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Did you know that Holy Comforter has a concert series? For the past seven years—with an unavoidable hiatus during the pandemic shutdown period—we have put on two concerts a year of instrumental music, to augment and complement the many fine choral performances given throughout the year by our own choir and by Voce Chamber Singers, a local group that rehearses and gives some of their concerts at our church.
In a sense, the series originated with the recital held in October 2013 to dedicate and show off our new organ, when our soloist was Scott Dettra, who until shortly before then had been the organist of the Washington National Cathedral. A couple of years later we followed this up with another organ recital featuring our own David Kelley, who understandably had wanted to wait until he had finished his doctoral dissertation before preparing a full-length concert program in addition to the repertoire he plays and directs every week for our worship services.
Since the fall of 2016, in addition to several more solo keyboard concerts, we have offered an attractively diverse line-up of small ensembles based in the greater Washington area, performing repertoire ranging from the 16th century to the present day. From the early end of the spectrum we’ve had the Peabody Renaissance Consort (from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore) and an all-Telemann concert of baroque music on historical instruments presented by parishioners Alexandra and Tom MacCracken as leaders of their combined groups Ensemble Gaudior and The Friends of Fasch.
Programs of music composed closer to the present day have included a performance by the Barclay Brass in the spring of 2018 (perfectly timed to welcome our trumpet-playing new rector Jon Strand) and a winter 2019 concert by an ensemble of graduate percussion students from George Mason University directed by John Kilkenny, whose mother Judy is one of our parishioners. From the standard string quartet repertoire, in the fall of 2021 we were treated to Schubert’s beloved “Death and the Maiden” Quartet and two other works played by the Left Bank Quartet, whose members all teach at the University of Maryland’s School of Music.
Amid all this sonic variety we haven’t yet had a chance to hear an ensemble of woodwind instruments, so our next concert—on Sunday afternoon, October 8: save the date now!—will feature the Sunderman Wind Quintet, comprised of faculty members from Gettysburg College performing on flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. And to fill out the 2023–24 season we hope soon to settle on a date for a concert by members of The Vivaldi Project, a period-instrument ensemble based in Falls Church, who will offer a program of little-known string trios from the 18th century, of which they have already released three acclaimed CD recordings.
In addition to offering the artistry of our guest performers for members of the parish to enjoy, we aspire to attract members of the wider community to these free concerts as a way of introducing them to Holy Comforter, in the hope they might be interested in returning for other activities and even perhaps becoming members of our faith community. So far the size of our audiences has been only modest, so we will be seeking to expand our publicity efforts through word of mouth as well as both traditional and newer media. The series is managed by a small committee led by the undersigned, and funding comes not from the church’s operating budget but from free-will donations collected at the door and an annual fund-raising appeal supported by interested parishioners. We invite you to come listen and help us spread the word about these concerts.
– Tom MacCracken
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