Music at Trinity

Dr. Michael Messina, Director of Music

May we all continue to proclaim the presence, power, love, and beauty of God through music.

2020 BEGAN like any other year: we again hosted the Three Choirs Festival on Feb 9, with guest conductor Jeffrey Smith of St Paul’s Parish, K Street, Washington, DC. Dr Smith rehearsed with us from Thu-Sun, and conducted our choir Sunday morning, as well as the combined choirs of Trinity, St Paul’s, and Christ Church Cathedral, at Evensong on Sunday afternoon. On Mar 1, Music at Trinity was pleased to present the Kenyon College Chamber Singers, Dr Benjamin Locke, conductor. They sang an exquisitely beautiful and diverse program featuring the music of female composers. Unfortunately, the encore was marred by the random firing of a bullet through the back window of the church—fortunately, no one was physically harmed.

THEN…March 10 was the last rehearsal of our choir/choristers, as the country began to face the COVID pandemic. Despite an almost complete ban on choral singing, rehearsal, and worship, members of the choir have made myriad videos for online services, and gathered (masked and socially-distanced) to sing for Advent and Christmas drive-by events and therapeutic hymn-sings in the garage on 33rd St, across Meridian. In 2018 Trinity contracted with Quimby Pipe Organs for the revoicing and renovation of the organ. After more than two years on their wait list, our pipework was removed at the end of July and transported to the Quimby shop in Warrensburg, MO. The pipes will be reinstalled, regulated, and the voicing adjusted on-site beginning on Mar 15. A concert series celebrating the organ will be scheduled during the 2021-2022 program year. Trinity held its last regularly scheduled Taizé service via Zoom on May 10. We hope to offer Taizé worship on an occasional basis once we can again gather safely. I am pleased to report that, the pandemic notwithstanding, we added four new choristers to our ranks! These four have yet to experience a proper rehearsal, but they are a joy to know and train. All the choristers combined newly-recorded chants, readings, and recordings of the full choir from past years in order to observe the feast of All Saints with an online Evensong on Nov 1. We welcomed the Yuletide on Dec 4 with the release of a festive and humorous video featuring the Lady and Lord of the manor (Jolene and Michael Moffatt), the quarantined madrigal singers, and recordings from past madrigal concerts. Along with St Paul’s and Christ Church, Trinity produced an online service of Christmas Lessons and Carols as a gift to the entire diocese. We were joined by the choirs of All Saints, St Christopher’s, and Trinity (Bloomington), as well as singers from throughout the diocese for congregational carols. 2020 has taught us all how integral, uplifting, and restorative music is to our worship, indeed, to our common LIFE. Absent this, we have comforted each other, but acknowledge there is no replacement for the act of singing with and for one another. Members of our choir: • Trinity Choir (*denotes staff singer): Organ/Piano

Scholar: Kat Jolliff • Soprano: Lillian Crabb, Laura Cruise-Gibson, Erica

Dollhopf, Cheryl Eiszner, Deb Havill, *Elisabeth Hoegberg,

Jennifer Mentink, Victoria Resnick, Cindy Williams • Alto: Linda Brown, Linda Cuticchia, Grace Davis, Meg

Feemster, Anne Greist, Shannie Hughes, Mary Mail, Rebecca Mattingly, Jolene Moffatt, Leigh Anne Naas, Judy

Peach, *Chelsea Reynowsky, Syd Schafer • Tenor: Robert Bentley, *Zach Cardwell, David Crabb, John

Eiszner, Ed Ferguson, Jerry Hall, Aiden Harvey, Rick Herd,

Joseph Naas, Cos Raimondi, Hugh Resnick • Bass: Jeff Brinkmann, *Gavin Craig, Erik Hembre, Malcolm

Hembre, *Matt Hume, Jim Knowles, Kyle Myers, Chuck

Schafer, Austin Smith, Allan Williams We are grateful for the expertise and support of our section-leaders, who lead and inspire us when we sing together, and who have made many solo videos for our online worship! • Choristers: Levin Adler-Mueller, Quincy Bacon, Hollis Carbrey, Kevin Dawson, Clara Haley, Soren Hembre, Charlie

Hirschman, Sam Moffatt, Ellie Potter, Maxine Steensland,

Minna Steensland, Grace Whitworth-Neufeld, Keagan

Williams I am unimaginably blessed to work in this place, and I’m profoundly grateful for everyone who makes and/or supports music here. I am also grateful for gifted and creative colleagues who are a joy to work with! May we all continue to proclaim the presence, power, love, and beauty of God through music.