Thank You to Bach Vespers Participants

Another Bach Vespers service is behind us. The most recent service was on Nov. 9, 2008 and featured cantata no. 93 "Wer nur den lieben Gott laasst walten." Our hymns were "Evening and Morning" (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #761), "O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens" (ELW #563) and "Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart" (ELW #750). The first and last are hymns only recently added to the repertoire of St. Mark's (though old hymns to the Lutheran Church), but they were sung as if we had been singing them for years. The service also included the evening canticle (Magnificat) by Heinrich Schutz, and a setting of psalm 141 by Thomas Pavlechko from the St. Martin's Psalter.

The tradition of Bach Vespers, begun by Cantor Jim Rindelaub, is more than 20 years old at St. Mark's. It is also our tradition to invite singers from the community to join in these services and this year we were happy to have about 20 of them! Thank you to all of you for singing with us! Thanks also to the choir members from St. Mark's who participated. I'd also like to thank our orchestra members - and Ellen Olson for hiring them. Thanks to Eric Olson and Edie Hubert for voluntaries by G. F. Handel and Telemann. Thank you to Frank Starbuck for being the choir's German diction coach and for transcribing orchestral parts for the hymns.

Thank you to our soloists for their hard work and dedication : Jane Kilby (soprano), Emily Madigan (alto), William Adams (tenor), and Frank Starbuck (bass).

Hiring an orchestra and purchasing scores is an expensive proposition and we could not do it without the generous contributions from folks at St. Mark's and the community, so I sincerely thank each of you.

Thank you to Bill Daugherty for our pictures above. He does a great job of documenting the life of our parish.

Thank you to Pastor Peacock for leading our worship as he chanted, read the scriptures, and led the prayers. Thank you to Pastor Dow for extending the Welcome in our service.

Thank you to Laurie Aurand for organizing the reception that provided a great opportunity for fellowship. (I'm afraid our rehearsal schedule didn't permit much socializing, so this was a nice chance for our singers to meet each other!) By the way, if you want a good dip for apple slices, mix one cup of caramel ice cream topping with a block of cream cheese.

This year's vespers service was concurrent with the celebration of St. Mark's 70th anniversary. For more information about the history, present, and future of St. Mark's, please visit our web site at http://www.stmarksjax.org/.

If you would like to receive an invitation to sing with us in the next Bach Vespers service, please send an email to Tony Cruz at vespers@comcast.net.