Concerts for a new era

St. Stephen’s welcomes a new program year, a new associate director of music, and a new rector

As we begin another program year at St. Stephen’s, we are pleased that our plans include several special concerts. The first of these takes the theme of Renaissance at St. Stephen’s, celebrating the arrival of our new associate director of music, Diana Chou, as well as the arrival of our new rector, the Rev. John Rohrs. Much By Brent te Velde more is now musically possible than was at the start of the pandemic, and all of this does encourage the feeling that we are poised for a Renaissance or “rebirth” at St. Stephen’s in many ways. For this concert, on October 27 at 7:00 p.m., our Sanctuary choir will first feature several movements from the Missa Papae Marcelli, or Pope Marcellus Mass, of 1562 by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525-1594). The mass was dedicated to Pope Marcellus II, and its composition coincided with the third and final meeting of the Council of Trent. Some debate occurred at the council about whether polyphonic music should be banned in the mass, as it had become suspect through its borrowing of secular tunes and an ornate style that obscured the intelligibility of the words. A legend began in the late 16th century that a performance of Palestrina’s mass had alone convinced the council of the worth of polyphony, thereby saving the future of Western music. While the legend can’t be proven, the Missa Papae Marcelli exemplifies the work of one of the 16th century’s greatest composers, and continues to be revered by choirs around the world. The concert will be bookended by Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass (2008), sung by the St. Stephen’s Choir, which is a contemporary response to the ancient mass text for choir and string orchestra. The piece recontextualizes the movements of the mass ordinary with new English titles: I. The Spheres (Kyrie), II. Sunrise (Gloria), III. The City (Credo), IV. Identity & the Ground (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei). Gjeilo intended the overall mass to progress from music that was “nebulous and transparent” to music that was more “earthy, grounded, warm, and solid,” as a metaphor for human development and spiritual journey from child to adult. Gjeilo sought to move through dissonance on this journey, not avoid it, which seems to be echoed by Father Richard Rohr’s writing concerning the progression through necessary suffering to the second half of life in Falling Upward. Gjeilo’s more “nebulous” music is in a style familiar from minimalism and contemporary film scores, and the mass concludes in the warm, elegant style that is familiar from many of his other choral works.

The program will also include a solo organ work performed by Diana Chou, and a choral piece by the black Renaissance composer Vicente Lusitano (born ca. 1520). Lusitano, like Palestrina, lived and worked in Rome in the 16th century, but has largely been erased by history. His music has received renewal especially during the last two years by musicians and scholars in pandemic lockdown seeking to shed light on works by underrepresented composers. We, too, remain committed to this effort at St. Stephen’s, and Sanctuary will offer one of Lusitano’s most beautiful pieces, Inviolata, integra et casta es, which is dedicated to the adoration of the Virgin Mary. continued on next page

The composition of Missa Papae Marcelli, or Pope Marcellus Mass, of 1562 by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525-1594) coincided with the third and final meeting of the Council of Trent, where there was debate about whether polyphonic music should be banned in the mass, as it had become suspect through its borrowing of secular tunes and an ornate style that obscured the intelligibility of the words.

Diana Chou joins our music team

St. Stephen’s music staff returns to full strength

We are thrilled that our music ministry team is returning to full strength with the addition of Diana Chou, a choral director and organist, as associate director of music.

In the past, St. Stephen’s Church has had two full-time musicians in addition to part-time music staff members. Following the untimely death of music director Peter Hopkins several years ago, we had only part-time musicians on staff until Brent te Velde joined us just months before the pandemic began. We are grateful to have Brent as our director of music, our primary organist, and as a choral director, as well as Chris Edwards as the director of St. Stephen’s Choir. A church as large and active as ours, however, with such a robust and varied music program, needs another full-time staff person who can direct choirs and play the organ.

And of course, among the things we have missed over the past two and a half years are choirs for children and youth.

So we are delighted to welcome Diana, who began her work at St. Stephen’s on August 1 and has already impressed people with her organ playing. As we expand our capacity, we are excited about being able to offer opportunities for children and youth to sing at St. Stephen’s in the main church and in Palmer Hall.

“We are thrilled that Diana has joined our team at St. Stephen’s,” said Brent. “Her excellence in organ and choral music, as well as her passion for music ministry for children and youth, will have a tremendous impact on St. Stephen’s and the wider community.”

Diana met and rehearsed with St. Stephen’s choirs during the interview process. Jim Smith-Parham, a long-time member of our parish choir and Sanctuary, the Compline choir, said, “Diana’s superior musicianship shone through in her work with the choirs and in her spectacular organ playing, but above that was her bright and engaging personality. We are so lucky to have Diana join our excellent music staff here at St. Stephen’s.”

Diana holds a bachelor of arts, summa cum laude, from Amherst College, a master of musical arts in organ performance from the Yale School of Music, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has been a music intern at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington, Indiana, where she sang in the choir, conducted and led choir rehearsals, led youth choir rehearsals, and worked in music administration and communications. While working on her doctorate, she was an associate instructor of organ. She was an organ scholar at St. Paul’s on the Green in Norwalk, Connecticut and has served several other churches as an organist, choir director, and accompanist.

We are grateful to Kerry Court for serving in a part-time role in Palmer Hall as we brought back that service in 2021-22. Kerry, who works full-time at St. Christopher’s School, has decided to step back from her musical responsibilities at St. Stephen’s Church as she and her husband Ben and young son James prepare to welcome a new baby to their family. And Greg Vick, who also works full-time at St. Christopher’s and has served on our music staff in a part-time capacity several times over the years, has “retired” from his role here.

Chris Edwards will continue as a valued member of our music staff, serving in his part-time capacity as director of St. Stephen’s Choir.

Concerts, from previous page

Our other offering for the first half of this program year will be our annual Winter Solstice Concert, which will this year be held on the actual Winter Solstice, December 21, at 7:00 p.m. Sanctuary will again offer this opportunity to pause during the busy holiday season and enjoy classic and modern a cappella choral music. The program will offer reflections on the themes of waning darkness and night, increasing light and day, and our preparation for the Nativity in our hearts and lives. Composers will include Josef Rheinberger, Eleanor Daley, Jake Runestad, Toby Hession, Kim André Arnesen, Dan Forrest, Annabel Rooney, Gabriel Jackson, Joanna Gill, Kerensa Briggs, and Pierre Villette. Sanctuary will be joined by cellist Peter Greydanus and harpist Anastasia Jellison, performing both with the choir and on their own as a harp and cello duo.

We are indeed excited by the dawning horizons for music at St. Stephen’s, and we hope you will join us for these special events!

ReWork Richmond reports impressive results

ReWork Richmond, the workforce development program that came about through a partnership among St. Stephen’s Church, St. Peter’s in Church Hill, the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building, and Challenge Discovery Projects, continues to help families rise out of poverty.

By Deb Lawrence

Our mission is to empower underemployed adults living in Richmond’s East End by helping them obtain the skills and support needed to qualify for, and ultimately gain, thriving living-wage careers.

Born of the capital campaign that St. Stephen’s conducted as part of its centennial observance, the organization takes a unique approach to employment. ReWork provides support and job sourcing to create lasting career opportunities, as opposed to entry-level jobs. The program is structured to provide a comprehensive array of personal support and employment referral services tailored to meet the individual goals of each ReWork member (not client or participant).

With continuing financial support from St. Stephen’s and other invested community partners, ReWork Richmond is making a difference in the lives of East End adults and families. New members are being enrolled each month and we are pleased to report that members are making great progress on their path to meaningful, family-sustaining careers.

Car donations make a big difference.

job in Washington, D.C., we are thrilled that Janette McGrady accepted the position of member and partner services manager, joining the staff in late June. Janette had been with the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building, one of our community partners, and has over 20 years of experience in workforce development. Janette has been able to “hit the ground running” and is already an integral part of our team and working closely with our members.

DONATED CARS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Reliable transportation is a major necessity for being successfully employed. ReWork’s “Wheels for Work” initiative helps members secure affordable transportation to travel safely to their places of employment. Donated vehicles have made a profound difference to many of our members, and are an important support for their rise out of poverty.

Member Allen S. was taking two buses, then walking two miles to reach his job each morning at a local freight transportation company, repeating the routine at the end of the workday. When a donated car became available, and Allen was able to “purchase” the vehicle at a greatly reduced cost, his life changed. Not only does he have reliable transportation to his workplace, but he is able to spend more time at home in the morning and evening with his two children, getting them ready for school and helping with homework.

Member Kimberley J. had been paying $400 a month to a company that provided transportation to and from daycare for her two children. Without access to a vehicle, she also had been limited to working from home. With a ReWork donated car, Kimberley is able to take her children to daycare and she now has a better paying job outside of her home, has increased her monthly income, and is on a path to a family-sustaining career.

MEMBER DATA AND RESULTS

With our annual report just in, our performance data from the past year is most encouraging and demonstrates the effectiveness of this program, along with the ability to measure the success of each member. Using a proprietary numeric value Stability Measure tool to capture metrics for each member, we are able to evaluate the progress members are making along their individual pathways towards meaningful employment.

In the past year, there has been a cumulative 45 percent advancement in the areas of employment, income, education, housing, childcare and transportation for all members who have been enrolled with ReWork for at least one year. Career placement for members, a key indicator of our effectiveness, has reached an important milestone as our relationships with Richmond employers are strong. These employers have a passion for our mission and are matching our members with open positions within their organizations.

NEW STAFF MEMBER

While we were sad to say goodbye to Diana Vasquez, who had been with ReWork since the beginning and who left us to take a

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you have a vehicle you no longer need, please consider donating it to ReWork. We’ll make it easy by helping you continued on next page