Organist and Music Director Liz Carley arrived at ACC in 1981—that makes 2025 her 44th year with us. “In my first service I was quite nervous,” remembers Liz—in fact, she played the Doxology at two different places during the service: “Rev. Justin Harman smiled and commented that it was appropriate as the church was ‘doubly blessed’ to have me.”
Liz and her husband, Gil, have lived in Acton since 1968; when she isn’t playing the organ, Liz says, “I like to garden, read, do crossword puzzles, walk our brilliant and affectionate Border Collie, Skye, and go places.” Despite her long tenure, there’s quite a lot we don’t know about Liz and what she does at ACC…so it seemed a Q&A was in order.
We’ll introduce other members of ACC’s hardworking staff over the summer. —Julia Hanna
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about where you grew up?
A: I grew up in Medford, a very good place to grow up. I had lots of Jewish friends (I went to high school with Michael Bloomberg), lots of Italian and Irish Catholic friends, and lots of Black friends. I thought everyone had had this experience, but later in life I discovered just how lucky I had been. I was a pianist, so I ended up playing our church’s organ as a kind of sub. I played Christmas Eve services and other services...I was really “playing at it,” though, since I had not had organ lessons. I guess that organ, a very fine 1920s Skinner, was my first organ sighting, so to speak.
Q: What drew you to the organ?
A: I became curious about playing the organ because it looked so complicated (which it is!) and because I liked the sound.
Q: What is a typical day like for you at ACC?
A: Outside my time on Sunday morning, I practice every morning for about two hours. As I mentioned, the organ is complicated: I suspect that God never intended a person to play an instrument with his or her feet! I also meet with staff, rehearse with soloists, schedule musicians, both church members and “outside” musicians, and see that “outside” musicians are paid.
Q: What’s a “behind-the-scenes” task we may not know about or understand?
A: Clearing copyright on musical works is a bit of a pain in the neck and very time-consuming. Playing copyrighted music in a non-livestream service is just fine. Playing copyrighted music and sending it over the airwaves is not fine. It’s not unusual for a church to be sued and have to pay thousands of dollars for breach of copyright. You must have permission; getting that permission is labyrinthine in terms of waiting for answers, being sent to the wrong person-in-charge, paying a fee, and sometimes dealing with copyright holders who won’t give churches a financial break.
Q: How do you figure out the music plan for summer worship?
A: I have my “peeps” who like to play, so I start lining people up well in advance, given the need to wait for replies and juggle everyone’s schedule. After the musicians have chosen their music, I make sure that there are no copyright issues.
