SUMMER HYMN-SINGS
CHOIR NOTES
CASAVANT ORGAN
MUSIC CLIPS
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
ABOUT THE MUSICAL ENSEMBLES...

The Senior Choir sings a broad repertoire of music composed for liturgy in the renaissance to the present age.  The Chancel Choir meets on Thursdays from 7:30-9:00 PM in the Choir Loft.  Choral Holy Communion is conducted Sunday at 10:15 AM, with warm-up and rehearsal in the chancel at 9:30 AM.  The choir's season extends typically from September through May.  Though essentially a non-auditioned and volunteer ensemble, all choristers are commissioned as lay leaders in the parish music program and are expected to attend regular rehearsals and to participate in liturgy throughout the choir year.  Chancel Choir is open to all singers from High School ages and up.

The Bell Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6:30 to 7:15 PM.  The bell choir performs either with the choir or as a solo ensemble several times a year.  Music reading experience is required.  Please inquire of the Director of Music as to available space.

The 5:00 PM Band rehearses weekly prior to the service and leads the informal liturgy in a wide variety of music.  The ensemble is conducted by Frederick Frahm and uses the Worship and Praise Songbook, the Gather Comprehensive Hymnal, the Renewing Worship Hymnal Supplement, and the ELW as its primary sources for new repertoire.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS...

Pipe Organ:  A Casavant Pipe Organ (opus 3776) built in 1998.  2 manuals, 26 ranks.  See specifications here.

Stage Piano:  A Kawai MP4 digital piano which is used primarily at the 5:00 Saturday Night Service.  A gift in memory of Bill Stocum.

Handbells:  A 48 note set built by the Malmark Co. (C4 to B7) 

Welcome to Our Celebration in Music...
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

~St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians
 

MUSIC AT THE SATURDAY SERVICE is led by a small ensemble which includes piano, guitars, percussion, and song leader.  It is an informal service of Holy Communion especially suited to those who desire a more contemporary expression of worship and music in liturgy.  The service begins at 5:00 PM.

THE SUNDAY 8:00 AM SERVICE is primarily a spoken service, with organ accompaniment during the distribution of Communion and a closing hymn.

AT 10:15 AM ON SUNDAY the liturgy is the traditional service of Holy Communion found in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book.  Served principally by our organists, instrumentalists, Senior Choir, and the bell choir this service includes a more elaborate musical expression of faith, including a sung ordinary, psalms and anthems, organ improvisations, and a broad selection of hymns from the ELW.  Major feast days are often fully celebrated with the addition of an orchestra or professional soloists.  Highlights during the year include Reformation Day, the Christmas Eve services, and Holy Week beginning with the festive processions of Palm Sunday, the introspective days of the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter), and the joyous pageantry of the Easter celebrations.
The Art of Music is among the greatest of God's gifts to us.  Its capacity to move us from the depths is not only a sign of God's redeeming love for us but it is a tangible witness to the active presence of God in our lives.  Through the use of music in worship, we can at once feel the rushing wind of the spirit or hear the still, small voice of calm.  We can know the power of God to speak directly to us without uttering a single word.

 

Music Can Serve as a Way to Prayer.  It can rejoice with us and mourn with us.  It can help us to proclaim the Gospel and to tell the story of our redemption in manifold ways.  It can provide a structure to the mass and it can serve as a means of either active expression or passive reflection for the congregation.  Above all, its purpose is to enable us to say to God and to one another that which can in no other way be said.

 

The Lutheran Worship Tradition seeks to 'orchestrate' the Word of God with music and all of the arts together into a Great Thanksgiving which is lifted up through the solemn work of the people.  Through speaking and singing, action and silence, ceremony and gesture, a liturgy replete with the arts serves to express the depth and richness of our relationship with God and with one another as members of Christ's body.