By Susan Shinn Turner

For the Salisbury Post

Love Broadway tunes and jazz standards? Have we got a show for you!

Ricky Howsare and Lawrence Quinnett are teaming up for a free concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, in the Faith Center of St. John’s Lutheran Church, 121 N. Jackson St., in Downtown Salisbury.

Howsare served for two years as the congregation’s contemporary worship leader. In May, he and his wife, Kimberly, moved back to her family’s farm in Pennsylvania. 

“The places we’ve lived so far have been because of my job,” Howsare said. “The nature of my work involves traveling. This move was an opportunity to be closer to family and put down roots.”

That doesn’t mean Howsare won’t be returning to Salisbury. 

In January, he performed for a Salisbury Symphony fundraiser, and he’s slated to do the same in January 2025.

“I’ll always come back to sing,” he said. 

Next weekend’s concert has been in the works for quite awhile, Howsare noted. “We are honoring this commitment.”

Howsare and Quinnett met when they served together on the Salisbury Symphony board. 

Quinnett was one of the organizers of Bach Around the Clock, the four-hour concert at St. John’s this past spring, honoring the birthday of the great German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. 

Quinnett is department chair and associate professor of piano and music theory at Livingstone College, where he works with about 15 music majors. He teaches private piano lessons to students from Salisbury, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

“My youngest student is nine, my oldest is a high-school senior, and I have everything in between,” he said.

Quinnett started piano lessons at seven. 

“The piano has such a wide range of expressivity,” he said. “You can have an entire orchestra at your fingertips.”

Quinnett, who is a classically trained pianist, counts classical music as one of his favorite genres. 

He enjoys jazz music from the ’30s and ’40s. 

“I’m an avid swing dancer, and the music was the hook that kept me coming back,” he said. 

His third favorite genre is contemporary worship music. 

“There’s more overlap among genres than you might think,” he said. 

The two musicians have a mutual admiration of one another. 

“Lawrence is an incredibly gifted pianist,” Howsare said, “yet he’s humble.”

Quintet added, “It’s always such a joy to collaborate with other musicians. You find another person who has the same gifts and passion for music. It’s rewarding to work with someone who is kind, considerate, and professional. Ricky is all those things.”

Howsare noted that even though the concert takes place in the Faith Center, the music is completely secular.

“We thought it would have a broad appeal to the community,” he said. 

Howsare says the show will be Cabaret-style. Quinnett will accompany him. Joining the duo onstage will be bassist Matthew Rybicki and drummer Timothy Roberts, both of Winston-Salem. 

The four musicians will practice together on Friday and perform the next day, Quinnett says. They’ve prepared and practiced separately. “We are professional musicians. We know our parts.”

“I have no doubt this concert is going to be fabulous,” Howsare said. “I’m super excited, because it’s not often I get to sing with live musicians. There’s just something that happens when people make music together. It’s beautiful.”

Howsare is continuing to pursue his dream of becoming a recording artist. 

“The concert stage is the route I want to go,” he said. “I’m going to be perfectly happy with whatever I can accomplish.”

Charles Dabbs, a longtime member of St. John’s and former musician himself, is presenting sponsor. He is a supporter of the St. John’s music ministry, and the Men’s Chorus especially. 

“To me,” Dabbs said of his philanthropy, “it’s a part of the ministry of getting people to church. I hope this concert will be a night of good music and good fellowship with excellent musicians. St. John’s is a very open and welcoming congregation. I want to do this for the community. It’s something I think I should do.”

Susan Shinn Turner is staff writer for St. John’s Lutheran Church.