Scott G. Fredericks has been the Minister of Music at St. Matthew Lutheran Church since 1980. He is a 1980 graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and has also studied at the Royal School of Church Music in England.

As Minister of Music, Scott is the director of the Chancel and Sanctuary Choirs (adult choirs), the Men’s Chorus, the Pre-School Choir (ages 3 and 4), the Cherub Choir (Kindergarten), the Primary Choir (gr.1 and 2), the Junior Choir (gr. 4, 5, 6) and the Jubilation Ringers (a four-in hand handbell ensemble). He oversees the Youth Choir (gr. 7-12) and the extensive Mini-Ministers Puppet Ministry, which are both under the direction of music staff member, Deb Smith. Scott encourages and works with many of the St. Matthew students in their vocal pursuits and features our young instrumentalists and vocalists in worship and in concert.  

He oversees the Worship/Music Committee and the Rohrbaugh Music Scholarship Committee (a scholarship for St. Matthew students pursuing music in their college studies or attending high school summer music camps). Scott is also the administrator of the acclaimed St. Matthew Concert Series which brings fine talent from across the world. The Concert Series is one of the most varied and well attended community music programs in the region- see our Concert Series listing on this website.  He shares the responsibilities for the organ music for worship, weddings and funerals with Karen L. Buckwalter, Associate Minister of Music. The famous St. Matthew Austin organ is the seventh largest pipe organ in the world with 14,341 pipes. Information of our organ can be found on this website.

As a community extension of our Music Ministry, Scott Fredericks is the Director of the 180-voice Hanover Community Singers, which exclusively performs at the church. This choir, founded in 1987, brings thousands of music lovers to St. Matthew for their three annual Christmas Concerts and the three Spring Concerts. The choir is often accompanied by a 42-piece orchestra and frequently features guest pianists and composers.  Admission to these programs is by free ticket to provide crowd control for these immensely popular concerts. Tickets information can be found in our Concert Series listing. St. Matthew Church does not distribute tickets for these concerts. The audiences for these programs are encouraged to bring canned goods to assist our local Red Cross- as of Jan. 1, 2006 over 24,000 cans of food have been given to assist our local needy.  

Scott presents numerous concerts and tours of the St. Matthew organ throughout the year to bus loads of senior groups, retirement homes, church groups, music societies, school classes and youth groups. He has also hosted programs for the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society and the even the Ambassadors and wives from Washington, DC. Each December, Scott presents three Christmas concerts featuring our instruments, carol singing, vocal solos plus guest musicians. These concerts, by ticket, draw thousands of people to St. Matthew to enjoy the beautiful and meaningful music of Christmas.  These concerts are by reservation through the church office.  

Scott has been featured on Public Radio on the popular Desert Island Disc program and has been seen on over a dozen regional television holiday broadcasts and interviews.  He has recorded a CD entitled “By Request” which features the St. Matthew organ, harpsichord and 198-bell Maas Rowe carillon (bell system). The recording is available for the church office.

 Karen Lakey Buckwalter, a distinguished organist, pianist, and composer, is Associate Minister of Music at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, in Hanover, PA.  She currently directs the handbell program, coordinates the Saturday contemporary worship and is privileged to play a 231 rank Austin organ (14,341 pipes), the 5^th largest church organ in the world.  Mrs. Buckwalter is a 1974 graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree and a 1977 graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied organ with Mr. John Weaver and earned the prestigious Artists Diploma in Organ Performance. In 2007, Mrs. Buckwalter successfully completed the Associate in Ministry program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and is continuing her graduate studies in the Masters in Religion degree program.