Dillon J. Swanson is among the most-notable, up-and-coming liturgical musicians and scholars, awarded for his practice and innovation in the art of sacred music, liturgical theology, and worship practices. ​ Dillon studied music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in the areas of organ performance and church music with Dr. Peggy Johnson, Dr. Jay Hershberger, and Professor Andrew Steinberg; and vocal performance and pedagogy with Dr. Holly Janz and Peter Halverson. Dillon also studied both instrumental and choral conducting with Dr. Kevin F. E. Sütterlin, Dr. Kira Haler Knutson, and Dr. Michael Culloton. ​ Dillon has worked in music ministry in a variety of roles and congregations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Virginia for over a decade. He currently serves as Director of Music Ministries at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, in Roanoke, Virginia. Dillon recently finished his 4-year tenure as Cantor for the campus ministry of Concordia College and 2-year tenure as Cantor for the community of Bethesda Lutheran Church, both of Moorhead. He has also served on the worship staff of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival (LSM) facilitated by the Lutheran Music Program at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana as organ fellow under the mentorship of Chad Fothergill during the 2020-21 seasons. ​ Dillon has also held a number of professional titles and appointments and currently works with Opera Roanoke as Chorus Master and vocal music accompanist at Roanoke College. Prior to moving to Roanoke, Dillon held the offices of Dean of the Red River Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (RRVAGO) and President of the Red River Theatre Organ Society (RRTOS). Other appointments included serving as House Organist of the Fargo Theatre and Producer of the annual RRTOS Silent Movie Night and the Holiday Pipes Concert Series at the Fargo Theatre. ​ As an author and composer, Dillon has contributed to the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) journal CrossAccent. Other recent commissions and premieres include choral and orchestral hymn setting pieces for the RRVAGO (2020) and the Concordia College Symphonic Band (2021). ​ Dillon is also an avid researcher with current interests in the history of the role of cantor, liturgical theology, and the organ and choral music of J. S. Bach. He completed a historical survey of the liturgical use of the organ with musicologist Dr. Annett Richter in the summer of 2020. His most recent research writing project explores the theological confessions represented within Bach’s musical rhetoric found in the Clavier-Übung III. In the writing, he argues that the Clavier-Übung III was Bach’s translation of Martin Luther’s Catechisms into the musical vernacular.

Paige is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. She attended seminary at Candler School of Theology, where she was a liturgical writer and worship planning team leader for the Office of Worship. She has led worship planning teams and written liturgy for the United Women of Faith and the Mississippi Annual Conference, among others. Paige currently serves as the Pastor of Congregational Care at Blacksburg UMC and the Director of Development at Camp Alta Mons. Paige’s husband Lance is also a United Methodist pastor, and they live in Christiansburg, VA with their daughter, Julian, and their two dogs.

Karen L. Watkins-Rios began her dance training at age three at the School of the Richmond Ballet in Richmond, Virginia, under the direction of Ms. Barbara Rassel, formerly of the Ballet Russe in New York City. While at the school, Mrs. Watkins-Rios was given opportunities to study under dance masters such as Mr. Arnott Mader The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet’s VioletteVerdy and Leslie Peck, and American Ballet Theatre’s Christine Busch. At age 18, after completing one year as a National Competitive Scholar at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Mrs. Watkins-Rios was invited by Arthur Mitchell to complete her training in classical ballet at the prestigious Dance Theatre of Harlem Professional School in New York City, where she was also exposed to modern and ethnic genres as well as being offered opportunities to participate with the company in performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Upon her return to Howard University, Mrs. Watkins-Rios studied jazz under Mr. Pepsi Bethel, one of the founders of American jazz, Mrs. Sandra Fortune, Varna Silver Medal Winner, and Steve Rooks, former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Mrs. Watkins-Rios received high honors graduating cum laude with a B.A. in Communications and Dance Minor. After graduation, Mrs. Watkins-Rios became a senior company member of the Asaph Dance Ensemble, under the auspices of the Christian Performing Arts Fellowship in Washington, D.C. where she danced as a soloist for five years. Her credits over the years have included favorites such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty as well as classical and choral pieces such as Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, the Brahm’s Requiem, and the Bach Magnificat. One of her personal highlights was being invited to dance with the Christian Performing Arts Fellowship in the 1996 Christmas Celebrations in Israel for Prime Minister Yassir Arafat. In 1998, Mrs. Watkins-Rios left Northern Virginia to take over as owner and artistic director of Bright Lights Performing Arts Studio in Chesapeake. In September of 2004, Ms. Watkins-Rios joined the faculty of Regent University as an adjunct professor for the MA and MFA Music Theatre program in the School of Communications and in 2006, Ms. Watkins-Rios founded the Suffolk Ballet Performing Company and School of Suffolk Ballet training academy. Her credits include the original choreography, story and performance in Clara’s Christmas Gift, Three Women At the Cross, and opening for international historian and commentator Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson to benefit the Suffolk Center for Hope and New Beginnings. Ms. Watkins-Rios returned to Richmond in the summer of 2007, where she began to offer dance classes and work with churches to assist in developing liturgical and worship dance programs. In March of 2009, she began to work both nationally and internationally to build programs to enhance and build into the lives of children. Within that capacity, Mrs. Watkins-Rios developed the All-Saints Dance Academy at All-Saints Catholic School in Richmond, Virginia and began to work with the Highland Support Project Mayan Arts Program to develop a comprehensive dance program in Quetzalcantenango, Guatemala where children in the pueblos of Cantale and the township of “Chi-Chi” are taught classical techniques to enrich their native dance offerings. In 2012, Ms. Watkins-Rios founded The Dance Candle Academy of Sacred and Performing Arts. Its mission is to combine the elegance, excellence, grace and artistry of technique with the heart, passion, conviction and soul of worship. In 2014, Ms. Watkins-Rios completed her 200-hour Karuna Yoga Teacher Training to assist her students and their families in working with a more holistic approach to movement and continue to integrate mindfulness and physicality. She continues to perform as a freelance artist, specializing in classical ballet, liturgical and worship, and yoga instruction.