First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan has announced the appointment of Victoria Shields as its new director of music. She is only the third music director in the 60-year history of the church. She will direct and serve as organist for the Adult and Youth Carol Choirs, as well as direct the inter-generational Chimes Choir.
Shields is conservatory-trained with 25 years of experience as a church musician and organ recitalist. She is a graduate of Eastman School of Music with concentrations in Music Education and Organ Performance, and has also earned the Orff Schulwerk Music Teaching Certificate from George Mason University.
As an organist, she has played recitals across the country and abroad and has enabled collaborations for works for organ and other instruments with members of the Air Force, Navy and Marine Bands, the Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and National Symphonies and the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra.
Victoria’s passion for education and performance also extends to sharing the pipe organ with young people. She has served as faculty for the Delaware and Harrisburg, PA Pipe Organ Encounter for 13-18 year olds, and she has been a teacher and coordinator for the Potomac Organ Institute, a scholarship program for new organists.
Shields has lived and worked in the Washington D.C. area for the past 10 years, but is a native of New York’s Hudson Valley region and is happy to return to the northeast.
First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan has announced the appointment of Victoria Shields as its new director of music.
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