The Space at Grace Has Music and Much More

The Space at Grace Has Music and Much More

By Leonard Shapiro

The Rev. Weston Mathews, rector of the Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, has always had a great appreciation for music and the arts. After all, his grandmother directed church choirs in Front Royal, and as a student at St. George’s School in Rhode Island, he even learned how to sing chants.

Since arriving at Grace five years ago, he and several of his parishioners, including another music maven, Lena Scott Lundh, have helped transform the church into a cultural center for the local community and beyond. They call it “The Arts in The Plains at the Space at Grace.”

Grace Church Rector Weston Mathews and Lena Scott Lundh.

Photo by Leland Schwartz

Rectortown resident Lundh, a principal in a highly regarded interior and architectural firm and a former chair of the Washington Performing Arts, has been instrumental in elevating the Grace Church Concert Series, now in its 23rd year, to what it is today. With four concerts this year, a series that often features world-class musicians is funded in part by Jacqueline Mars in memory of her mother, Mrs. Forrest Mars, who also was devoted to music and loved the church.

Grace also is home to the Paragon Philharmonia orchestra, led by artistic director Miriam Burns. Now in its second year in partnership with the church, a half dozen concerts are scheduled for the 2022-23 season featuring the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn and Prokofiev, among others, including a season-ending event scheduled for Buchanan Hall in Upperville on April 23.

There’s more, including partnerships with the Piedmont Singers, the Shakespeare Opera Company and the Dark Horse Theater as well as a monthly film series and lecture with the Piedmont Film Club. The church will host the annual Piedmont Regional Art Show Oct. 28-30.

“We’ve become a Mecca for the arts,” Lundh said. “And Weston is the reason we have all of this going on.”

Rev. Mathews describes it all as “the beauty of holiness…We consider it a house of prayer and music for all people. Dr. Edmund Lee Woodward (the church’s first rector in 1918) wanted it to be a community center. And our thought is ‘how can we best serve the needs of all our residents?’”

Virtually all the events are held either inside or outside the church, with modest admission fees and children free. The church also has raised funds beyond ticket sales to support its cultural events, with many patrons contributing “generous amounts to bring top notch artists to Grace,” Lundh said.

Her appreciation for music began as a child in her native Sweden, where she said, “all the girls learn to play the piano. Music is for the soul. It raises you to another level in life, it takes you to another world.”

And Rev. Mathews clearly is a firm believer in artistic freedom and making certain his cultural partners, “Know they are loved and appreciated.

“We’re not going to micro-manage them on what they perform,” he said. “Culture is predicated on trust. We want to bring out their beauty. We’re about kindness, not division. And I think the artists believe the church has made them better.”

The recent pandemic obviously had a debilitating effect, forcing the cancellation or postponement of some events. But Arts in The Plains is flourishing once again, with more to come if Rev. Mathews has his way.

“We’re all working to take it to the next level,” he said, without getting too specific. Stay tuned to this space, as well.