Music Ministry

We're pleased to present our very own "Soul & Spirit Singers", organized by the incredibly talented Music Director, David Suhor. Our services and special events are blessed by those who share their musical gifts!

If you like to sing, or play an instrument, we invite you to join us! David is seeking spirited voices who love to sing, move and groove with a three piece band and like-minded music lovers. Harmonizers, karaoke-ists and shower-singers are encouraged.

About Our Music Directory, David Suhor

David Suhor, best known as a jazz, pop, and blues pianist/vocalist, is originally from New Orleans but was educated on the Florida Gulf Coast. He comes from a large family which is spread throughout the Southeast; including the surviving nine out of eleven children. He is a graduate of Florida State University where he studied history. He considers himself lucky to reside in Pensacola where he owns a home and an apartment. He counts himself blessed to have a wonderful partner, pets, and friends who love and accept him for who he is.

Playing and singing music have been David's passion since adolescence when he discovered that music can evoke a powerful response in the hearts and minds of the audience. He does not remember a time when he was not a member of a choir or an ensemble. His appetite for choral music was insatiable in High School and at the Methodist church he attended. After college, during which his involvement in music was necessarily limited, he returned to music performance. Informal gigs, karaoke, and occasionally singing with bands in which his father was a drummer helped keep "the music bug" alive.

David moved to Pensacola in 1994 where he met saxophonist Thom Botsford who turned him onto jazz. Thom soon helped him form his first band, a small combo with vocals, keyboards, and tenor horn. A recording here, a church show there; he soon developed a passion and a voice for jazz and blues. A career in computers/education and life's challenges barely distracted him from continuing to learn and grow as a musician. In fact, these things helped him develop a deeper well of experience to draw from and express in song.

In 2001, David returned to the academic study of music at The University of West Florida. As a full-time student, he learned to play trumpet, improved his vocal technique, and more deeply studied the piano under the tutelage of the renowned David Shelander. Presently, he anchors several bands - from duos to quintets - and is regularly performing in the Pensacola area.

Spirituality and music are intertwined for David, "and performing has helped me see the sacred value of music." He became songleader at the Unitarian Universalist Church, which he began attending in 1994. There, he also became the choir director and twice monthly house musician.

Fortune and grace have permitted David to indulge his other interests. He is a member of the Pensacola Opera Chorus. He has photographed all the homes in Pensacola's East Hill as he was renovating his own home in that area. He enjoys bike riding, word games, and travel. He loves to perform live music for weddings, memorials, and parties, as well as leading voices in church.

"I am so pleased and excited to be providing music at Unity. I envision a selection of songs which will enliven and enlighten; and that builds on the tradition of great music here. From spirituals to soul and popular music, this is a great place for new and familiar sounds that move your spirit and your feet."

David invites us to browse his website at http://davidsuhor.com for more music, photos, and other ventures.