Since 2005, parishioners at St. Mary-Riverside have enjoyed the services of a prominent musician, William E. Coble.

Coble serves full time as music director, conducting five choirs, playing organ, training cantors and serving as liturgist for more than 200 Masses a year. He holds six academic degrees and is currently finishing his doctorate in music composition at the University of Chicago, where he also is a lecturer. He will teach “Introduction to Composition” during the winter quarter at the U of C.

Born in Syracuse, N.Y., this noted composer lives in nearby Berwyn with his wife, Jenny, and their 5-month-old son, Benjamin.

His academic background includes graduate work at Harvard, the University of Chicago, the Curtis Institute of Music and Boston University. He divides his time between composing commissioned works, performing regularly on trumpet and piano (at least two recitals per year), and teaching at various schools. His trumpet background includes three years as section trumpet with the Syracuse Symphony, and his Chicago gigs include Orchestra Hall appearances as section trumpet and concerts with the Chicago-based Apollo Chorus.

He enjoys both the 25-year-old pipe organ at St. Mary Church and the computerized electronic keyboard, where he can accurately and realistically load in various instruments (violins, trumpet, tympani, etc.) and store the memory of compositions on disk.

“Visiting priests at Mary’s often remark on what an outstanding ‘singing-church’ it is, and what an extraordinarily participating congregation we have here at St. Mary’s,” he said. “Of course, I inherited the situation, one that was already firmly in place, thanks to Mary Prete and Sioban McGuire, my predecessors.

“At the end of the day, however, my simple goal for every Mass is answered by the following inquiry: ‘How well did we pray?’”

New music director at Ascension Lutheran Church

Dawn came early June 15. The summer solstice was still a few days away, but the day promised to be especially warm. Parishioners at Ascension Lutheran Church completed their plans to welcome their newly appointed director of music ministries, Dan McDaniel, during a Sunday morning worship service, to be followed by a reception at the church in his honor. Nothing could go wrong.

Except, perhaps, Mother Nature, upset about neither being invited nor consulted, vented her ire on not only Ascension Lutheran Church parishioners, but the entire area. A violent storm erupted, sending the area into darkness.

With the electricity to the church cut off, the new director was unable to perform on the wonderful Casavant Freres organ built for the church in 1987 in St. Hyacinth, Canada. The talented director, displaying a “show must go on” bravado, turned to the church’s grand piano. Much to the enjoyment of those gathered, he saved the musical part of the church service.

McDaniel, born in Mississippi and raised in Murray, Ky., holds degrees in vocal performance from Murray State University and in organ performance from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he was a student of Marianne Webb. He has also done advanced studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The new director is also on the staff of Chicago Concert Artists, where he is the U.S. manager for Grammy award-winning classical guitarist David Russell. He serves as artistic and administrative director of the Choral Sounds of Chicago, a Renaissance troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists. Locally, he has sung with the William Ferris Chorale, the Evanston Bach Week Festival Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

Other projects in which McDaniel is involved include writing “FROG, The Musical,” a children’s musical celebrating unity and diversity. He directs a senior citizens’ chorus, The Noteables, in Des Plaines. He has served as a hand bell clinician for national workshops and his hand bell arrangements have been published by the Hope Publishing Co.

“This position is the right balance for me,” McDaniel said. “Riverside is rich with talents and possibilities.”

In fact, he is now living in Riverside, on the riverfront, a convenient location for his work and for his other interests in the Chicago area.