The San Marco Chamber Music Society Features Ruxandra Marquardt Sunday April, 26th at 7 PM

Ruxandra Marquardt

This concert features Ms. Marquardt playing the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor by J.S. Bach

Other works include: Fantasy Quartet by E.J. Moeran (Eric Olson, oboe)

Music by Telemann

A surprise world premiere!

The concert is free and all are invited!

Holy Week 2009 at St. Mark's

Holy Week began with the Palm Sunday procession from All Saints Episcopal Church with All Saints and Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. The handbell choirs from the three churches joined together to play the prelude, then we processed around All Saints singing "Ride On, King Jesus."
Wednesday brought the conclusion of the "Stones" series preached by Pastor Dow and Pastor Peacock for our midweek Lenten worship.

Maundy Thursday began with Confession and Forgiveness, followed by a footwashing service, Holy Communion, and the stripping of the altar.

Good Friday saw a Stations of the Cross service at noon, and a living Stations of the Cross in the nave at 7 p.m. The latter featured actors in biblical dress reenacting the stations of the cross in tableau with music by the Festival Choir.

Saturday night was the Easter Vigil which brought the display of six panels depicting the six lessons from the Old Testament that we heard that night. The "Creation" panel was done by students and graduates of St. Mark's Ark. The "Flood" panel was done by the One Light Singles' Ministry group. Lauren S. did "Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones." Thanks to all of our artists, and to Bob W. for building the panels and hanging them. Music for the service was done by the Renaissance Men, St. Mark's Ringers, Kingdom Choir, and the Festival Choir.

Easter Sunday featured accompaniment of the hymns by organ and the Lion's Brass. The St. Mark's Ringers played Michael Helman's "Variations on Hyfrydol," and the Festival Choir sang Randall Thompson's "Alleluia."

Christ is risen indeed!

Easter Vigil Saturday April, 11 at 7:00 p.m.

The story of Jonah and the big fish is a classic tale about God's grace. The Old Testament is full of stories like this one: The Creation, The Great Flood, and The Valley of Dry Bones to name a few. Come to the Easter vigil to hear these stories again, illuminated by poetry, drama, art and music. The artwork pictured shows just two of six pieces (approximately 5 feet x 3 feet) that will adorn the nave for our vigil celebration.

Bring a bell (any size, color, pitch) to ring during the Gospel Acclamation as we celebrate our Lord's resurrection. Music, hymns, preaching, baptism, and holy communion will all be part of this annual celebration. Come and bring a friend!

Musical Bears

Twice each week the "bears" (4 year olds from St. Mark's Ark) come to the music suite for "Tunes." This time includes singing games, songs, and playing Orff instruments. We also learn about words that describe music and how to use our singing voice as opposed to our talking and shouting voices.

Some of the Songs we have learned are: O How Good Is Christ the Lord, Chatter With The Angels, All Night All Day, Jesus Hands Were Kind Hands.

Everything looks pretty orderly in these pictures, but it doesn't alwasy feel that way. It wouldn't be possible without Miss Mallory, Miss Marie, Miss Danielle, and a few of the other Ark teachers as well.

Children at St. Mark's Ark have several opportunities for music. In addition to "Tunes," they have singing time with Miss Paulette and Miss Susan.

Dancing On The Mountain

On Transfiguration Sunday Pastor Peacock's sermon was titled "Dancing On The Mountain." After the sermon, Shellie, James and Emily shared the gift of dance to the song "El Shaddai."

We thank these three for sharing their gifts with us.

Choristers Guild Festival

The motely crew above descended on the unsuspecting folks of Lake Wales, Florida for the purpose of attending a children's choir festival sponsored by the Choristers Guild Central Florida Chapter. Our choir spent several months learning and memorizing songs for this festival and then sang them under the direction of Marjorie Smith from Tampa, Florida.

The day was not just about singing. Our children also partipated in craft projects, Orff classes, Drumming, and more. The final concert on Saturday included all of these, plus puppetry and dance.

Look for the Kingdom Choir to sing next at the Easter Vigil on April 11th at 7:00 p.m.

St. Mark's has a unique connection to Choristers Guild since our former Cantor, Jim Rindelaub, is the Executive Director of the organization.

Choristers Guild, a Christian organization, enables leaders to nurture the spiritual and musical growth of children and youth.

2009 Lutheridge Handbell Retreat

A group of handbell ringers from St. Mark's enjoyed the annual handbell retreat at Lutheridge the weekend of February 21st. This retreat involves several rehearsals under a well known clinician which culminate in a concert on Sunday morning. This year our group studied with accomplished composer and musician Sandra Eithun from Wisconsin.

One ringer, Leslie A., had this to say: It was a wonderful weekend that included fellowship with close friends, the opportunity to play beautiful music, and the challenge of developing skills in musical presentation to enhance worship. The clinician was wonderful. She really worked with us to convey the meaning of the music. AND we got to see a small amount of snow.

This retreat allows for precious little down time. As you can see, some of our ringers used that time to knit prayer shawls from St. Mark's prayer shawl ministry.