For pianist Martha De Luna, music is transformative and has connected her deeply with the people that she loves the most, people that she didn’t know would someday become a part of her life.
“It has connected me with God for all my years of life,” she said. “Life is such a difficult journey, but it’s such a wonderful gift. All may not be perfect all the time, but it’s worth it to be alive. Music gives you that opportunity to recover, start a new beginning (and) think about new things.”
De Luna performed a free piano concert at the Prince of Peace (POP) Lutheran Church at 61 Route 70 East on Oct. 11. All the music was improvised by De Luna, a multifaceted orchestral/choral conductor, harpist, organist and singer. She started the program with “Reflection,” a piece that reminded her of her days back home growing up in the Dominican Republic. She worked hard in school throughout her childhood, but she was also immersed in studying music, and she started playing piano when she was seven years old.
“My mom used to say that when I was five years old, I used to come home and I would be up at four in the morning doing homework,” De Luna said. “She says that from a very early age I was very self-disciplined. She never had to send me to study. I constantly remember, most of my childhood, I was thinking all the time, thinking, thinking, thinking, and listening to music in my head, over, and over, and over.”
De Lena began her musical studies in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and it was in her church where she developed a deep love for sacred music to praise God and share a message of love. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Estudio Dina de Educación Musical, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música of Santo Domingo and the Conservatorio de Música of Puerto Rico, and she has three graduate degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University. De Luna has won prizes and awards for her piano performances in the Dominican Republic and the United States, and her compositions have been performed in the Vatican, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada and the U.S.
De Luna is the only musician who has performed a harp concerto (a piece of classical music that features a soloist accompanied by an orchestra) and a piano concerto in the same concert with the Orquesta Nacional de Santo Domingo, the top symphony orchestra from the Dominican Republic, and she was chosen to play her piano composition “Celebration” at Super Bowl 51 in 2017 in Houston, Texas. She regularly performs with the Newark Symphony Orchestra in Delaware, and she’s currently an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware where she conducts the Resound Choir. Her program at POP also included a piano suite, a musical composition consisting of a collection of individual movements or pieces that are thematically connected and performed as a unified work. De Luna’s suite was a journey of her life and even though she’s had a lot of difficulties throughout her career, she wanted her music to express that it’s important to keep moving forward and see the sun rise.
“(At one time) I was going through a very hard time in my life with my health, and music really helped me to move forward,” she said. “It helped to calm my nerves and my mind and my heart. It gave me hope, even though I was struggling. I was sad and I had pain, but that’s what goes through my mind… When I play, I think (about) what people are feeling. I hope this is something that will touch their bodies and their minds and their hearts, and they will come out differently.”
De Luna’s concert is part of a larger program offered by the POP music ministry. Additional groups include the POP Choir (rehearsals are held on Sundays from 11:45 a.m. to noon); the Chorale (rehearsals are held only on the Sunday of the performance from 8:30 a.m. to 9:05); the Festival Choir (dress rehearsal is held on the Saturday before Sunday’s performance from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.); the Peals of Praise Bell Choir (rehearsals are held on Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30); the Sounds of Glory Bell Choir (rehearsals are held on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30); the Ukelele Group (rehearsals are held on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 7); and the Children and Youth Music Ministry (rehearsals are held following church service only on Sunday School sessions). Those interested in participating in any of the musical groups at POP can reach music director and organist Rafael Scarfullery at scarfulleryguitar@gmail.com. The next POP concert will be a classical guitar concert by Scarfullery on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. Freewill donations are appreciated and will help fund the music program at POP.
Pianist Martha De Luna is a multifaceted orchestral/choral conductor, harpist, organist and singer.
Guests cheered for De Luna at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Marlton on Oct. 11.
