Music minister Heather MacRobie revels in diversity at Lowell's Eliot Presbyterian Church

By Debbie Hovanasian, Sun Correspondent

Updated: 03/07/2009 06:37:20 AM EST

LOWELL -- Take a little California breeziness and mix it with a love of the more traditional New England. Add a couple of decades of skilled piano and organ performances, an angelic voice, a contagious energy, a passion for musical theater and a strong faith, and you've got Heather MacRobie, the new music director at Eliot Presbyterian Church.

MacRobie, born in Canada and raised in California, is right in her element as her fingers dance effortlessly across the piano and later the digital organ inside the exquisite 19th-century sanctuary of Eliot.

The sun streams through the stained-glass windows while MacRobie's instruments, along with her voice, fill the church with powerful, goosebump-inducing effect.

Though humble about her talent, she's well aware that as a music director in a multicultural faith community, a piano instructor at Music Works in Tewksbury and a music director in musical theater, she's living her dream.

"I call my folks at least once a week and say, 'Thank you for encouraging me to stick with it,'" she said. "It's paid enormous dividends."

MacRobie's arrival at Eliot in August has been a blessing, says the Rev. Ted Zaragoza, pastor.

"We are thrilled that Heather has joined us. She is not only a gifted musician with particular expertise in piano and organ, she also brings to us wide ranging experience in church music, choral conducting, musical theater and voice coaching," said Zaragoza.

Last year, MacRobie's work with Second Stage Theater in Manchester, N.H., landed her a prestigious award at the NH Theatre Awards (NHTA). To her surprise, she was nominated in the professional category for musical direction of Falsettos, a complex production that is "about two and a half hours straight of music," she said. "I really was surprised and honored just to be nominated."

When her name was read for Best Music Direction, "you could have knocked me over with a feather," she said, adding that she had not even prepared an acceptance speech.

"It really was encouraging to be recognized by my peers," she said. "I cannot see myself ever leaving the theater."

MacRobie, 35, and her older brother were raised by evangelical Christian parents who encouraged their children to pursue music from a very young age. Her brother, whose skills at the organ she says are superior to her own, is now an organist in a Mormon church.

At Eliot, MacRobie is embracing the multicultural spirit of her church community and feels very much "at home. This is such a welcoming place."

She relishes the fact that the church was built in 1876 to accommodate immigrants coming to Lowell and still functions that way.

Eliot is comprised of one-third Cambodians, many of whom immigrated to Lowell in the 1980s, one-third Africans, who immigrated during the 1990s; and the remaining third Anglos and Brazilians, the most recent group of immigrants.

For MacRobie, that means a diverse music program, including a Cambodian choir, an African choir, a Brazilian praise team, a youth choir and the traditional inspiration choir.

As a nod to Eliot's multiculturalism, there are African drums in front of the organ loft, located in the section where the African worshippers typically sit. Spontaneously, they will come up and join in, MacRobie said, adding an upbeat flavor to the worship.

Now that Lent is here, MacRobie describes the subdued music -- or in some cases the lack of music -- as a "fast" from something that is usually joyous.

"It's a somber, darker time -- a time for self-examination and introspection. We appreciate His gift of sacrifice," she explained. "I spend time thinking about the beauty and value of what He did for me."

Asked about her plans for her first Easter at the helm of the music program, she lights up, excited in the knowledge that the various cultures sharing their musical gifts will make for one special celebration of Christ's Resurrection.

"I anticipate some dancing in the aisles will happen. It will be one rocking morning -- joyous, encouraging, warm. It will be like any other party, but add multicultural to it."

Zaragoza shares MacRobie's enthusiasm. "Heather is a true professional whose contagious energy brings out the very best in all of us as we offer our thanks and praise to God in worship."