As we continue the journey through Lent, there are musical signposts along the way to help guide our journey. Our Wednesday noon Music and Meditation series continues with special music on Lenten themes, time for reflection, and a tasty simple lunch afterward. In our Sunday worship, we have the opportunity to hear and to sing some of the beloved Lenten hymns that are sometimes ignored during the rest of the year. Our Sunday school students are working on a newly composed piece by Clem Moorman to present as part of our worship on Palm Sunday. Organ preludes during Lent will be hymn-based, while postludes will present pieces based on a short repetitive theme in the bass, a form developed centuries ago as a passacaglia or chaconne.

On Palm Sunday, March 28, our choir and musicians from nearby churches and communities will present an afternoon concert at 4:00 pm, built on the theme From Passion to Peace. The Passion portion of the program will include Handel's stirring chorus, Surely He hath borne our griefs, from Messiah; the poignant Crucifixus from Bach's B minor Mass; the tender, weeping Lacrymosa from Mozart's Requiem; and the Passion Chorale, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. Midway, we will hear Jehan Alain's persistent Litanies, a remarkable organ piece with a repetitive theme and strong rhythms, played by Jonathan B. Hall. Continuing on the theme of Peace, a setting of The Lord Is My Shepherd by Thomas Matthews focuses on our inner peace, while Charles H. Parry's strong hymn tune JERUSALEM will be sung with the words O Day of Peace. Two French composers will be represented in the Cantabile from Widor's Sixth Symphony for organ and the gorgeous Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré. The choir will be joined by guest instrumentalists, Jonathan B. Hall, organ, Kristi Shade, harp, Mary Lou Irvine, oboe, and Dushan Lukic, bass.

We offer this special concert as a gift to the church and community as we reflect on the deep significance of Passion and Peace during this holy season. Please join us!

Peggy Hsiao
Director of Music