First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach will present a concert featuring three local musical favorites, Mark Shuping, Matt Stott, and Dr. Jacob Craig. The performance will take place in the sanctuary on Sunday, November 8, 2020, at 3:00pm. The church is located at 520 Royal Palm Boulevard in Vero Beach. Admission is free; a $10 donation is suggested. Masks and social distancing will be required, and seating is limited to the first 100 concertgoers.

Mark Shuping (cello), Matt Stott (violin), and Dr. Jacob Craig (piano) have many things in common. Their musical talent, amiable personalities, and strive to always improve upon themselves are only a few of the things that make these guys so special. The best thing that these men have in common, however, is the fact that all three of them have directed ensembles featuring students from the Vero Beach High School Orchestra. Matt Stott, who is currently the Director of Music at King’s Baptist Church and formerly the orchestral director at Vero Beach High School stepped down from the VBHS podium in 2019 to pursue a career in church music. Mark Shuping was selected as the new director and has certainly thrived in his new position as Orchestral Director at VBHS. Dr. Jacob Craig leads a Youth String Orchestra at First Presbyterian where many members of the VBHS and Charter Orchestral programs also play. Between these three talented leaders, our local strings students are now an unstoppable force of talent and skill.

This concert brings together the talent, expertise, and personality that makes these three so special to our local community. Performing many wonderful pieces of music from the strings and piano repertoire, this concert will be a beautiful collaboration that no strings student in Indian River County should miss!

Mark Shuping is a 2011 graduate of Boston University with a Master of Music. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 2007 from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During his time at Oberlin, he worked with the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras and founded the Oberlin Cello Choir. Originally from Spartanburg, SC, Mark started playing the cello in fifth grade at his elementary school. He later attended the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, a residential arts high school, for the last two years of high school. His principal teachers include Kenneth Law, Robert Jesselson, and Darrett Adkins.

Matt Stott began studying the violin at the age of 5.  He continued his studies at Baylor University, School of Music, in Waco, Texas under Dr. Bruce Berg and Mr. Stephen Heyde.  Mr. Stott accepted the position of Director of Orchestras in the Indian River County School System in the fall of 2001, where he served through the 2019 school year. In 2010 Baylor University awarded him the 'Outstanding Music Educator Alumni.'  In 2011 he was provided the opportunity to study conducting at the Juilliard School summer term.  He was named the FLASTA schoolteacher of the year in 2014.  Matt has guest conducted several orchestras throughout Florida and has performed extensively as well.  Under his leadership, his group became the American String Teachers Association No. 1 High School Symphonic Orchestra in the United States.  Their excellence earned them an invitation to perform at the J. F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Lincoln Center in New York, City, and most recently to perform an Ambassadorial Concert tour in Salzburg, Gatz, Innsbruck and Vienna Austria.  Stott currently serves as the Music Director at King’s Baptist Church in Vero Beach, Florida.

Dr. Jacob Craig is the Director of Music and Arts at First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach. Jacob received his Bachelor of Music Education and Piano Performance degree from Shorter University in Rome, GA before moving on to Tallahassee, FL to receive his M.M. in Choral Conducting and Literature under Dr. Andre Thomas at Florida State University.  As of 2019, Jacob completed his Doctorate of Sacred Music in Performance at the Graduate Theological Foundation and Oxford University.  As Director of the ACTS Choristers, Sea Oaks Chorus, and Silver Tones community choirs, Jacob is also a competitive Highland Bagpiper.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jacob Craig, Director of Music and Arts at First Presbyterian, at (772) 562-9088 or jacobcraig@firstpresvero.org.