MUSICAL WORSHIP AT EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER
The Redeemer Gallery Choir is presently made up of volunteers & music scholars from the Department of Music at VCU
There are currently two choirs at Redeemer. The Gallery Choir sings each Sunday at the 11 AM service from September through May. Rehearsals are held weekly on Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM. This choir is composed of both volunteers and music scholars from local universities. All singers are welcome to join; the ability to read music is not required. Donald Anderson directs the group and plays the organ.
Annually the choir presents an extraordinary Service of Lessons and Carols in the tradition of Kings College, Cambridge, on the Second Sunday of Advent at 5 PM. The choir also presents special evening services of Choral Evensong.
CHILDREN’S CHOIR
The children’s choir is composed of children in kindergarten -> fifth grade. Directed by Carrie Sue Casey and Karen Haneke, they rehearse during the Sunday school hour. They sing at the 9 a.m. service several times a year.
Contact Carrie Sue Casey at Formation@redeemermidlothian.org.
Led by Donald Anderson, our Director of Music. Contact him at donald@redeemermidlothian.org.
THE ORGAN
Soon after its founding in 1960, Redeemer acquired an Allen electronic organ, which was moved to the new building in Salisbury in 1988 when the congregation relocated from the Chippenham Parkway location.
Within two years the growth of the choir and the congregation suggested that it was time to explore the possibility of purchasing a new organ. A committee was formed and tasked with researching the best type of organ for Redeemer, and the best builder of such an instrument.
Research led to Kenneth Jones & Associates of Bray, Ireland, the company that designed and built the organ to our specifications. This instrument is one of 180 designed and built by this company in Ireland and in The Netherlands, and in use in cathedrals, churches, schools, universities, and concert halls across the globe. This instrument included two manuals, 12 ranks of pipes, and 12 stops. Among the many hallmarks of these instruments are their richly inventive cases, layouts, and mechanisms.
The world-renowned Kenneth Jones spent many weeks at Redeemer supervising the installation of the various components, a process that demanded a reconfiguration of the music gallery. The organ casework was finished in Ireland in 1992 and shipped to the United States; the pipes were shipped separately from The Netherlands.
Longtime choir member Ken Waller recalls the memorable task undertaken by a group of eight to 10 men who hoisted and maneuvered the organ wind chest from the ground level up to its present position in the gallery. Mr. Jones and his assistant assembled the instrument and installed and voiced the pipes. They also adapted the case to accommodate the stained glass window in the bell tower, which was donated by Hilda and Jim Burnside. The completed organ was dedicated in 1993.
Shortly after its installation, Redeemer hosted organ concerts by Felix Hell and Roger Nyquist, and thereafter, we have hosted student performances from local high schools and colleges. In addition to Sunday and special services, the organ has been used with the Gallery choir and instruments for special concerts of works including Mozart’s “Mass in C,” Rheinberger’s “Mass in C,” and Mendelssohn’s cantata “As the Hart Pants,” among others.
By 2005 a new committee began to explore ways to expand the organ, which had no swell box. Because adding more pipes and a swell box did not seem feasible, the Allen Organ Company was asked to enhance the sound by adding a four manual console and 80 digitally sampled pipe works. In this process, the original Tracker mechanism was changed to a direct electric action. The combination of pipes and digital sampling classifies this instrument as a hybrid instrument. This significantly increased the versatility of the organ, and the result is the marvelous sound we hear today.
HISTORY
OF THE
MUSIC
PROGRAM
Over the years, Redeemer has had a rich and varied music program. The original services at Southampton were based on traditional Episcopal/Methodist music. On the first Sunday in the new A frame building on Chippenham Parkway, the sermon hymn was Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, which we still sing today.
The first music accompaniment at Southampton and at the A-frame church was provided by a piano played by Jack Lissenden or Bill Edwards, two charter members. A choir was formed very early and was led by Jack and Bill who volunteered their time and talent for almost five years before Sandi Creasy was hired. Choral music traditions at Redeemer have reflected the times. In the 1970’s folk masses were sung periodically, and from the 1980’s to mid-1990’s, services that incorporated more contemporary music were led occasionally by a small group of parishioners.
At times the choir collaborated with the choir of Salisbury Presbyterian Church for special concerts. John Rutter’s “Requiem” and Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass” were some of the twenty-century masterworks they sang together.
When the service offerings expanded from one to two that required music, the 9 a.m. service became a family service with more contemporary music and the gather hymnal, and the 11 a.m. service became the traditional service using the The Hymnal 1982.
Redeemer acquired an Allen electronic organ within a few years of the formation of the church. This organ was used in the original location on Chippenham Parkway and in 1988 moved with the congregation to the Midlothian church. In 1992 it was given to parishioner Martha (Motsy) Foster, a former organist/choir director, to make room for the Kenneth Jones organ. Motsy enjoyed the old Allen for many years in her home. When she moved to a different home, Motsy donated the Allen to Eternity Church, which was then located on Chamberlayne Avenue in Richmond, and now is located in its “new” home at 1200 Wilmington Avenue. Beth Syer, Eternity Church secretary, told us that the “organ console was moved to a new spot in the sanctuary, so it’s taken time to get the wiring and tuning completed, but we hope to hear it on Easter Sunday [2021]!”