Dr. Stephen Newby
Minister of Worship

An accomplished composer, conductor, gospel/jazz vocalist, and pianist, Dr. Stephen Newby brings a wealth of creativity and experience in praising and worshiping the Lord wherever he leads a service. Newby, Peachtree Presbyterian Church’s artist-in-residence since January 2020, accepted the call to be Peachtree’s Minister of Worship, beginning in July 2021.

In February 2020, Peachtree presented Newby’s “Montage for Martin,” a tribute to the late Martin Luther King Jr. Composed by Newby, with lyrics from Scripture and by the late Rev. Dr. Ja A. Jahannes, the oratorio featured the choir, soloists, orchestra, and a narrator.

Most recently, Newby served as Professor of Music, Director of Composition, and Director of the Center for Worship at Seattle Pacific University, teaching students and leading worship efforts. He also served as director for the SPU Gospel Choir and the Worship Arts Ensemble.

 

Dr. Newby has served as a worship pastor in Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington, California, and Georgia for more than 25 years. He created compositions for The Cascade Youth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Canton Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Theater Orchestra, among others.

Montage for Martin, February 2020

His voice and works have earned awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (Continental Harmony Grant), the King County Arts Commission of Washington, The Rackham School Fellowship for Ethno-musicological Research in Dakar, Senegal, and the John Wesley Work III National Composers’ Award.

Dr. Newby earned his bachelor of arts in vocal music education and flute performance from Madonna College in Michigan in 1984, and his master of music in jazz composition and arranging from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1987. He has studied under Robert Sutton, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Holmes, and Robert Stern. He completed his doctorate of musical arts in composition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1994, where he studied with William Albright, Michael Daugherty, George Wilson, Fred Lerdahl, and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett. He earned his master of theology in Theology/Christian/Theological Studies in 2019.