erik collins, Director of Music & Pianist

Erik Collins has served as Director of Music & Pianist at Trinity Presbyterian Church since 2010. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and holds degrees in Finance and Marketing. Erik is an IT Project Manager at Spherexx Software Development & Data Center and has overseen a number of projects for corporate industry leaders, both locally and nationwide. Erik is active in the community and continues to lend a hand in the strategic planning and growth of the Oklahoma non-profit sector through management of the Collins Family Charitable Trust. His digital marketing management experience includes the setup, monitoring, designing of ads, and bid adjustment of paid and retargeting campaigns on various platforms. Erik also has a full working knowledge of creative and technical SEO methods. He is certified in Google AdWords, Google Analytics, and Hubspot.

Erik’s graphic design work has been published in Oklahoma Magazine, Tulsa People, and Route Magazine and features both digital and print work for the hotel, real estate, local SMB retail, and multi-family industries.

From an artistic standpoint, Erik spent two summers at the Royal School of Church Music, one term at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, and one summer at the Americafest Seventh World Symposium on Choral Music in the Czech Republic. He has served as both guest conductor and guest pianist for several local choral clinics and festivals. Erik is the co-founder of Capriccio Vocal Ensemble and served as co-director for two years. He has served on local artistic organization boards, including Tulsa Boy Singers Board of Directors and Tulsa Children’s Chorus Board of Trustees, most recently serving as the Vice-President of TCC. Erik is an active member of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, National Association for Music Educators and The American Choral Directors Association.

Over the past several years, Erik has remained active as a choral composer. His most recent works include an arrangement of Good King Wenceslas for SATB and organ, Life's Simple Gifts based on the traditional Shaker tune for children's choir + SATB adult choir and piano accompaniment, an arrangement of Creator of the Stars of Night for choir + piano, an arrangement of The Lone Wild Bird for choir + piano, an arrangement of Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee for SATB choir, piano, and drum set, Deck the Halls in 5 for children's choir and jazz combo, an energetic arrangement of the French-Canadian folk song Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser for children’s choir + piano, a simplified arrangement of Handel's Messiah for smaller SAB choirs with harpsichord and string quartet, a four-part a cappella setting to the 14th Century text There is No Rose of Such Virtue, and a four-part unaccompanied setting of e.e. cummings poem in time of daffodils.

For more information about Erik and to listen to a sampling of his recorded piano performances, visit www.erikmcollins.com/music.

e-mail: music@trinitychurchbixby.org