counting Crows, or Ludicris; Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, or Karen Carpenter, a broadway show tune, an aboriginal chant, or a rock ballad, God's voice, God's unmistakeable, ubiquitous, soul-comforting voice is there....patiently waiting for me to listen."
Outside of church, Scott is an information developer for Oracle America, a Mac fanatic, a sci-fi geek, a die-hard Tarheel. the partner of his better half, the maker of a great martini, and a highly competitive trivia player. Scott lives in Buckhead with Alfie and Jack Dunn: two lovely cocker spaniels who have graciously opened their home to him and allow him to hold their leashes while they walk him. |
