Graff likes multi-cultural, arts-oriented community

MADISON – As an accomplished musician, Lois Graff is grateful for local venues with quality concerts and the opportunity to work with talented, versatile directors and performers.

“I feel that Madison City Schools has been intentional about staffing their arts programs (music, art, theater) with excellent teachers,” Graff said. “Children, parents and the entire community benefit from a strong commitment to the arts.”

Graff works as Director of Music Ministries at Messiah Lutheran Church. She serves as organist/pianist for worship, handles worship planning and supervises eight-plus musical groups.

She also arranges and composes music for Messiah Music Camp and worship. Graff assists in coordinating music outreach, including helping with Music at Messiah classical concert series.

In addition, Graff trains 37 piano students in her piano studio. She accompanies choral programs at Bob Jones High and James Clemens high schools and Discovery and Liberty middle schools. She also pursues freelance accompanying.

Graff grew up on a farm in Minnesota. After college, she lived and worked in St. Paul.

“My husband and I moved to the Huntsville/Madison area in 1987 and started two businesses in the expanding economic climate of those years,” she said. “Because of a new mission church, Messiah Lutheran Church, we quickly became involved in the life of the church and in the Madison area, although our home was in west Huntsville.”

“Moving here from Minnesota, we enjoyed year-round golfing, beauty of the countryside and proximity to the beach,” she said. They appreciated a city large enough to meet needs yet small enough to thrive as a community.

“The population of Madison is filled with people from all over the United States and the world,” Graff said. “I value living in a community that is multi-cultural.”

Volunteering is important to Graff. She teaches a confirmation class and serves with the Board of Directors for On Eagle’s Wings mission and outreach activities at church and in the community. “I work with youth, including serving as a chaperone on the Messiah youth trip to Germany in 2016,” she said.

In the past, she has traveled to the Northwest Territories, Guatemala and Honduras to support missions. In free time, Graff enjoys traveling, fishing, working puzzles and playing piano, pipe organ and harpsichord.