FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CHOIRS
The FPC adult choir, under the direction of Patrick McCreless, has a broad repertoire of classical church music that spans the centuries to more contemporary Christian music including spirituals, global music, and folk songs.
The choir accompanies the congregation in hymn singing, and offers an Introit and an Offertory Anthem each week. A cantor chosen each week from the choir membership, leads the congregation in singing the psalm of the day. The choir meets on Wednesday evenings from 7 until 8:15 p.m. and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m., and new singers are always welcome.
There are also a Children’s Choir and a Youth Choir, who occasionally sing during the worship service. The children’s choir is for children ages 5 though 11. The Youth Choir for those who are 12 and older. Both choirs are under the direction of Beth Aura Miller. Ken Balakrishnan accompanies the choirs. The choirs rehearse on Sundays after worship.
Date Posted: February 29th, 2012 — 7:37pm
Joining in with the Lenten theme of prayer, our choir will be singing anthems each week that are themselves prayers.
We began on February 26 with a contemporary arrangement of the well-known Prayer of Saint Francis. This week, on March 4, we sing a motet, Lord, Let My Complaint Come Before Thee by the early seventeenth-century English composer Adrian Batten.
The anthem for March 11 is the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God, Have Mercy Upon Us) and Dona nobis pacem (Grant Us Peace) from Mozart’s Missa Brevis in F Major.
On March 18 we will sing Prayer to Jesus by the Victorian British composer George Oldroyd.
On March 25 My Soul Is Exceeding Sorrowful by the Canadian composer Eleanor Daley.
Comments Off | Music, Worship
Date Posted: December 2nd, 2011 — 8:10pm
Join First Presbyterian Church Choir members for caroling at Whitney Center in Hamden, beginning at 7 p.m.
Bruce Peabody will once again serve as MC for this fun event. Please bring a tray of cookies to share with the residents.
Hot cider will be provided by Whitney Center.
Comments Off | Community Life and Outreach, Music
Date Posted: December 2nd, 2011 — 8:03pm
In our worship service on Sunday, December 11, the choir will “sing” the sermon. As has become our tradition, the sermon time on this Third Sunday of Advent will be given over to the choir’s presentation of a selection of Advent and Christmas carols and anthems.
The music will range from simple carols to joyous Christmas choruses of Bach and Handel: from the old German carol “Maria Walks Amid the Thorn” to Bach’s “Christians, Mark This Special Day” and Handel’s “His Yoke Is Easy” from the Messiah; from quiet meditation on the Advent and Christmas story to exuberant celebration.
Join us for a musical and meaningful service, and then enjoy our annual Christmas dinner afterwards in the Owens Community Building.
Comments Off | Music, Worship
Date Posted: November 3rd, 2011 — 8:04pm
The choir will present its annual Advent and Christmas music during the sermon time on the Third Sunday of Advent, December 11. Like last year, we will present a selection of carols and choruses from different times and places.
Included will be the opening chorus from one of J.S. Bach’s Christmas cantatas (Cantata No. 63), carols from Denmark and England, John Gardner’s setting of “Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day,” and “His Yoke Is Easy,” the final chorus from the first section of Handel’s Messiah.
We hope you will join us!
Comments Off | Music, Worship
Date Posted: October 11th, 2011 — 8:04pm
The music program is off to a good start at First Presbyterian this fall. On September 12, our first Sunday back in the sanctuary, we were inspired by the wonderful singing of the Elm City Girls’ Choir, as we continued our tradition of their having a rehearsal and overnight stay at the church on Saturday, before singing on Sunday.
Our own choir began participating in the service on September 19. We have a strong group, we love singing, and we always welcome new singers to join us. We sing in worship every Sunday, and we rehearse on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 and Sundays at 9:30 AM; you can come to either rehearsal, or both.
We look forward to a number of special anthems in October. First is Mendelssohn’s “See What Love Hath the Father,” from the oratorio Saint Paul, on October 9.
The choir will also sing at the memorial service for Jan Forman that afternoon—Brahms’s “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,” and Jan’s own benediction response, “For Ye Shall Go Forth With Joy.”
A few weeks later, on Reformation Sunday, October 30-, we will sing a lively contemporary arrangement, by Allen Pote, of the first few verses of Psalm 46, “God Is Our Refuge and
Strength.”
Looking farther ahead, the choir will present its annual Advent/Christmas program in the worship service on the Third Sunday of Advent, December 11.
Our FPCNH Children’s and Youth Choir, under the direction of Beth Aura Miller and accompanist Ken Balakrishnan, has begun rehearsals. Beth Aura and Ken welcome all children and youth of school age, first to twelfth grades, and they rehearse immediately after church in the choir room.
Comments Off | Music, Worship
