Rev. Evan Bever serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, an historic Baptist congregation located on the north side of Indianapolis. In recent years, the congregation of FBC Indianapolis has grown increasingly diverse, welcoming people who have come as refugees from southeast Asia and Africa. In addition to administrative duties, Evan has responsibilities in worship leadership, pastoral care, Christian education, and mission and outreach. Evan is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (M. Div, 2012) and studied English Literature at Purdue University (B.A. 2009). He has training in Conflict Transformation, experiential education, and nonprofit executive leadership. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Baptist Student Foundation at Purdue (a campus ministry of the American Baptist Churches USA) and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and Patchwork Indy. Evan and his wife, Breanna, live in Indianapolis with their son, Isaiah.

Ruth E. Dwyer is internationally recognized as a treble and children’s choir specialist and Kodály educator. She has been the guest conductor for the OAKE National Children’s Choir, numerous ACDA All-State Choirs and NAfME. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Hoosier Hills Choral Festival in Southern Indiana She founded and directed Philanthropy Through Song which presented choral festivals supporting anti-drunk driving education. Mrs. Dwyer is a frequent guest conductor with Texas International Choral Festival, MidAmerica Productions, the New England Symphonic Wind Ensemble and guest lecturer in São Paulo, Brazil where she conducts the GRAN FINALE Festival Nacional de Corais Infantis e Jovens.

Mrs. Dwyer has been a conductor and Director of Education with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir for 33 years. She recently added the title of Composer in Residence to her ICC honors. She is celebrating nearly 30 years as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Columbus Indiana Children’s Choir, a co-operative effort of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. Her ensembles have performed for the Indiana Music Educators Association, the AOSA National Conference, in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, across North America and throughout Spain and Central Europe. She has prepared ensembles for performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Butler Ballet, and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Indianapolis Opera and numerous other organizations.

Mrs. Dwyer served the State of Indiana for 19 years as a public school music educator. Her teaching experiences include all levels of music instruction from 3 year olds to post graduate students. She has received the Organization of American Kodály Educator’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic Golden Baton Award, the IMEA Elementary Music Teacher of the Year, the Hoosier Musician Award and the Indianapolis Public Schools’ Rising Star award. She is an accomplished choral composer, arranger and the editor of the Ruth Dwyer Choral Series with Colla Voce Music, LLC https://collavoce.com distributed by Canticle Distributing Company.

Mrs. Dwyer has authored and published three curriculum books for ICC and is a frequent guest author for the Hal Leonard choral textbooks series. She also teaches at Butler University and works as a studio conductor for a variety of national and international music publishers.

Ruth E. Dwyer is a graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She enjoys traveling, reading, crocheting and gardening.

Eric Nelson is Director of Choral Studies at Emory University and Artistic Director of Atlanta Master Chorale. Dr. Nelson’s choirs have performed throughout the world, including London, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, Seoul, Carnegie Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, and the Sydney Opera House. He has conducted choirs at eight American Choral Directors Association conventions, including Atlanta Master Chorale’s performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and Emory Concert Choir’s performances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and Lincoln Center in New York City.

Dr. Nelson’s ensembles are characterized by their variety of repertoire and for their ability to fuse technical precision with warmth of musical expression. He appears regularly as clinician, lecturer, and guest conductor for honor choirs, conventions, symposiums, workshops, and all-state choral festivals. He is also past president of GA ACDA

Dr. Nelson’s choral compositions and arrangements are sung regularly by ensembles throughout the United States. He is the editor of the Atlanta Master Chorale Choral Series, a division of Morningstar Music Publishers and EC Schirmer. His compositions are also published by Colla Voce and Augsburg Fortress. He holds degrees in voice and conducting from Houghton College, Westminster Choir College, and Indiana University.

Zach Crowder is the Associate Director of Bands at Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, IN. As a former children, youth and adult conferee at the Conference for Church Musicians he comes back as a band director whose groups have received consistent gold rating, numerous Indiana State School Music Association All-Music Awards, multiple marching band state finals appearances, and many "With Distinction" awards for Jazz and Concert Bands. Along with teaching, Zach has enjoyed playing keyboard and sax for Praise and Worship groups across the state and has been an active member with FABM for many years. He and his wife, Jessica have a son, Parker and twin daughters, Avery and Raegan.

Brian Childers is an accomplished composer, conductor, and clinician. His choral, instrumental, and handbell works are performed throughout the world. He is in demand as a featured clinician at music conferences and workshops across the nation. In 2019, he was named Music Advisor for Handbell Musicians of America, a position designed to promote the great music in the AGEHR Catalogue.
Brian earned the bachelor or music degree in piano performance from Appalachian State University and the master of divinity degree in church music from the M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University. From 2012-2015, he served as Artistic Director of the Queen City Ringers, a Community Handbell Ensemble based in Charlotte, NC. He has served churches throughout the Southeast, building vibrant programs for choirs, handbells, and instrumentalists at each.
Brian is married to Keely Childers, a professional counselor and has two adult children, Hannah and Spencer, both of whom served as drum majors in their respective high school and college marching bands. Brian is an avid runner and a rabid fan of the Sn Antonio Spurs.
Brian accepts commissions in the concert band, choral, handbell, and piano genres. He enjoys partnering with others in creating and shaping music that is meaningful, expressive, and timely. His first book, “Ringing Deeply” a devotional book for directors and ringers, has been received with strong reviews and is now in its second printing. You can learn more about “Ringing Deeply” and Brian’s compositions and conducting schedule at BrianChilders.org.

Wednesday Concert Only

T. Jared Stellmacher is Director of Worship and Music at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Madison/Verona, WI, where he oversees the large and diverse music program across two campuses. Jared is also organist with the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble. The ensemble’s third CD, Ein feste Burg: Music of the Reformation, was released in 2019 and is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Previous positions include Director of Music at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Watertown, WI; Director of Music at Redeemer Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Hinsdale, IL; Interim Director of Music at First Church Congregational in Fairfield, CT; Accompanist for the critically acclaimed 100+ voice Fairfield County Chorale; Assistant Organist at the historic Riverside Church in New York City; Associate Organist at the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan, CT; and Assistant Choral/Vocal Administrator at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Jared has received many awards for his performance excellence, most notably first place in the American Guild of Organists Region VI Competition for Young Organists held at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs; he then performed as a “Rising Star” at the National AGO Convention in Chicago.
Jared received his MM from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale School of Music and BMus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.