Author: James Kealey

“Grant that what we sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts.” These words are taken from the Choristers’ Prayer, a prayer that has existed for almost a century, and the same words spoken in unison by every Chorister each Wednesday evening. There’s something profound about joining the millions of others who have said these words before us, at the same time as us, and will say in the future. 

It also speaks to the heart of the Choristers Program: to sing joyfully, to praise God, and to have fun doing it. This fall will mark the second year of our new(-ish!) Choristers Program: a choral and music opportunity for children in PreK-12th grade. Each Wednesday evening, we gather (in different groups depending on age) and learn new hymns, anthems, warmups, enhance our musicianship & piano proficiency with our new Piano Lab (grades 2-12), explore more about how we worship, and build community together. Choristers grow in confidence and ability, providing meaningful worship leadership throughout the busy year. 

Whether you or your children have sung in choirs for years or if this is a new venture for you, we welcome everyone to join us this fall. Join us on Sunday, September 27, after 10:00 a.m. Worship for our next Be a Chorister for a Morning. Visit bmpc.org/childrenschoir to learn more and sign up for the year ahead.  

If you ever saw a copy of my school reports growing up, or asked my parents…, they might tell you that mathematics was never a…, strong suit, so to speak. That being said, I’ve always loved numbers and statistics. Statistics have the unique ability to tell a story objectively. As we approach the end of the Music & Fine Arts Calendar for this program year, I began to think, “Just how do you quantify a year like this?!” 

Well, here we go: Over 130 people have met weekly to rehearse from our newly formed Bells of Bryn Mawr to our vocal choirs from PreK to, well, more seasoned musicians, you might say. Within a week, five different ensembles meet for a combined seven hours of rehearsals (I’d guess over 240 collective hours of rehearsals in a year!). Over 120 different pieces of music have been sung or played in worship or at concerts, either here at BMPC or as musical outreach to local communities. Fifteen inspiring concerts have taken place around our campus. Five incredible Art Gallery Exhibitions have been on display in our Art Gallery. Countless hours of meetings have been held by our MFA Council, Visual Arts Committee, and Sanctuary Choir Leadership Team. And of course, one retirement has taken place within this department. 

As with all things at BMPC, we never fully stop! To that end, please consider joining us for Summer Choir, beginning on Sunday, June 21 (with a 9:00 a.m. rehearsal in the choir loft ahead of the 10:00 a.m. service), and lending your voice to worship. 

In a year marked by change and transition, I couldn’t be more thankful for the incredible people who show up week after week for rehearsals, meetings, events, and who continually push themselves to sing and play amazing music in this awe-inspiring hallowed place. This is just the beginning; I’m already excited for what the next year will bring, and to share amazing music and experiences with you all. 

On April 22, 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin and youth activist Dennis Hayes held the first ‘Earth Day,’ inspiring over 20 million Americans to educate themselves on the harms of pollution and the need to protect the environment. From these grassroots(!) efforts, Earth Day has spread globally, as we continue to learn the best ways to protect the planet entrusted to our care. We might also think of the Earth as a living being, one in constant conversation with its inhabitants; we might even call her Mother Earth, or “Gaia.” 

In the 1980s, the Dean of The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC, held a series of talks on ecology, faith, and the environment – often with a call to action or finding collective efforts to ease the crisis of climate change. Through a series of “Artists-in-Residence” programs, Paul Winter, a saxophonist, and his band were given a platform for creating sacred and secular events in the Cathedral. Partnering with the Organist of the Cathedral, Paul Halley, a fruitful friendship and future collaboration was born, and, at the request of the Dean, the work “Missa Gaia” came into being. For the Church (with a capital C), Masses have formed part of the worship of Christianity for centuries, and throughout that time, the musical material on which a Mass is based has changed; from plainchant to popular songs of the time, to… whale and wolf noises (in this case!). “Missa Gaia” is an incredible work; it pays homage to Mother Earth and all creatures who inhabit it through the blurring of sacred and secular lines. 

I invite you to attend various events this Sunday, April 19, as we honor and celebrate the Earth: 

8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Worship Services will focus on Earth Day.

11:15 a.m. Adult Ed Class in Fullerton Room (led by me) will explore the spiritual and thematic threads found in this seminal musical work.

3:00 p.m. Meet and Greet in the Court with creatures and animals from our watershed, in partnership with Riverbend.

4:00 p.m. Concert in the Sanctuary featuring this work, and others with jazz orchestra and video projections.

5:30 p.m. Reception in the Court, where you can enjoy the current incredible Gallery Exhibit, “Gaia: In Reverence to Earth,” including inspiring works of five local artists. 

I hope you’ll consider joining us this weekend and leave inspired to further our shared work of caring for this planet, so generations upon generations can enjoy the riches contained within. 

In these final days before we witness the Resurrection, perhaps we enter the most traumatic part of the church year. From the betrayal of Maundy Thursday to the terror and heartache of Good Friday, to the joyful feast on Sunday morning, I invite you, as much as you are able, to sit with Christ in these three days. The Triduum (translated as “three days”) is not an easy thing to endure in the moment, though two millennia later, we’re fortunate to see how it ends. 

This Good Friday, I invite you to a special service in the Sanctuary at 7:30 p.m., where a service of Worship will be presented, featuring Arvo Pärt’s haunting Passio, sung by the Chamber Singers, accompanied by a small chamber orchestra. Composed in 1982, this seventy-minute work recounts the Gospel of John (chapters 18 and 19), sung in Latin, and employs a particularly unique style of composition. Tintinnabuli was first ‘invented’ in the late 1970s by Pärt himself, and this work, Passio, uses it to its greatest extent. In essence, two vocal lines work together; one by stepwise motion, the other by small or large leaps. The resulting effect is both dissonant and consonant. Beyond this, rhythm and orchestration are treated carefully throughout, creating an almost trance–like quality to the work. 

Pärt choral scoring for this work is interesting, too; Jesus (sung by a bass) and Pilate (sung by a tenor) sing solos throughout the piece, while a quartet narrates the story (the Evangelist Chorus), in addition to the “Coro,” the “Crowd Choruses” punctuating the story with short outbursts throughout.  

What is our role here? I believe our role is to sit, listen, observe, wait, and watch. This powerful work speaks to the heart of our Christian life in a profound way, heightening the pain and anguish of the day ahead, all while preparing for the resplendence on Easter morn. 

As an undergraduate in London, I was required to attend several performances each semester that I was not a part of. It could be the musical theatre ensemble on campus putting on a new production, or it could be the London Symphony Orchestra premiering a new symphonic work. In any case, I was always inspired by hearing and seeing the flourishing of music from peers to professionals. From unfamiliar repertoire, or a different interpretation, to new styles of singing and playing, there was always much to learn and much to admire. 

We here at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church are fortunate to welcome the Westminster Symphonic Choir to our Sanctuary on Sunday, February 22, at 4:00 p.m., as they present a program entitled “Fruits of Silence,” conducted by the Grammy award-winning conductor, Donald Nally. The program of “father and mother” pieces will include works by the famed French twentieth-century composer, Maurice Duruflé; music by Igor Stravinsky, one of the most important and influential composers of the 20^th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music; the prolific living Latvian composer, Pēteris Vasks; Johannes Brahms, whose Requiem the Sanctuary Choir sang just a couple of years back, alongside contemporary works.  

Come and be inspired by this elite group of students, as they take on incredible repertoire, both old and new, ringing out in the vastness of our Sanctuary.