Anne Glass, former APSU music professor, organist at Trinity Episcopal for 60 years, dies at 84
Anne Glass, who taught piano at Austin Peay State University for decades and served as the organist for Trinity Episcopal Church for 60 years, has died at age 84.
Here is her obituary, shared through Neal-Tarpley Parchman Funeral Home:
If there is a patron saint of piano accompaniment, it is Elizabeth Anne Davis Glass.
Born in Marion, S.C., on May 30, 1938, Anne’s love of music began at the age of 5 when she said she wanted a piano. Her father bought her a baby grand. She attended Coker College and graduated from Stetson University with a Bachelor of Music degree. She held a Master of Music degree in piano performance from George Peabody College. Associated with the music department of Austin Peay State University since 1962, she became a full-time faculty member in 1975 and was later made full professor, retiring in 2019. During her tenure, she attended master classes at the Franz-Schubert Institute in Baden, Austria, and collaborated with every member of the instrumental and vocal faculty, including accompanying Dr. Sharon Mabry at Carnegie Hall. In 2011, Anne was presented the George Mabry Award which recognizes a living Tennessean who has made a significant impact on arts and culture in Montgomery County.
As legend has it, her career as church organist of Trinity Episcopal Church began one frosty Christmas Eve when then choir director, Dr. Thomas Cowan, asked her to sub at the last minute. They asked her to stay. Stay she did. This year is her 60th anniversary as church organist. She played services, weddings, funerals, concerts, and loved rousing Bach preludes that seemed to lift the pipes slightly from their casing. She could vamp like no one else. And for those in the know, her humor sometimes got the best of her, occasionally working “Happy Birthday to You” or a pop song into a classical interlude during Communion.
She was a singer’s best friend. She could transpose on sight – handy for lowering the key for raspy voices; was known to gently whisper lyrics to the forgetful and could jump around a score when people forgot their place. Even though it meant extra hours, she loved accompanying student recitals, opera rehearsals and auditions. An avid champion of the Clarksville Community Concert Association, she was honored for her support in 2022.
Her support of students was legendary. Always aware of struggling musicians’ pocketbooks, she often lowered her fees or sometimes just said, “Oh, I’d really rather you just come rake leaves.” She was generous to a fault.
Second to her desire to nourish the soul with music was her mission to feed everyone. She fretted about students who might not be eating enough and regularly plied them with muffins and banana bread. She made brownies for the mechanic and cookies for the handyman. One did not celebrate holidays with fewer than four dessert choices. Choir practice included baked goods in a basket.
She always remained true to her Southern upbringing of manners and decorum and was a vocal proponent for the proper use of the verbs “lie” and “lay.”
Trinity was her home away from home. She said it was the happiest place of her life.
She is preceded in her passing by her mother and father, Henry Jesse and Norma Davis; brother Carroll Davis; and her second husband, Charles Crist. She leaves behind children, Laurens Glass, Lucie Glass, Brian Glass, Charli Christ, Cindi Walters, and Vicki Gray; grandchildren, Jackson Craft and Davis Glass; sister Ellen Davis; brother, Derrick Davis and his wife, Ann; sister-in-law, Laura Davis; nieces, Patricia Davis and Jane Noyes; nephews, Walt Davis, Tim Davis and James Davis; in-laws Kathie and Chuck McLaughlin; kitty, Pinky; her beloved friends, Don Shelton and Shirley Marie Watts; and countless others we wish we could name.
Her family thanks everyone who cared for her over the years, and especially this past month.
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Arrangements to be announced through Neal-Tarpley Parchman.
Though no gift is expected, Anne loved flowers. She also was devoted to supporting the singers and instrumentalists of Trinity Episcopal Church and donating to animal rescue.
Enjoy one of her last performances with her student and friend, Emmanuel Mejeun, at Trinity Episcopal Church on Jan. 14, Mozart’s “Pieta, Signore.” Please scroll in to 1:00:40.