Music is alive and well! ~ enhanced by our new pipe organ!
ADULT CHOIR: The Chancel Choir helps to lead us in worship and enhances our spiritual experience with anthems in diverse classical, contemporary and gospel styles. This congenial group is open to anyone who likes to sing and is willing to devote two hours of preparation per week - an hour before and after the 10 am service every Sunday.
YOUTH CHOIR: Open to ages 6 and up, starts in October and joins the Chancel Choir to sing the Offeratory Anthem on the first Sunday of the month.
SUMMER SINGERS & SOLOISTS: We are so fortunate to have dedicated choir members and instrumentalists providing occasional surprises of special music during the summer months. Preludes and Postludes center us in meditation and help us depart with renewed energy. We utilize the classics of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Scarlatti as well as the work of contemporary composers.
PICK-UP CHOIR: All parishioners are welcome to sing for Christmas and Easter, as many are home for the holidays.
JAZZ VESPERS: Twice a year, on Sunday evenings, we enjoy a non-traditional service featuring improvisation on jazz standards interspersed with brief readings from a variety of secular and scriptural sources, all relating to a chosen theme. Previous themes have included:
The Mystery Of Time;
Bounty, Joy and Woe;
Changes;
What Is This Thing Called Love?;
The Mystique of Place.
Our most recent Vespers on October 3rd was themed Pursuing a Dream. The bassist was our own tenor vocalist Paul Avgerinos, known for his Grammy-nominated CDs. Also on stage was saxophone player, Bob Kolb; pianist Martha Meyer, our own music minister; and drummer Matt Moadel.
The only difficult thing about Vespers seems to be holding applause until the end of the service. Jazz Vespers are offered free to the public, with adult receptions beforehand and coffee and cake afterward, to meet the musicians. Hope to see you at the next one in the Spring!
Our New Pipe Organ
Christ Church Parish had owned a pipe organ in the 1800's -- we have photos of the instrument taken around 1880. Since then, the church has undergone renovations and has been using an electronic organ made in 1954, an ANCIENT relic by today's standards. It worked by sounding pre-recorded notes corresponding to the keys and stops played. The technology of this organ is so dated that we became unable to repair it--it used vacuum tubes like those in old TV sets. Those vacuum tubes are no longer manufactured and our organ repairmen had to scavenge tubes from retired instruments in order to replace what had worn out over the years. The speakers were also huge, compared to the speakers of today, and thus, less than ideal in our small sanctuary.
Our Music Minister, Martha Meyer, was noticing some strange noises, clicks and rushing sounds, and feeling a little electricity through her fingers. The organ was balky and undependable in responding to Martha's touch. It was time for a change!
So, we worked with Organ Consultant Vince Edwards, who is the Organist and Music Minister at St Paul's Episcopal Church on the Green in Norwalk. He took us all over to see and hear various organs--both digital (an update of the electronic model we had, with better technology) as well as pipe organs. We opted for a pipe organ due to the superlative sound it produces. Whereas an electronic or digital organ renders pre-recorded sounds, a pipe organ renders live sound--wind passing over pipes in the same area as the worshippers. It delivers a depth of sound that would be hard to match with a digital instrument.
Based on an extensive search with Vince, we found a used pipe organ through the Reuter Organ Company, out in Lawrence Kansas. Both St. Matthew's Church in Wilton and St. Paul's in Norwalk have Reuter organs.
The organ we purchased is Reuter Opus 1718, was built in the 1970's and used by two churches before being bought by a former Reuter employee. Reuter reconditioned and refurbished it for us and enhanced the delivery of the signal to the blower and pipes by means of a fiber-optic connection.
In April, 2011 Christ Church Parish began to enjoy our new pipe organ. It has 10 ranks, so it is not a huge instrument, but perfect for our cozy sanctuary. Our acoustics are fine in the church and we are now enjoying a wonderful sound palette.
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