Saturday, March 31st - Lenten concert @ Grace Presbyterian

Grace Presbyterian Church, 10221 Ella Lee Lane , will present Sing Me to Heaven, a Lenten worship concert at 7:30 p.m. March 31.

Sacred Voices, a 15-voice professional choral ensemble will perform works from the Renaissance through the 21st century, including pieces by Durufle, Mendelssohn, Bruckner and Whitacre.

The group's founder and artistic director, Phillip Moody, will conduct.

Admission is free. For more information, call 713-267-5061.

Diane Bish, Sunday, Mar 25th, 7 p.m.

Renowned organist Diane Bish will be performing live in concert this Sunday night, March 25th @ 7 p.m.

Chapelwood United Methodist Church
11140 Greenbay Street
Houston, TX 77024
phone: 713-365-2807
http://www.chapelwood.org/

Map it! using http://maps.google.com/

Did anyone attend the concerts?

Happy Monday, everyone! Unfortunately, I was unable to attend either of the concerts I mentioned for Sunday, February 18th.

I'll try to post more later, yet I do know about a couple of upcoming concerts, including:

1. The Bach Society will be hosting Chamber Music this Sunday, Feb. 25th at 7:30 p.m. I promise to fill in the details later this week.
2. Diane Bish, Organist, will be performing at Chapelwood United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 25th. If you don't know who Diane Bish is, she's the lady who frequently appears on one of the religious channels and hosts concerts from the great cathedrals and pipe organs of the world.

More West Houston postings later this week. Have a good one! Terre

Free: Houston Children's Chorus, Feb.18th

Houston Children's Chorus: Chapelwood-Evans Arts Series The Houston Children's Chorus, under the direction of Steve Roddy, will grace us with a lovely performance at 5pm.

Date: Sunday, 2/18/2007
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Chapelwood United Methodist Church Sanctuary
Address: 11140 Greenbay, Houston, TX 77024

Map it! using www.maps.google.com

...concert by Kathryn Sparks

As mentioned in my previous post, I attended a classical music pipe organ recital by the Music Director of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Ms. Kathryn Sparks. And to my observant eye and ear, another organist and one of my former chorale directors, Ms. Emily Borling must have been playing the second organ in the upper balcony.

Folks, this is not your typical organ music that you remember from your small church days. Kathryn's music venue proved to be well-thought out, choreographed and inspirational. By the passionate way in which she played, you could tell that she is one of those people (such as myself) who hears God through her music.

She used the full range of the 2002 Schantz Chancel Organ (in front of the pulpit) and the 1972 Casvant Gallery Organ (located in the upper balcony), which included sounds such as flutes, reeds, and small tinkling bells, in addition to more classic pipe organ sounds such as trumpets, stately brass, and the mellow lower pitched tubas.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire concert. Favorite pieces included "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach and "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland, that somehow ties in my memory to one of the films I've seen out at Space Center Houston. In addition, Kathryn put together an artistic piece using happier moments from "The Lord of the Rings" by Howard Shore combined with beautiful images from the film trilogy.

Perhaps the most joyful part of the concert occurred when Kathryn and yes (noticeably to the trained ear, a second organist friend), played some of the lighter flute and reed tunes from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite, Opus 71a". The delight of playing the pieces showed in the light finger work as Kathryn gleefully played "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", and the creativity of the two organists combined in "Marche Characteristique".

The overall concert experience was delightful. The presentation of the keyboard and the footwork shown on two separate video panels made this concert an event to remember.

I am not worthy, I am not worthy

Look what I did tonight! I indulged in one of my favorite passions, listening to classical music on a pipe organ. More info to follow, I promise!

http://www.mdpc.org/cgi-bin/NewsList.cgi?section=&rec=2045