News
Choirs Youth Choir Alleluia Choir Celebration Ringers Joyful Noise Staff:
Benita Rose, Dir. Music
Norma Goralski, Director Visit the Music Appreciation Sunday Slide Show!
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Music has always played an important role in worship at our church. Holiday services are made joyful by the performances of combined choir, organ, handbells and instruments. The two-manual pipe organ was built especially for the church by the Austin Organ Company in 1965 and has 8 sets of pipes. In addition to the historic steeple bell, the church tower houses a Schulmerich Carillon. A young studio upright piano is located in the gallery for choral accompanying and a young Baldwin 7' grand piano graces the Fellowship Hall for programs and special events. All the musicians and singers rehearse in the Music Center on the second floor of the new Parish Center.
The Gallery Singers (adult choir) is made up of adults and teenagers. They sing weekly in the Sunday morning service and for special services. The adults also participate in local ecumenical and combined choir events. On special occasions the adult choir sings with brass, instrument and/or the Youth choir.
The Youth Choir is for students 3rd grade and older. The Alleluia Choir is for children kindergarten through second grade. The children's choirs sing in church regularly and participate in special services and pageants. The church owns a 5 octave set of English-style handbells. There are two ringing choirs, the Celebration Ringers for adults and The Joyful Noise for middle school and high school ringers. The bell choirs perform monthly in church and on special occasions alone and in combination with each other and choirs and instruments. They also participate in area bell choir festivals.
Our Director of Music, Benita Rose, has performed throughout the United States, Brazil, and Latvia as soloist, accompanist or chamber musician. She has been soloist with the Willimantic Orchestra and the Connecticut String Orchestra. As soloist with the U.S. Coast Guard Band, her performance was heard on over 200 NPR radio stations on Martin Goldsmith's program "Performance Today". Ms. Rose has served as a judge for various piano competitions throughout the state of Connecticut. She has been a scholarship student at the University of Connecticut and the Hartt School where she received the prestigious Parker award and received her Master of Music degree. Her teachers include Luiz de Moura Castro, Joseph Villa and Louis Crowder. She has also received coaching from Ilana Vered and Menahem Pressler. Many of her piano students are prize winners. Ms. Rose is founding member of the Hop River Chamber Players in Andover, Connecticut. She was formerly the organist at The First Congregational Church of Willimantic.
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