Rev. 5/19/10 The Sounds of Love and Joy Music is a bountiful and varied component of the worship experience at First Presbyterian. The renowned choir, now under the direction of Chris Trombley has mastered a repertoire of ancient and modern pieces that enrich the worship experience. Gifted soloists and instrumentalists provide ample affirmation to their divinely inspired talents. Nancy Frank, our organist and pianist, is acknowledged as among the most accomplished of the Capital District. Nancy celebrated her 35th year with FPC in 2008! Gordon Hibbard provides piano and organ accompaniment to summer services and our early Sunday services at 8:30 am. FPC's Bell Choir is back in action, under the creative and energetic direction of Jack Holmes. For more information about FPC's our Casavant Frères organ read About The Organ by Nancy Frank. INSTRUMENTAL ACCOMPANISTS Throughout the year, FPC's Choir and organ are augmented by instrumental accompanists, including area professionals and FPC's own, home-grown musicians (amateur and professional). Special music is a must around special times, like Advent, Lent, Christmas Eve, Good Friday and Easter Sunday - not to mention Pentecost. From claissical to contemporary - harp, oboe, cello, guitar, and even banjo have a home at FPC. Previous classical musical offerings have included Puccini's Magnificat, Britten's Ceremony of Carols and Mozart's Dominican Vespers. Our Good Friday services, as can be expected, have offered more somber musical fare, including Bach's Christ Lag in Totesbanden, Haydn's Seven Last Words, the classic Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, and Maurice Duruflé's REQUIEM, a French composition heavily influenced by his contemporary Fauré. Relying heavily on plainsong and traditional Gregorian chant, Duruflé's composition has an overall calming and ethereal effect. For Good Friday 2010, FPC offered an evening Taizé Service of music and meditation in the style of the ecumenical monastic community in Burgundy, France. Vocalists and instrumentalists from the ranks of the Chancel Choir provided evocative, contemplative sound befitting that solemn occasion. Click here to listen to FPC's rendition of Watch and Pray. Recent presentations by FPC youth include a 2009 production of Godspell Junior under the direction of Christy D'Ambrosio, accompanied by Fiona McKinney, with choreography by Amy Scarlett. That high-energy production was followed in 2010 by The Roar of the Devils . . . The Small Voice of God, under the direction of FPC Youth Director Christy D'Ambrosio, assisted by Barbara Speck, and accompanied by Albert Wood Click here for a sampling of the Chancel Choir's efforts - excerpts from an Advent Vespers, faithfully reproduced by our resident audio engineer, Wesley Frank. DISCOGRAPHY Click here for a complete listing of First Presbyterian's Advent and Good Friday VESPERS CD's - from 1999 to the present, plus CD recordings of a few of Nancy Frank's organ recitals.