Musical Notes
The summer has again flown by and here we find ourselves at the threshold of September and everything this month and the upcoming season brings. It’s good to be at this place again! I am looking forward to a wonderful choir year with all the great music making it brings.
It has been an amazing and enlightening summer for me. In late June, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Spoleto, Italy to be the accompanist for the Spoleto Festival Chorus. The Spoleto Festival, founded by Gian Carlo Menotti fifty years ago in 1957, is a three week festival that features opera, choral music, dance, puppetry, art, jazz, and chamber music all within the beautiful setting of this Umbrian hillside town. It was almost like a dream scenario — I was in an exquisitely beautiful part of Italy surrounded by forty professional singers each day. My duties were merely to accompany the chorus in rehearsals and in preparation for either their a capella concerts or their concerts with orchestra. I felt so lucky to be able to experience this high level of music each day and to work with the chorus director, Donald Nally (Chicago Lyric Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia), from whom I gained a vast amount of inspiration to apply to my work at St. Mary’s. The most cherished moment of my time in Spoleto was sitting alone on a balcony in a back of a warmly lit 1100 year old church, closing my eyes and listening to this perfect choir fill this space with sounds of Palestrina, Brucker, Menotti, and other 20th and 21st century composers such as James MacMillan, and David Lang. I remember mentally going out of body and looking at myself from high above, plotting my location on the globe, and thinking how very fortunate I was to be where I was at that very moment. I was able to not think of or worry about anything in the world other than living in that very moment and experiencing the sublime music to the very fullest — taking in each and every nuance of the sound and setting. This trip was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will surely live in me and be a source of musical inspiration for many years to come. It’s impossible to capture the scope of the experience in one paragraph but I’d be more than happy to elaborate during any given coffee hour!
The first thing I set out to do musically when I arrived back in Pennsylvania was to start selecting music for the St. Mary’s choir. I have all these new ideas and angles on music and rehearsing that I am so anxious to try out come the beginning of this choir year. I am always looking to challenge the choir with new and diverse music and this year will certainly not be an exception. Looking ahead in the year, we will be working closely with the choir of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wynnewood for a combined Lessons and Carols service in December and a Lenten Evensong service in February. These are in addition to the wonderful Thanksgiving Eve service which is now an established St. Mary’s/St. Paul’s tradition.
Continuing our movement last year to offering larger-scale works on Christmas Eve, rather than a concert of various shorter pieces, we will be performing Saint-Saens beloved Christmas Oratorio as the choral prelude. This work (which is scored for string quartet, organ, choir, and harp) is a piece of exceptional beauty that expresses both the grace and joy of Christmas Eve. This will prove to be a worthy French successor of last year’s German Christmas which featured the music of Bach, Buxtehude, and Handel.
On the more contemporary side of things, we will be offering a number of contemporary services throughout the year which will feature my band (John Grecia Band) and the music of artists such as U2, Sting, Bob Dylan, and other artists that have written music and lyrics that have religious/spiritual implications. Also in the mix for these services will be an emphasis on Gospel music (contemporary and traditional) which always seems to complete the picture. We have received such overwhelmingly great reviews from these services in the past year. We’re looking forward to expanding upon this theme and continuing to evolve with these services.
With all of this exciting music up ahead, I will leave with an invitation to all… Consider Joining St. Mary’s Choir!!. We are always in need of all voice parts- soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. The only requirements I ask are a love of singing, a love of music, and a love of good people and good times. Reading music is not a requirement… we always learn music at a pace that is comfortable for everyone. Rehearsals are held Sunday mornings from 9:15-10:20. In addition, if you know of anyone in your family or in your circle of friends or associates that might be looking to join a church choir, please mention our choir! :c) If there are any questions about the choir or if you are interested in singing please see me before or after any service or contact me by phone or email.
All the very best,
John M. Grecia