Announcements

Chancel Choir Concert: Music In The Grand French Tradition

On Sunday, March 4, you are invited to transport yourself to Paris for a surround sound experience of music in the grand French tradition.  At 4 p.m. the Chancel Choir will sing two masses.  The first will be the “Messe solennelle” (Opus 16) by Louis Vierne who was organist at the famed Notre-Dame Cathedral.  Closing the program will be “Messe à deux choeurs et deux orgues” (Opus 36) by Charles-Marie Widor.  Widor, a noted teacher, was also organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, which had the most famous organ of the day.

West End is one of the few places where these works may be successfully performed as they are both for two organs and two choirs.  The choir singing from the balcony will be accompanied by Dr. Gregg Bunn of Brentwood United Methodist Church while our own Andrew Risinger will be at the chancel organ.  You will find yourself surrounded by the choirs and organs in this French experience.

Between the two masses, there will be an “interlude” concert of French organ music performed by Dr. Wilma Jensen.  She will highlight three composers: Thierry Escaich, Louis Vierne, and Charles Tournemire.  One of the pieces “Choral-Improvisation on Victimae paschali” by Charles Tournemire is considered one of Wilma’s signature pieces.