Head of the choir
Head of the choir
Marva M. Brown directs the voices of the Moses Lake Gospel Community Choir
MOSES LAKE — Marva M. Brown has been directing gospel choirs for more than 50 years, with no plans to slow down anytime soon.
Brown, who formed the Moses Lake Gospel Community Choir in 2000, which she still directs, has deep roots in gospel music. Growing up in Arcadia, La., those roots were formed listening to greats of gospel like Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson and The Angelic Gospel Singers, as well as the gospel music sung at church.
Marva directed her very first choir at the age of 14 at the Holland Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Arcadia. The gospel itself has strong foundations in Marva's family; Holland Grove Missionary Baptist Church was founded by her great-grandfather, and many of his descendents continue to serve in the ministry. Her sister owns a church and she has two brothers who are ministers. For Marva, music is her method.
"I'm a Christian, that's the ministry I chose to do in serving the Lord," she said.
Marva began music lessons at the age of 10 with private piano instruction. She perfected the B-flat clarinet in the Arcadia High School Band, and was second soprano and first alto in the high school choir. After forming and training the youth choir at her own church, Marva began branching out to assist other churches and choirs in the area.
Her family left Louisiana when Marva was 16, when her father was called to pastor the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church in Seattle. Marva continued her choir involvement there, and advanced her education in music at Seattle University. She also worked with other churches and choirs in the absence of their musicians. Over the years, Marva developed her own style of gospel music, which she describes as "old Southern Baptist Gospel singing."
Later in her career, Marva's employer, U. S. West Communications, transferred her to New York City where she continued in the music business by playing for churches and organizing choirs for three years. She returned to Seattle where she retired from U.S. West after 31 years. It was a career in which she and technology advanced at a rapid pace; Marva started working with teletype machines and cord boards and eventually worked as an adminstrator of the computer department when she moved to New York.
With her husband Willie also retired from Boeing, the couple opted for retirement in Moses Lake in 1994.
"We loved to camp and fish and Moses Lake was a good place to retire," Marva explained.
But Marva wasn't completely done working; since moving to Moses Lake, she has served as the musician and choir director for Gailee, New Bride and New Light Missionary Baptist Churches. In 2000, she organized the Moses Lake Gospel Community Choir, starting with just six members.
Today, there are 20 members with accompanists who play organ, guitar and drums, and Marva on piano. The choir rehearses up to three hours every week, and averages about three or four performances a month. They perform many standards in gospel music: "Jesus is My Best Friend," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Free at Last" and "The Storm is Almost Gone." But, Marva said, "our choir's very versatile. We welcome other voices and other styles."
Marva feels the community needs this choir. "The Moses Lake community is starving for somewhere really good to go for Christians," she said. "This is something that is uplifting. We've never gotten any bad feedback."
The choir has performed in a variety of venues, but, Marva said, "we want to do more through, we want to grow."
"I would love to have 100 or better — as many as we can get," Marva said. "The more people that we have, the more people that will be affected."
Despite her energetic desire to take on the challenge of growing the Moses Lake Gospel Community Choir, Marva admits it's a lot of work. But it's easy to see it's also a labor of love for the 67-year-old.
"I'm serving the Lord and I'm also helping the people in the neighborhood, in the community," she said. "We reach people the churches don't reach."
When she's not working with the choir, she and Willie travel. They've returned to Louisiana for school and family reunions, and have also traveled to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in their motorhome. The couple has two daughters, both live in Texas, and a son who lives in Seattle. They have six granchildren.
Currently, Marva and the choir are readying for their next performance at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at New Bride Missionary Baptist Church in Moses Lake on January 16. Marva said she feels inspired by the work of King.
"He stood for all people, not just for the black," she said. "That's what inspires me. I want to have all races in this choir. Our goal and desire is to involve any and everyone in the community that is interested in promoting the Bible through song."
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