G R A C E   E P I S C O P A L   C H U R C H — 76 Eldredge Street, Newton Corner, Massachusetts   02458     (617) 244-3221

   ©2009 Grace Church Newton

Welcome to the Music Ministry of Grace Church!

At the center of the music program at Grace Church is the worship of God. Thus, the weekly celebration of the service of the Word and Sacrament is the focus of our work This approach to music making draws on our Anglican heritage, in which the congregation is the primary musical voice of the community. Implicit in that heritage is the need for the musical education of our community. At this time we support three musical "institutions:" the Senior choir of 20 members; the Junior choir of 12 members, and the Singing School, a traditional New England educational program for children 3 to 6 years of age.

Grace Bell Ringers weather the cold to play the Eldridge Chimes, December 21, 2008: Dawn Dreisbach, Kate Martenis, Jean Papalia, Carolyn Wong, Debra Katt-Lloyd, Paul Martenis. (not shown are Laura Johnson, Sallie Dunning, Becky Barbrow and Choir Master, Linda Clark)

The Senior Choir

A group of 20 singers provide the music for the Sunday services and the special services of the Liturgical Year. We rehearse from 7:00 - 8:30 PM on Thursday nights and on Sunday morning. The repertory of the choir is very eclectic, of diverse styles, as is the music of the congregation found in the three hymnals in the pew racks - the Hymnal 1982, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and Wonder, Love and Praise.

The musical tradition of Grace Church extends to the earliest life of the parish; evidence of musical offerings during worship can be found as early as 1855 and have continued unbroken to the present day. Choral music is at the heart of Grace Church's tradition, from a double quartet in 1875, to a vested choir of 46 men and boys in 1880, to the inclusion of women in the music program in 1911. A Choir Guild in was established in 1891, and it was to this organization that the final public address of Bishop Phillips Brooks was given five days before his death in 1893.

In the present day, Grace enjoys a 20-voice mixed choir accompanied by a Hook and Hastings Organ (1873, 1927, 1988). The Choir of Grace Church sings more than 50 times each year, providing service music, anthems and motets weekly at the 11am service, plus larger works at festival holidays, special services and occasional concert performances. The choir's repertoire spans music history from Gregorian chant to contemporary compositions and African-American Spirituals.

The Junior Choir

The Junior choir helps to lead the music of the liturgy, performs anthems and motets monthly, and sings for the special services during the church year. A rigorous choral program for children (who were graded and received monetary compensation for their performance) was instituted at Grace in 1902 and continued for nearly 70 years. This program eventually was abandoned, and children's participation declined until about 1990. After a few sporadic attempts, the Grace Church Junior Choir was reinstituted in 2006. Modeled after Royal School of Church Music standards, the Junior Choir now has a dozen choristers involved in a training program that promotes proper singing, musical literacy and congregational participation.

The Singing School

Twice a year for 5 weeks, we gather the littlest members of our community to teach them how to sing. They come with their parents, grandparents, and friends to learn how to match pitches, sing and move in rhythm and, above all, to enjoy making music. Many members of the congregation help the staff in this rewarding ministry. The Singing School establishes from the very beginning the importance of singing to the religious lives of everyone in the congregation.

Linda J. Clark, SMD, Director of Music

Ms. Clark, a graduate of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary, New York, was, until her retirement in 2003, the director of the Master of Sacred Music degree program at Boston University School of Theology. She was the principal investigator of two research projects in Methodist and Episcopal churches in New England, Music in Churches, and Worship, Music and Religious Identity. The Alban Institute publishes the results of these projects. See www.alban.org. She has given recitals and choral concerts, lectures, workshops and seminars on church music throughout the US. At Grace, she is responsible for the overall functioning of the music program, plays the organ and conducts the Senior choir and the Singing School.

Frank Pesci, Junior Choir Director

Mr. Pesci joined the choir as its tenor section leader at Grace Church in 2005. In 2006 he assumed responsibility for a struggling Junior Choir program. It has blossomed under his leadership. Previously he served as the Director of Music at First-Trinity Presbyterian church in Laurel, Mississippi and has been a staff singer at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., and for Dr. Marilyn Keiser at Trinity Episcopal in Bloomington, Indiana. He holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Southern Mississippi. Pesci is also an active composer of sacred music for voices, and has had a dozen premieres by the choirs of Grace Church. He is self-published, and his most recent work can be found at this website, http://www.frankpesci.com.