Harpist Joy Slavens will perform on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Laurel. After the performance, the Old Christ Church League will hold its annual business meeting to elect officers for the next three years. The league will be providing period Victorian-era and Williamsburg-inspired desserts. Membership applications will be available at the meeting. Admission to the concert is free, but attendees are encouraged to consider joining the Old Christ Church League. Memberships start at $25.
Joy Slavens was fascinated by the harp, a unique instrument, after watching a harpist perform at a local church. She began taking lessons from Rebecca Smith of Crofton, Md., under whom she studied for eight years. Eventually, she graduated to a concert pedal harp and began teaching harp lessons. Currently, she teaches about 25 piano students and eight harp students.
Joy has been music director of Centenary United Method Church in Laurel since September 2021. Joy loves to create new arrangements of many styles of music. She writes original compositions and publishes her own music which is sold throughout the United States and has been favorably reviewed by Folk Harp Journal and Harp Column. “Music is my passion,” Joy says, “and I am forever grateful to have been blessed with the gift of music. I find it to be rewarding that many others get to share in this gift through my music, or by learning for themselves.” Joy Slavens grew up in Trappe and has lived in Sussex County, with her husband, Tom, since 1988.
Old Christ Church is one of only about a dozen churches along the Atlantic coast to survive unaltered from America’s pre-Revolutionary period. It opens on first Sundays starting in the spring for tours.