Praise through music!

Vocal Ensembles

Bell Ensembles

“In a world of technology, facts, and information, music brings us back to our basic humanness. It is one of the fundamental ways we have invented to search for life’s meaning and to express our human essence in this world. It is a main means of caring for and preserving the life of our spirit.”

Music! It's Role and Import in our Lives
Charles Fowler
Glencoe, 1994

Praise through music!
At Spirit of Hope Church we enhance our worship of God by allowing ourselves to express our faith through hearing and participating in musical expressions. Every worship service is unique because classical, traditional and contemporary forms of music are used. Just as our congregation is diverse, so is our musical style.

Our music program at Spirit of Hope offers:

  • congregational singing as part of worship, including traditional hymns as well as praise and worship songs.
  • an opportunity to discover, nurture and offer the artistic gifts we have been given by God.
  • the leadership of three keyboard instruments: a 16-rank pipe organ, a 6-foot Yamaha grand piano, and a Kurzweil electric keyboard.
  • cultural enrichment opportunities for the church community, including multiple church and interfaith opportunities.
  • an outreach to the world through our compact disc, “Many Gifts, One Spirit.”
  • the opportunity to participate in the following ensembles.

Vocal Ensembles

Adult Choir
Led by conductor, arranger, and accompanist Jerry Rubino, our choir includes a wide spectrum of ages (9th grade through adult) and musical experience. We prepare musical offerings that vary in style from gospel and contemporary to jazz and classical. If you would like to join us as we seek to grow musically and spiritually by learning music to lead our worship services, our rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.

Holy Spirits
Susan Hofflander from our Praise Team provides the leadership for this choir of 6th through 8th grade youth. She helps them build on prior music knowledge as they explore their spiritual gifts of music.

Spirit Singers
This ensemble gives children 2nd through 5th grade an opportunity to learn music fundamentals along with learning to praise God through music. Our music staff provides leadership.

Bell Ensembles

Spirit A’Peal
Led by Jerry Rubino and assisted by Trudy Hoag and Kris Kooiker, this group of ringers, 9th grade through adult, uses four octaves of hand bells and two octaves of hand chimes to create music to enhance worship. If you enjoy music and can comprehend fundamental rhythmic notation, join us for rehearsals on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Spirit Ringers
Children in 2nd through 8th grades have the opportunity to experiment with and receive training in hand chimes and hand bells in this group. Kris Kooiker shares her passion for and knowledge of hand bells as she leads this group.

Jerry Rubino is beginning his 19th year as Minister of Music at Spirit of Hope.
Along with Spiritual conviction, Jerry brings a tone of musical excellence and great enthusiasm to the musical offerings at Spirit of Hope.

His experience includes 23 years as Associate Conductor, pianist, arranger and Director of Education and Special Events for the Dale Warland Singers; College teaching positions at Northwestern College, St. Paul, and Carleton College, Northfield; and founder and music director of “Jerry Rubino Plus,” an ensemble that presents eclectic music from opera to classic choral music to the music of Broadway and jazz. His choral arrangements are in print with 5 publishers and he is in demand nationally and internationally as a choral clinician, adjudicator and pianist. Jerry holds degrees in piano, music education and conducting from Temple University and the University of Minnesota.

Susan Hofflander
Versatility is the hallmark of Susan Hofflander’s voice. Susan’s solid vocal technique allows her to perform opera, musical theater, jazz, gospel or contemporary Christian music with equal ease and stylistic accuracy. This unique ability brings Susan many diverse performing opportunities: from Bach to Bernstein, from Vivaldi to Webber. Twin Cities audiences may have experienced her performance in the Ordway’s presentation of the National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Max Wojtanowicz
Max Wojtanowicz is thrilled and blessed to be singing at Spirit of Hope! A native of Rice, Minnesota, and a recent graduate of St. Olaf College, Max is currently a performing apprentice at the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis where he has a full season including Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, Bud Not Buddy, and The Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle among others. He has also performed with many other theaters around town including the Guthrie, Skylark Opera, Heritage Theater, and Nautilus Music-Theater, where he met Jerry and Susan.

Tom Witry
Tom has performed nationwide in over 50 professional theatrical productions, many of which he has shared the stage with his wife, Melissa O’Neill. He brings a strong choral background to all his work in the performing arts. His musicality and leadership skills provide him great versatility as a music director/arranger, stage director, stage manager and choreographer for productions and revues. Tom leads the adult bell choir (Hope Ringers), and is a member of the Staff Parish Relations Team at Spirit of Hope. Tom sings with Jerry in his vocal group, Jerry Rubino Plus, and is also a freelance model and commercial artist in the Twin Cities.

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