The Tower Online

Trinity Christmas Pageant

 The Trinity Christmas Pageant 2010

Trinity Church held its annual Christmas Pageant on Sunday, December 19 at 4 p.m.  Over 300 people attended this beautiful candlelit service of lessons and carols. The story of the Nativity was told in a tableau format with the 4^th and 5^th graders as the cast of angels, shepherds, King Herod, the 3 wise men and their pages.  Pastor Kathleen Adams-Shepherd was the narrator and the music was provided by the youth choirs: The Trinity Choristers and the Primary Choir with Fiona Smith Sutherland as the director. 

The gifts on the steps were brought in by the children who attended the pageant.  They are for the children at Amos House - a transitional homeless facility in Danbury, and were taken there in time for Christmas.

Sue Vogelman, Minister of Children and Youth Education directed the pageant. “This was my 10^th pageant as director and it was just beautiful. The kids did a great job as usual.”  The Symes family portrayed the Holy Family with Christopher as Joseph, Heather as Mary, and 3 month old Ryder as baby Jesus.  Mason Symes (2 years old) portrayed a little angel who flitted around the manger.  Christopher Symes was also in the pageant almost 20 years ago as a shepherd.  His parents (Curt and Connie Symes) were thrilled to see their own child and then their grandchild be in the Trinity pageant  a few decades later!

 

Choristers Busy Now and During the Summer

by Hannah Albee

Trinity Choristers continue to work diligently with the Voice for Life curriculum, a sacred music program distributed from the Royal School of Music in England.  The young voices we hear from the choir loft are not formed through casual practice. With the direction of Music Director Fiona Sutherland, theirs is a training program that will surely carry them through their lives and the life of the church. 

The Four Choir Festival at St. John’s Church in Waterbury on October 26 proved their dedication and commitment to vocal art.  “Festival” may have been a misnomer as the beautiful evensong service culminated a tough all day and evening rehearsal requiring concentration and long periods on their feet.  This parent was amazed to see the young choristers complete the last afternoon rehearsal and still have stamina for the service.  What’s more, there were children at this festival who were repeat performers.  They knew, full well, the work required of them. My child even wants to go back.  I am intent on finding out what the Voice for Life trade secret is – imagine life with no complaints about chores or homework!

Now that they are gearing up for Advent and Christmas services, some choristers may be looking back nostalgically at the longer, warmer days of Pentacost….Ah, memories of summer camp. You know these images well, even if you never went to camp: the songs, the campy skits, the arts and crafts. Tricks played on the high school counselors. Latin chants, music history, proper choir processional instruction….

What’s that you say?  

It must be another Trinity Chorister Summer Camp.  Mrs. Sutherland stressed the importance of the old adage, “fun while learning” in a way that takes a little more ingenuity on the part of the teacher. “A lot of music camp directors will say they incorporate games and fun into the instruction, but it often boils down to straight instruction time with breaks for games. Then the children just want to get through the music instruction as fast as possible. I really try to incorporate the games and fun during the lessons themselves. The children aren’t even aware of how much they are learning and working.

Picking up my daughter Madeleine each day, I saw all the campers leaving happy and looking forward to the next session. Madeleine brought home jokes, stories and memories that might rival any woodsy lakeside camp.  She bonded quickly with Counselors Stewart Tabler and Lora Street, veteran Choristers. I was glad she was having such a good time, but it wouldn’t be until the end of the week that any worries about actual music instruction would be assuaged.

Stewart and Lora worked with the children on skits performed at the end of the week for their parents. They also led the children through the art and craft of poster design. The posters were later used in the Labor Day parade.  And in keeping with Trinity Chorister tradition the counselors made “paper plate awards” for each camper, attributing unique talent, skill or attitude such as “quickest learner”, “church mouse” or “best jokes”.   

Immediately before the skits in the Johnson Room, the children demonstrated their sharpened vocal and musical skills with a concert in the sanctuary.  This performance of hymns that crossed the centuries, including one chime instrumental and one Latin hymn could only have been accomplished with hours of practice. It was to a large degree Mrs. Sutherland’s teaching philosophy and style, (along with that Voice for Life trade secret I’m intent on uncovering), which brought the week to this successful finale.  It is by far no stretch of the imagination to credit God’s lively Grace present with the Choristers. What else would explain their joy while spending a week of summer vacation – studying at church?

 

Then next time you hear beautiful young voices from the Choir loft, remember that it is by no means a product of sporadic, casual and hurried rehearsals that might stereotypically come to mind. The talent, commitment and hard work coming from these young people is truly a gift at Trinity. 

Music Ministry - Trinity's Music Program

By Fiona Sutherland

Music is integral to our worship and a crucial part of Sunday morning services. Choral music sung by the brilliant choirs brings us closer to God. Vigorous, enthusiastic congregational singing is encouraged, supported by a fine Austin pipe organ. A variety of musical groups invite your participation at Trinity Church.

Primary Choir (grades K-2) rehearses weekly on Thursday afternoons and sings in church about every four weeks

Trinity Choristers (grades 3-12 - or voice change) rehearses weekly on Tuesday afternoons, sings in church nearly every week at varying services, and participates in festivals and concerts

Choir of Men and Women (the choir formerly known as the adult choir) rehearses weekly on Thursday nights, and leads worship each Sunday at varying services.

Contact Music Minister/ Organist & Choirmaster Fiona Smith Sutherland to join or for more information at 426-9070 x.11 or MusicMinister@TrinityNewtownCT.org

Choir quotes:

Choir is fun!

Finish the RSCM program and you will be well prepared to audition for any college glee club and be selected!

The choir is spiritually uplifting and personally challenging. It is the non-negotiable on my weekly calendar!

Choir rehearsals are always something to look forward to now… It has become a time to relax and have fun in the middle of the week. I love it!

Choir is good for your child!

We have all heard of the “Mozart effect.” In recent years the news media have paid excited attention to this phenomenon - a correlation between musical study and the intellectual development of children. And, indeed, there has been ample documentation of a connection between musical study and the development of spatial awareness, a skill of great import for the comprehension of mathematics, and later for science and engineering.

Research on young music students in Hungary has noted their increased performance in reasoning, comprehension, and memorization compared to their peers in more conventional schools. The music students were more in the habit of participating more actively in the learning process, answering questions, building on the answers of classmates, and demonstrating better study discipline than in the other schools.

Indeed, collaboration is one of the essential skills that music can teach. People often think of musical study as an isolating experience – hours alone at the piano or violin that might have been spent in the company of other children playing games. And it is true that some aspects of musical study do demand solitary concentration. But other avenues of musical experience – playing an instrument in ensembles, or of course, singing in choirs – are inherently group-oriented, and teach the rewards of collaboration, as well as the pitfalls of not collaborating, even as they build the musical and intellectual skills of the children participating.

Research suggests, too, that all children are created more or less equal in musical terms – that what we blithely call “musical gifts” are available to all children, if only they are cultivated and encouraged. As with the study of languages, that encouragement and cultivation is most effective when it comes early: it is far easier to teach a six-year-old to match a pitch, and thus to “sing in tune,” than it is to teach a twelve-year-old (or a forty-year-old!) who has never tried to develop that skill. Music is indeed a gift – but it is a gift open to all, not rationed out to a select few.

Here is an invitation to all, and particularly to children, to become musically involved. It does mean work: as in most things, the rewards are proportionate to the effort that produces them. But the rewards of regular participation in music will not only be some hope of results from “the Mozart effect” years down the road, but an increased sense of connection, week-in, week-out, to our worship at Trinity, to this community, and to our God who gives us music and one another.

O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord and bless his Name;
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day! (Psalm 96:1-2)

Trinity Music Program Holds Third Annual Garden Party & Silent Auction

By Hannah Albee

In the sultry heat on Saturday, June 14th, the Trinity Music Program hosted a garden party at the Dana-Holcombe House to raise money for its many ministries. As guests sipped lemonade, they bid on silent auction items. As they admired the perennial gardens, they heard anthems and secular music performed by four Trinity choirs. Solo performances and instrumental accompaniments highlighted the talent found at Trinity Church. Music Minister, organist and pianist Fiona Smith Sutherland conducted the singers and accompanied them on electric piano. An event for the all ages, young children kept happy with a face painting artist, a magician and enough running space for ball games and tag.

Music Minister Fiona Smith Sutherland runs a unique kind of music program at Trinity. Choir members do not just practice the words and melodies for Sunday morning, they study vocal technique and music theory using the curriculum created by the Royal School of Church Music. Weekly practices are held for children as young as kindergarten age in the Primary Choir. The Trinity Choristers, grade 3 through 12, earn ribbons for their progression through class and workbook training. The adult choir welcomes beginners and hires professionals and holds a repertoire that spans Baroque to Gospel. In addition, a vocal and instrumental group ReCreation offers periodic worship music with folk traditions.

Ms. Sutherland, along with help from the Music @ Trinity Committee, choir members and parents of the children’s choirs, organized this event to fund not only the Royal School of Church Music curriculum but also continue to be able to offer the public special music programs such as The Yale Alley Cats who performed at Trinity Church this Spring for a nominal ticket fee. Chorister parent Ben Toby put in hours of behind-the-scenes work, pulling in support from parents and area businesses.

The beautiful garden of the Dana-Holcombe House housed the space for church members and the public alike, with many of us using the facilities as an excuse to tour the gorgeous rooms inside. Between all four choirs and soloists there was enough music to fill the entire two hour event. All soloists being members of the Trinity Choirs, high school students Lora Streett and Sarah Walton sang Broadway worthy renditions from Wicked, and Stewart Tabler wowed us with some exciting songs. Young Trinity Choristers Caitlin Filiato and Caroline McArdle performed “Beauty and the Beast” through the afternoon haze. Katie McMorran had every one laughing and applauding with her brilliant rendition of “The Alto’s Lament.” And Professional jazz singer Cynthia McCorkindale donated numbers by Lenoir and Trenet sung in French, another fitting performance for a hot garden party.

Jerry the Magician offered his physics–defying acts for laughing children, some who came and went from his tent as they rejoined the musical acts on the garden stairs. As the afternoon went on, more and more children turned into dogs, cats and butterflies as they sat long enough for Denise Rosa to paint their faces.

Event Organizer and choir parent Ben Toby sold DVDs of the Trinity Choristers “The Trinity Community has been an important part of our family since we moved to Newtown five years ago,” he said, “and at the center of Trinity, for me, has always been the rich and beautiful music. My children are both members of the youth choir, and I look forward every Sunday to joyfully celebrating with song.”

Lynn Ehrhart donated proceedings from her sales of Silpada jewelry sold at the event. A host of community businesses and church members alike donated goods and services to the silent auction. Cold finger food was plenty, thanks to the traditional “potluck” style that is usual fare at church events. And, call it luck or the good graces of the divine diva in the sky, the rain held off until the last singer sung and the magician had pulled out a real rabbit from his hat. As the wind whipped up and the skies darkened, everyone chipped in to fold up chairs and tables. And before the first drop of rain, all those winning auction items settled up their balances. Bargains for these happy bidders translated to a nice amount raised for next year’s Trinity Music Program.