Handbell Weekend 2010

On Friday, Feb. 19, eleven of our handbell ringers and I loaded up the cars and headed for Lutheridge, an ELCA-affiliated conference and retreat center in the mountains near Arden, North Carolina. We had registered for the Intermediate Track and were looking forward to ringing under the direction of clinician Michael Joy.

The schedule was a grueling one that included 10.5 hours of rehearsal time before our concert Sunday morning.

In addition to rehearsals, workshops, and lots of eating (Lutheridge does great meals!), we spent a very pleasant evening with Pastor Bill and Karla Trexler in their beautiful new home. Pastor Trexler served St. Mark's as Pastor from 1979 until 1995 when he was elected Bishop of the Florida-Bahamas synod.

And yes. . .there was SNOW! Pastor Tim explained that most of the snow we were seeing had actually been on the ground since before Christmas. We arrived during a warming spell so it was beginning to melt and make things muddy. (A good thing too. Some of us were nervous about the possibility of having to drive on ice.)

Exhausted but musically refreshed, we started our trek down the mountain on Sunday afternoon at about 2:00. We met for dinner at a Cracker Barrell in Pooler, GA before beginning the final leg of our journey home.

Thanks to everyone who went and drove. Special thanks to Rose and Larry for obtaining the trailer, loading it, and pulling all of our equipment up the mountain! Thank you to Pastor and Karla Trexler for a delicious dinner and wonderful evening!

AGO Hymn Festival at St. Mark's on Sunday, September 27th at 7:00 p.m.

The Jacksonville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will host a hymn festival titled: The Church of Christ: A Mission to Serve. The festival features hymns and readings around a theme of peace and justice. Each hymn will be played by a different member of the chapter. Some of the organists scheduled to play are: Rodney Cleveland (Lakewood Presbyterian Church and Chapter Dean), Zach Klobnack (All Saints Episcopal Church), Matt Daniel (St. Margaret's Episcopal Church), Jane Daugherty (St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church), Tony Testino (Interim at Geneva Presbyterian Church), Tim Mack (Holy Cross Lutheran) and David Emery (St. Matthew's Catholic Church).

The public is invited to attend and sing! An offering will be taken to support the work of the guild and a reception will follow.

Kingdom Choir for Grades 1 - 6 Begins on September 13th

Children are not just the church of tomorrow, they are also the church today! Our singers in the Kingdom Choir prove that each time they lead in worship.

This choir, for children in grades 1 - 6, prepares music for Sunday morning worship and attends a Chorister's Guild music festival annually. This year's festival will be held on February 27th in Winter Park. Singers learn to read music, provide music for services at St. Mark's, and have a good time doing it! Rehearsals are held after the 11:00 service each Sunday and last about one hour.

Contact Tony Cruz for more information.

Pictured: Singers and their parents who attended last year's Choristers Guild festival

San Marco Chamber Music Society: Sunday, September 13th at 7:00 p.m.

The first concert of the San Marco Chamber Music Society's 2009/10 season will be a benefit concert for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It will be held Sunday, September 13 at 7PM at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3976 Hendricks Avenue, Jacksonville 32207.Come and enjoy the fine acoustics of St. Mark's as we play the music of Reger, Bach, Eichner, Telemann, Britten, and Saint-Saens. Eric Olson, oboe; Karen Pommerich, violin; Ellen Olson, viola; and Edith Moore-Hubert will be the featured performers. The concert is free, and there will be a free will offering to benefit JDRF. The first $200 raised will be matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. After the concert, please enjoy refreshments in Hart Hall with the musicians.

An Invitation to Singers: Bach Vespers on November 8, 2009

Singers from the community are invited to join St. Mark's in singing a Bach Vespers service, with orchestra, on November 8th at 6:00 p.m. This year's cantata is Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay With Us For Evening Falls), written for Easter Monday and first sung nearly 300 years ago on April 2, 1725. There is no charge to be a part of the choir. Rehearsals are on Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 12:00 on October 17th, 24th, and 31st. The dress rehearsal with orchestra is on Saturday, November 7th at 2:00 p.m. (I put the dress rehearsal in bold type because it is not our usual time; however, it's a busy week for many of our orchestra players and was the only available time.)
For more information, contact Tony Cruz at vespers@comcast.net, or by calling the church at 396-9608 x18.
St. Mark's has a long tradition of singing Bach Vespers as part of its musical outreach to the community. We hope that you will become a part of the tradition this year!

Be A Disciple: Serve in the Festival Choir

Have you been listening to the sermons about the Six Marks of Discipleship and wondering where you might be able to serve at St. Mark's? Perhaps you could serve by singing in the Festival Choir! Our committed group of singers meets in the music suite on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 where we rehearse to support the church's song. In addition to the hymns and liturgy, we learn a repertoire that covers a a wide variety of music: plainsong, renaissance polyphony, English cathedral, music from the German tradition, spirituals, and music by living composers.

The choir sings each Sunday, alternating between the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services. (On major feast days, we sing at both services.) We're on our summer break now, but rehearsals will begin August 26th so that we will be in place for Rally Day.

If you are considering joining the choir and have questions, contact Tony Cruz or any choir member.

Photo: The Festival Choir annual Advent photo from 2008 by Bill Daugherty

Sewanee Church Music Conference - A Taste of Things to Come

Many of you have heard me say what I believe our lives will be like once Jesus returns to establish his kingdom on earth. It's a glorious vision of choir practices by day and concert and worship services by night! That's part of the appeal of the Sewanee Church Music Conference at the University of the South in Sewanee Tennessee - because they already live that way! (Many of you will remember that this is where Nancy R. -who grew up at St. Mark's - went to college.

A good part of the day was spent in rehearsals with Thomas Foster (Parish Musician at Epiphany Episcopal Parish in Seattle Washington) and Dr. Janette Fishell (Professor of Organ and Chair of the Organ Department at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University). The purpose of these rehearsals was to prepare for a Friday Choral Evensong (vespers) and a Sunday Morning service of Eucharist. My favorite piece was "If Ye Love Me" by Philip Wilby. I've ordered it for our choir and believe it will become a staple of our repertoire. (The piece is available on ITunes if you'd like to give it a listen.)

All Saints Chapel on the University Campus is an incredible space for choral music, especially when that music has been prepared by 120 musicians dedicated to leading the best worship possible. The church seemed full of our Magnificats and Glorias in a way that can't be described. It was uplifting and worshipful in a way I simply cannot describe.

There were also workshops to attend on Psalm singing, organ performance, choral techniques, and more.

I have attended this conference before, but the last time was in 2003. Still, I was able to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones. There were several people from Jacksonville that I knew, including one of my former organ teachers.

Until Jesus returns, it's nice to get away to the Sewanee Church Music Conference now and again!

If you would like to see more pictures, they are available on my FaceBook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028678&id=1473301698&l=10b6205de7

Pictures: Me with Russell, Lawrence, and Chip. Me with Fay L. and Bill P. (my former organ teacher), an inside view of All Saints Chapel.