Music

Music News

Link to a Special Feature on Our Hymn Heritage

Special Music Events in the Potsdam Community
Julia Crane International Piano Competition - Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 (the finals at 3:00pm), Hosmer Hall at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. Free and open to the public.
Annual Ranlett Organ Recital - Oct. 3, 3:00pm, Hosmer Hall at the Crane school of Music, SUNY Potsdam. Presenting Scott Dettra of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Goal Met for the Sally Skyrm Console Renovation Fund!!
For those who may not have known her, Sally Skyrm was the music librarian at Crane for 34 years, and began playing the organ here in the l950’s. Sally touched many lives before her passing in Feb. 2007. A fund was set up to upgrade and expand the old technology that provided limited memory for our large pipe organ, which has been failing for the last decade. Her good friends Brock & Janie McElheran made the opening donation in the spring of 2007, and it has been added to by freewill offerings at two memorial recitals, a Hymnathon, a challenge gift, the AGO, the Westminster Choir birthday gift, and MANY individuals in the church and community. Thanks to a very generous recent gift and a second challenge gift, the goal was met and surpassed. The firm of Kerner & Merchant (Syracuse), who did similar work on the Hosmer Hall organ, removed only the console on Jan. 1, 2010 and gave it state-of-the art memory before reinstalling it mid March. There was also enough money to add a new stop to the instrument, after recycling & adding to original pipes that were being stored. It is especially exciting that this work was done in time for the many special events in the spring. The renovations enable our Casavant pipe organ, one of the treasures of the North Country, to be utilized as a worship, concert and teaching instrument as never before. Thank you to all who have made this possible!!!

About the Sally Skyrm Console Renovation Fund

For those who may not have known her, Sally Skyrm was the music librarian at Crane for 34 years, and began playing the organ here in the l950’s. Sally touched many lives before her passing in Feb. 2007. The fund was created in 2007 in memory of Sally.

The console (the place where the organist sits) controls all the pipes and had not been modified since it was installed in the 1930’s. In recent years its “memory” had started to deteriorate. To continue to use this magnificent instrument at full capacity for worship, teaching and concerts, a fund was opened with a generous gift from Brock and Janie McElheran to install state-of-the art computer technology to give the organ unlimited memory (as was recently done to the Hosmer Hall organ).

About the Sally Skyrm Console Renovation Concert

On April l8 we had a good crowd for the Sally Skyrm Console Renovation Concert. The renovation work was done by Kerner & Merchant and it has enabled our Casavant pipe organ to be fully utilized now as a worship, concert and teaching instrument. A number of students were on the program: Ben Stone, Veronica Phillips, David Brawn, Liz Miraglia, Amanda Yeoman and Natasha Wolpin. Ryan Boyle (K & M) gave a short technical briefing on how memory was installed on the instrument. Everything now is working wonderfully! A plaque has been placed on the side of the console in honor of Sally Skyrm (see above). Many thanks to the renovating company, all the performing musicians and also to all those who helped with the reception afterwards.

2008 Music Director’s Report

"For the music of creation, for the song your Spirit sings, for your sound’s divine expression, burst of joy in living things; God, our God, the world’s composer,
Hear us, echoes of your voice;
Music is your art, your glory,
Let the human heart rejoice!"
(text: Shirley Murray)

As we review the past year of music ministry at First Presbyterian, the anthem text above helps to keep it all in perspective. It’s not about numbers, talent, individual musicians or budget – it’s about worship of God, with music being one vehicle to bring Him glory, and one way to express what is beyond words.

The “backbone” of our music program at First Presbyterian are the faithful and sharing musicians. We thank our Westminster Choir, who practice on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, so that our musical offering is a worthy one. We thank our Handbell Choir, who sacrifice their coffee hour to practice on Sunday mornings. We appreciate the leadership of Art Frackenpohl, and the joyful music the Philhymnonic orchestra brings to worship quarterly. We delight in seeing the generations work together in all of these groups. In addition to Sunday mornings, these servant musicians provide special music for Holy Week services, summer worship, and expand to a “Homecoming Choir” on Christmas Eve. We are grateful for those who share their conducting skills, keyboard skills, and provide solo vocal and instrumental music so generously.

We try to have this musical abundance spill out into the surrounding communities. Using our exceptional pipe organ, we have provided a yearly introduction to the pipe organ for high school students. The Headstart children made a “field trip” to our Sanctuary on Dec. 19, to meet the pipe organ they so frequently hear through the walls, and to enjoy a small concert of Christmas music. Student organists, such as Rachel Hartman, Anna Fulton, Rebecca Kraft and Ben Stone, continue to be trained here and are sharing their abilities with churches around the North Country. Mary Madeja, a former student here, provided wonderful music as our summer organist. Community members (Natasha Wolpin and Michelle Tucker) and church members (Sharon Hutchinson) are able to take organ lessons for the sheer pleasure of it! The organ was also featured with the Potsdam Brass Quintet, in the fifth Holiday Concert for the Community on Dec. 9. Thanks go to Jim, Mark, Kelly, Chuck and special guest Julie Miller, for this musical gift to benefit Jubilee Christmas.

In January of 2007, organist Sally Skyrm passed away. She had graced the organ bench at First Presbyterian from the late 1950’s to the summer of 2002. On November 15, Sondra Goldsmith Proctor played the 2nd memorial recital here in her honor, which we intend to make an annual event. Our “Sally Skyrm Organ Console Renovation” fund is growing, with the intent of replacing the outmoded “memory” of our instrument, which has begun to wear and fail in recent years. The opening gift of $5,000 gift from Brock and Janie McElheran has been added to through individual gifts, an anonymous pair of “challenge” gifts, a birthday gift from the Westminster Choir, and a “Hymnathon Challenge” which featured a complete run-through of our hymnal! Over $13,000 has been donated toward the goal of $28,000. We hope this project will be a fitting tribute to the memory of Sally.

There were other special events which reached out beyond our immediate church family.
* On April 23, our Ladies Guild worked with the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists to present a Quilt Exhibit/Recital for the community, followed by an elegant tea.
* On May 4, our Westminster Choir participated in a “Spring Festival of Sacred Music and Text” sponsored by the Ministerial Association of Potsdam.
* On Sept. 13, we held the 7th North Country Church Choir Workshop, for directors and singers from all around the North Country. Clinician Sondra Goldsmith Proctor led us through a specially selected packet of anthems, and demonstrated techniques to help us “jump start” our choirs. Over 50 attended this event, many of whom were “alumni” from past workshops.
* The Westminster Choir joined forces with the choir of the Potsdam Methodist Church for the second Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, held this year at First Presbyterian.
* On Dec. 17, we hosted the third Festival of Lessons and Carols for the Community featuring musicians from our local churches, including a combined choir, soloists, brass, the Noteworthy Handbell Choir, and readers from many local organizations.

God has richly blessed us with the gift of music, and we pray that our efforts reflect His glory. We thank you, the congregation, for your support and encouragement!

Respectfully submitted,
Laura Toland

Music Notes

(Excerpts from a series of remarks written by Laura Toland, Music Director, and published in the Parish Paper and year-end reports)

From the June, 2007, Parish Paper

“Spring is a time of rebirth” has fresh meaning as I look at the words of an introit recently written for our Westminster Choir by Keith Gates (dear friend of Julie & Lane Miller, composer and church musician). We sang Keith’s “Worthy the Lamb” the Sunday after Easter. (You can hear this performance on Keith's web site: http://www.keithgates.com/music-126.html); On April 15th he expressed his appreciation by writing an introit just for us to sing. It is possibly one of the last things he wrote, as Keith went to be with the Lord on May 22. Here are the words, which the choir sang for you in September: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night’s nearly over, the day is almost here, so let’s put aside the deeds of darkness and do not gratify your sinful nature, but put on the armor of light, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

From the March, 2006, Parish Paper. A Hymn for Lent.

For me, dear Jesus,
was Your incarnation.
Your mortal sorrow,
And Your life’s oblation.
Your death of anguish
And Your bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Music: Johann Cruger, 1640
Text: Johann Heermann, 1630

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, the words of this haunting hymn becomes part of our Lenten journey. It emerged around the time of the Thirty Year’s War, which brought about decisive changes in the German religious scene. “Pietism” developed as an attitude, exalting personal religion, prayer, charitable works and spiritual fervor, and there was an explosion of hymnody. Composer Johann Cruger (best known for “Now Thank We All Our God”) was the editor of a collection entitled Practice of Piety in Song, which became the most influential Lutheran songbook of the second half of the 17th century. It was originally designed for devotional use in the home, and it emphasized a “personal” religion, with texts almost always in the first person singular. The pietist tunes were often lovely melodies, and J.S. Bach used this particular tune in his St. Matthew and St John Passions.

Two of the words in the text are not commonly used, so a trip to the dictionary was in order. INCARNATION is defined as “the embodiment of a god or a spirit in human form, the assumption of human nature by Jesus Christ. OBLATION is "any offering in worship, especially the elements of the Eucharist. Any grateful and solemn offering.”

This hymn is #93 in our hymnal.

From the January, 2006, Parish Paper 

“Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Peace to the world is given.
Hushed are the angels, so still is the night;
Then in the East shone a heavenly light.
Join in the chorus, His praises sing!
Glory to God, to the newly born King.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Peace to the world is given.”

Gustaf Nordqvist 1886-1946
English Text: Norman Luboff

From the October, 2005, Parish Paper

“I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green:
they were all of them saints of God,
and I mean, God helping, to be one too.
They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and His love made them strong;
and they followed the right, for Jesus' sake,
the whole of their good lives long...
and there's not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn't be one too.
They lived not only in ages past,
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school,
or in lanes, or at sea,
in church, or in trains, or the P&C,
for the saints of God are just folke like me,
and I mean to be one too."
- Lesbia Scott

Last month we felt like we were literally "drowning" in sorrows. Recovery [from Hurricane Katrina] will probably be measured in months and years, and some scars may never fade. Encouragement comes from the emergence of "saints": churches, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Presbytery Disaster Assistance, the National Guard, police, ordinary (and extraordinary) citizens, neighbors near and far, all doing many small and large acts of kindness. The words of the anthem above will be sung on Oct. 30th. They were written by a mother for her young children, and while the text is sometimes whimsical, it does remind us that "saints" come from all walks of life. We participate with all the saints of the ages during love offerings, community dinners, rummage sales.... May we help brighten our world by helping joyously.

From the September, 2005, Parish Paper

“If you but trust in God to guide you,
with hopeful heart through all your ways,
you will find strength, with God beside you,
to bear the worst of evil days;
for those who trust God’s changeless love
build on the rock that will not move.
What gain is there in futile weeping,
in helpless anger and distress?
If you are in God’s care and keeping,
in sorrow will God love you less?
For Christ who took for you a cross
will bring you safe through ev’ry loss.”

The text above is taken from a new anthem that the Westminster Choir sang on September 11. It is dedicated to the victims of 9/11, their families, and those who are laying their lives on the line right now. Sometimes I feel like the deer, frozen in the glare of a blinding light – the glare of war news, oil prices, random violence, and the violence of nature itself. At such a time, we need to tear our eyes from the terrible, and turn them on God, and trust in His changeless love to get us through.

From the 2006 Music Director's Report

“For the music of creation, for the song your Spirit sings,
for your sound’s divine expression, burst of joy in living things;
God, our God, the world’s composer,
Hear us, echoes of your voice;
Music is your art, your glory,
Let the human heart rejoice!”
(text: Shirley Murray)

As we review the past year of music ministry at First Presbyterian, the anthem text above helps to keep it all in perspective. It’s not about numbers, talent, individual musicians or budget – it’s about worship of God, with music being one vehicle to bring Him glory, and one way to express what is beyond words.

The “backbone” of our music program at First Presbyterian are the faithful and sharing musicians. We thank our Westminster Choir members, who practice on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, so that our musical offering is a worthy one. We thank our Handbell Choir, who sacrifice their coffee hour to practice on Sunday mornings. We now also have a Praise Group, organized by Pam Whittet, who bring a new and lively approach to our worship music, especially during the winter months. We appreciate the leadership of Art Frackenpohl, and the joyful music the Philhymnonic orchestra brings to worship quarterly. We delight in seeing the generations work together in all of these groups. In addition to Sunday morning worship, these servant musicians provide special music for Holy Week services, summer worship, and expand to a “Homecoming Choir” on Christmas Eve. We are grateful for those who share their conducting skills, keyboard skills, and provide instrumental music so generously.

We try to have this musical abundance spill out into the surrounding communities. Using our exceptional pipe organ, we have provided a yearly introduction to the pipe organ for high school students and older. This year, the Headstart children made a “field trip” to our Sanctuary, to meet the pipe organ they so frequently hear through the walls, and sent us a huge thank-you note. New organists are being trained here, and all of our young organists have gone on to play for other churches. Currently, Rachel Hartman (winner of multiple AGO scholarships) is serving as the organist in West Stockholm. College students and community members also study here, such as Natasha Wolpin (Potsdam Hospital), who accompanied our Christmas Eve service for a second year. The organ was also featured with the Potsdam Brass Quintet, in the third Holiday Concert for the Community. Thanks go to Jim, John, Mark, Kelly and Chuck, for this musical gift to benefit Jubilee Christmas.

We thank you, the congregation, for your support and encouragement!

Respectfully submitted
Laura Toland