(Looking for the pictures and videos of
the American Boychoir and Chorus Angelicus at Trinity?
Click here!)
MUSIC
AT TRINITY LIME ROCK
For
members of Trinity Church, music has always been of great importance. We chant
the Psalms and the Service Music during the Liturgy, and our Vicar sings the Preface and Sursum Corda of
the Eucharistic prayers at the 10:30 Holy Eucharist. Here is our choir
chanting a psalm during a Holy Eucharist in 2005:
On Feast Days we often celebrate with a Choral
Eucharist or Choral Evensong.
Want to see the kind of music we do? Take a look at our
2008 Holy Week program.
We are energetic singers of our favorite hymns and
frequently learn newer
hymns as well. A typical 10:30 a.m. Eucharist on
Sunday has the usual processional and recessional hymns, a gradual hymn, an
offertory hymn (or choir anthem or soloist), and two or three Communion hymns -- as well as the
Sanctus, the Fraction Anthem, the appointed Psalm, and (depending
upon the season) a Gloria, a Kyrie Eleison, a Gospel Hallelujah and other
Service Music.
We use the current Episcopal
Hymnal, the supplemental hymnal of more contemporary worship music known
as Wonder, Love and Praise, music from other religious
traditions, and music composed for us by our Organist and Choirmaster,
Christine Gevert.
Visitors to our
Parish sometimes ask "Do you always sing this much?" Our
customary answer to that question is "No, sometimes we sing even
more!"
Furthermore, our Organist,
Christine Gevert often provides us with improvisations on the
recessional hymn for a Postlude -- here are her variations on "All My
Hope" recorded at the conclusion of a Holy Eucharist in 2005:
and yes, applause IS
appropriate!
And no matter how recently we've had a
concert or other special musical event at Trinity, there is never long to
wait until the next one!
At Trinity we take pride in having the finest
church music of any denomination in our area.
Musical Visitors at Trinity--
Not
only do we have the pleasure of music made by Trinity Lime Rock's choir
every week of the year, often we have the treat of extraordinary music brought to us by visitors
to our parish.
The Choir of Trinity Church, Wall
Street
We count ourselves very fortunate that the
superb professional choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street makes a regular visit with us each Autumn. 2007 marked the
sixth consecutive year that "Big Trinity" has visited us, and
we look forward to welcoming them again in October 2008. They will
be here for the 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist on the Sunday of Labor Day
weekend this year. We invite you to come hear this
extraordinary ensemble!
2007 highlights: We greatly
enjoyed the two anthems the Trinity Wall Street Choir sang for us, the organ preludes, and the
harmonies of the "Wall Street Wailers" at coffee hour. As always, the glorious sound of a
building that utterly vibrated when they joined us in the hymns and
service music is a feeling that we remember and treasure all year until
their next visit renews our memories. And, of course, we always
enjoy the opportunity to socialize with all of them, to meet the new
members and recall past visits with the veterans, and for them to bring us up to
date on news from their own organization during coffee hour.
We also make sure that we take an "official" picture of the group
when they are here.
to open a page containing all of those pictures since their first visit
to us. It also contains links to more pictures from each of those
memorable visits.
You can also see a video of this
wonderful choir, performing at their own House, Trinity Church, Wall
Street:
The Berkshire Choral
Festival
is a wonderful friend to have
right here in our own area! On July 27, 2003, a contingent from
the Choral Festival, under the direction of Fredericka Petit-Homme, visited
us at Trinity Lime Rock and honored us with a magnificent performance of
our Offertory Anthem: "Lift up Thine Eyes", from
Mendelssohn's Elijah.
Here are two photographs from that
marvelous performance! Click on either one to see a larger view.
A Trinity chorister's view of
some of the members of the visiting group in performance.
(Trinity choristers are in the foreground)
Some of our visitors from the
Berkshire Choral Festival with our own Christine Gevert, front row
left, in Walker Hall, following the service. Miss Petit-Homme is front row right.
Do you wonder why only a contingent of their
chorus visited us? Well, the entire chorus at the
Berkshire
Choral Festival numbers more than 225 voices!! We're a small
church!! They wouldn't all fit!!
(You should know that the contingent
from the Berkshire Choral Festival also enjoyed our hospitality sufficiently
that they have returned to us every year since their initial visit to us. At Trinity, we
love good music and we make sure that our visitors know how much they
are appreciated!)
The choirs of
neighboring churches of several denominations have sung with us
These have included, in
recent years, the Choir of the Congregational Church of Salisbury, the
First Presbyterian Church of Millerton, and delegations from the Choir
of St. John's Church in Salisbury.
Click here to see
photographs of the preparations for our
ecumenical choral Evensong
for Shrove Tuesday 2007.
Here,
our choir and acolytes walk outside
to
the back of the church in preparation for
procession
on a crisp Winter morning.
Crescendo! was
founded at Trinity and is resident here
Trinity is proud to have been the incubator for, as well as being the
ongoing host of a noted music organization with a reputation that
extends far beyond our immediate area: Crescendo!
Directed by our own Christine Gevert, Crescendo! rehearses and
performs at Trinity regularly. Many of our own choristers are also
participants in Crescendo! More information about Crescendo is
available at their website,
www.crescendoberkshires.org.
Trinity's own Choir--
Trinity's choir only occasionally number more than a dozen singers -- but we work really hard at making music, and we have never
been known to decline a musical challenge! Take a peek at the
music we performed during Holy Week
2008 for an example.
The choir sings at the 10:30
Holy Eucharist on Sundays all year 'round, unlike many churches where
the choir takes the summer off. We have many visitors in the summer,
so feel that we ought to at least welcome them
with a choir!
Here's our choir in performance at a
Holy Eucharist in 2005.
The choir particularly shines at special services
throughout the year. Both
Christmas and
Easter seasons usually
include special performances of our choir, and for these the choir's size
swells to include those who cannot make a commitment to sing all year
long. In these seasons, people from other denominations often come
to us for the experience of singing with us.
(click on the photo to see
a larger image)
We also occasionally visit
elsewhere -- when an existing
choir needs augmentation for a special occasion (as when a friend of
the choir was installed as Pastor of a nearby
Congregational Church); or when visiting a parish with no
choir of their own (as in our visits when our sanctuary was being
renovated).
About
Participating--
If
you like to sing, please speak with our Organist/Choirmaster,
Christine
Gevert. The easiest way to reach her is to call her at
the church office, extension 405, or via e-mail at lesinegales@yahoo.com
about becoming a member
of the choir. And please do take a peek at some pictures of our
choristers!
There is always room for one more in
the Choir at Trinity Lime Rock, and extensive previous experience is not necessary
-- but a desire to learn and stretch your musical capabilities
definitely is. We don't just practice, we LEARN. Singing for Christine is a
memorable experience (and your webmaster can personally attest to
it!).
If you cannot make the time
commitment to sing every Sunday, consider joining with our choir for a
season -- perhaps during Lent, or during the Summer, or preparing the wonderful choral music for
Easter
or Christmas!
Trinity Lime Rock's Organist and Choir Director is
Christine Gevert.
Christine was born
in Germany and has lived and worked in Chile. She records for the Carpe Diem (Berlin) label, playing both organ
and harpsichord. If you would like to hear a sample of Christine
providing organ continuo on a Carpe Diem early music recording, please
access
the CarpeDiem catalog (please be patient while the recordings
download).
Christine has performed and directed
church music on three continents for churches of three denominations
(Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic). She has developed additional depth as a church musician in other
denominations as well as through teaching early music and choral
singing. To read more about her background, please
Read more about Christine's
background.
As an organ recitalist, Christine has
been featured in many concerts and has made a number of recordings as
well. Her most recent recordings were made as a member of the
Early Music duo, LesInègales. To learn more about
this ensemble, and
hear some of their work recorded on the Carpe Diem label.
Christine really enjoys working with both our adults and
our children here at Trinity -- and of
course continuing to explore our organ!!
On most Sundays she improvises on the recessional hymn for a postlude --
Trinity is one of very few churches where most parishioners (and
virtually the entire choir) routinely sit and listen to the postlude.
And, of course, Christine also directs
Crescendo!, the musical
organization Trinity is proud to have nurtured, as well as the popular
area barbershop chorus known as the Housatonics.
Concerts at Trinity:
We have frequent concerts and special musical
events at Trinity Lime Rock. You'll see them announced in the
local media as well as on our home page. Please come!
Our
Organ--
You may have heard that Trinity Lime
Rock has a remarkable organ.
Well, it's not so new anymore --
we've now had
it for around six years, but we're still very proud of it, and
the story of how we came to have it is an interesting one.
Read the story of how we came to get our new organ, to see pictures of our new organ as
it looks at Trinity Lime Rock and to peruse the the manufacturer's specifications.
Here are Judy Brown and
some some of the members of her Organ Fact-Finding Committee
discussing the committee's work......which led to a great new organ in record
time!!
At Trinity,
our kids sing
too!!
See pictures of both adult and young people's choirs entertaining us on Epiphany
2002. This was the second year in a row we had a similar
treat. On
Twelfth Night 2001, Choral Evensong was led by ourchoir. After the dinner which followed, the choir, along with
members of the Sunday School, entertained members of the congregation with carols
and medieval pieces chosen for the Epiphany season. Yes, at Trinity our kids
really DO sing!!
Here's a short video excerpt from our 2007 Christmas Pageant:
No, we're certainly not limited to vocal music!
Here's one of
our talented recent Confirmands, Caitlynn Watt, with her saxophone.
Saxophone? Yes! (Think Palm Sunday
procession! A great solution for keeping Parishioners and Choir in procession into the Church
on key!)
...and here, speaking of Palm Sunday processions, in a picture from the 1970s, is a
quartet of Trinity trombones fulfilling the same function. (Click on
any of these pictures to see them larger)
Nor are our
instrumentalists limited to our young people!
Here is parishioner Ted Somerville at the organ.
Ted recently -- and very graciously -- called on his
organ experience of "quite a few years ago" to help us out while Christine took
a well-earned vacation with her parents in Chile.
A splendid job, Ted!
We look forward to your assistance many times in the future!
p.s. Ted also plays the French
Horn and has provided us with musical interludes on that instrument as well!
And, did you know that
our Vicar is an
accomplished bassist with a Blues Band?
More Choir pictures! (click on the images to see
full-sized)
Our
Choir also likes to have fun!
(these
pictures are from a choir party at the Browns' in August 2006)