A Day of Celebration on Oct 10: Organ Dedication Sunday

10:30 AM SERVICE OF DEDICATION IN THE SANCTUARY (FACE MASKS REQUIRED) AND LIVE STREAMING • PLEASE RSVP FOR NURSERY CARE (AGES 1-3)

The service of dedication in the Sanctuary for the new-to-Derry Aeolian-Skinner organ will feature hymns, anthems, and a litany of dedication.

The Sanctuary Choir will sing Martin Shaw’s “With a Voice of Singing,” and the upper voices of the choir will sing “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” to a beautiful tune written by the American composer Calvin Hampton. The dedication will also feature his “Postlude on [the tune] Engelberg” as an extended introduction to the singing of the same hymn, which you may know as “When In Our Music God is Glorified.” Other hymns will be “Praise to the Lord” and “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus.” “Praise to the Lord” will feature our lower voices on a four-part arrangement a cappella.

We will have remarks from Nicholas Thompson-Allen, the organ builder in charge of the installation, whose father Aubrey presided over the initial installation in 1950.

The service will conclude with Charles-Marie Widor’s beloved Toccata from his 5th organ symphony. This was the final piece heard on Derry’s previous Reuter organ before it was dismantled.

Officer elections will follow the service, and there will be no 8 am worship.

4 PM ORGAN RECITAL IN PERSON (FACE MASKS REQUIRED) AND LIVE STREAMING
After more than a year of restoration, the 1950 Aeolian-Skinner Op. 1132 originally built for the Redeemer Church in New Haven, Connecticut, is ready for its inaugural organ recital presented by Grant Wareham, our Director of Music Ministry and Organist.

The program will highlight all the capabilities of the new-to-Derry organ, including soaring, pure flute tones of the new Harmonic Flute (1929 E.M. Skinner pipes that were not included in the instrument’s original installation) on Louis Vierne’s “Clair de Lune,” a bubbly prelude and a soaring fugue in Maurice Duruflé’s tribute to his fallen friend, Jehan Alain, in his “Prelude and Fugue on ALAIN,” and the organ used as a full orchestra in an organ transcription of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Overture to Ruy Blas.” The program will conclude with Max Reger’s Chorale Fantasy on “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star.”

Organist Grant Wareham is particularly excited to present the world premiere of “Up to Eleven,” a piece written specifically for this instrument by Derry’s own Dr. Jamie Mosher.

A free will offering will be received at this Arts Alive Cultural Series event.