Edward C. Demmond (Trey), Ph.D., Music DirectorEdward C. Demmond (Trey), Ph.D., Music DirectorTrey is responsible for the music program of the church. He chooses and/or oversees the musical selections that serves our numerous missions. Trey conducts both the Chancel Choir and Praise Team Choir, acts as "producer" for the Praise Band, and advises all other musical groups. In the past, he has been a symphonic and chamber performer on the french horn. He holds four college degrees, including a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Trey is also a part-time music instructor at Moorpark College.
Jim chooses the Sunday worship praise songs for the morning Praise Band, co-directs the band with our accompanist, Jimmy Calire, leads worship, sings in the Praise Team Choir, and plays trumpet when the occasion arises. In his spare time, Jim practices family medicine in the Ojai community.
Jill both conducts and plays in the Handbell Ensemble. She chooses music especially arranged for small ensembles, which can expand to include new ringers at any time. The Ensemble plays in worship services, as well as concerts for community organizations in the valley. They welcome individuals of any age who want to see if bell ringing is for them!
Beverly provides music for much of the traditional service on either our Steinway grand piano or our 1930 Casavant, 17 rank pipe organ. She also accompanies the Chancel Choir in the singing of the introit, anthem, and congregational hymns. A retired legal deposition reporter, Beverly's other activities include playing during the lunch hour at Tottenham Court in Ojai, teaching privately, accompanying the Ojai Community Children's Chorus, and playing organ on Wednesdays at the Christian Science Church of Ojai.
Jimmy serves as the musical backbone for both the Praise Band and Praise Team Choir during our contemporary services. He plays piano, foot-pedal bass when needed, and electronic keyboards. A founding member of the blues rock group Raven and a member of the soft-rock group America, Jimmy has played with most of the great blues and rock musicians. He currently composes, records, and performs with his own groups as well as a number of rock, blues, and jazz groups.
Scott serves as our "roadie" by setting up and taking down our sound equipment and other musical needs for all of the services. In addition, Scott runs the slide projector when we project song lyrics for the congregation during the contemporary services and is a member of our sound technician pool.
Don and Mark train and organize the pool of sound technicians for the traditional and contemporary services, respectively. Outside of the church, Don is a real estate investor, while Mark is a fire inspector for Ventura County.
Dorothy came to OPC seven years ago when the choir was under the direction of our former music director, Phil Harvey, and Margaret Harvey was the piano accompanist. At that time, Dorothy volunteered to help Margaret catalog all the choir music to be input into a computer database. While doing this task, she noticed that there was music which needed filing––she filed that music and has been filing ever since!