MUSIC
Musical offering
OFFERED BY THE ST. PAUL'S CHOIR
This MUSICAL OFFERING was originally planned for May of 2020…but then COVID-19 intervened. Thankfully, in this the third season since, we are at “full strength” and are able finally to sing it! This magnificent work was composed in 1946 for the 53rd anniversary of the consecration of St. Matthew’s Church, Northhampton, UK, and was first sung there under the direction of Alec Wyton (later to become Director of Music at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York) on 21 September of that year. The Rector of St. Matthew’s, the Rev’d Walter Hussey, commissioned numerous choral masterpieces during his long tenure there, among them Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, which the St. Paul’s Choir has also sung.
CHORAL EVENSONG
OFFERED BY THE ST. PAUL'S CHOIR
A FESTIVAL OF LESSONS and CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS
OFFERED BY OUR CHOIRS
DECEMBER 2021
St. Paul’s is blessed with an outstanding music program that serves not only our parish but also the greater Rochester community. We enjoy two singing choirs: a fine adult choir, and a newly-revitalized choir for children and youth; a bell choir rounds out our active musical groups. Our parish is fortunate as well to have numerous gifted instrumentalists who offer their talents in services from time to time throughout the year.
St. Paul’s offers musical programs throughout each season to which the greater Rochester community is invited. Of note is “If Music Be the Food,” an outreach concert series initiated in 2008 in which professional musicians and students join together to benefit Rochester’s Foodlink. Each season features three chamber music concerts, and the price of admission is any non-perishable food item (cash donations are also welcome). Over ten seasons about $25,000 in cash donations and nearly ten tons of food have been collected to benefit this most worthy cause! In addition, organ recitals by our own music staff and students from the Eastman School, as well as special services presented by the St. Paul’s Choirs, are scheduled each season.
Musical instruments include a historic Skinner pipe organ (built in 1927; restored in 2012), a Wissinger continuo organ, three grand pianos, and two sets of handbells.
To learn more about music at St. Paul’s, contact our Music Director,
Dr. Robert Poovey:
(585) 271-2240