The Parish Choir of St. Peter’s is a non-auditioned group of singers with various levels of musical training. We welcome all adults, from high school and up. The music of the choir is a balance of accessible as well as more challenging pieces covering a wide range of styles including the classics, contemporary settings, and chant-based service music. To meet the needs of the majority of our singers, choir rehearsals are held Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. (sharp!) and on 1st and 3rd Sundays at 5 p.m.. We participate in the 10 a.m. choral service immediately following the 9 a.m. rehearsal. Choir rehearsals are held in the music room upstairs in the education building. The only requirements for participation are a love of music and friends, a willingness to serve, and a commitment to regular attendance. We have an open door policy, and invite anyone interested to join us — WELCOME!
Randy Terry, Organist and Choir Director, leads the Parish Choir. For those singers who desire extra training, or need to rehearse solo or small ensemble pieces, Randy is available for individual coaching. Please speak directly with him to make arrangements.
A continuing series of musical services and concerts is offered as one way in which we reach out not only to ourselves, but to our surrounding community as well. Events have included brass and organ concerts, the annual Holy Week concert of sacred music, Taize musical prayer services, and an Advent Ceremony of Lessons & Carols with the Parish Choir.
All musical programs are currently held in the acoustically splendid main church. In such a space, a musical note grows, lingers, and then slowly fades away. No wonder such spaces are called “live,” since they give life and vitality to vocal and instrumental music as well as the spoken word. Our musical facilities include a fine pipe organ, located in the rear musician’s gallery, and a concert quality 6'4" Yamaha grand piano located on the main floor. If you or your group is looking for a location to hold a concert or recital, not necessarily sacred in nature, but appropriate to a church setting, contact our music minister, or rector, for further information.
The organ was installed in 1972 and funded entirely by special gifts. Originally consisting of 10 stops, 13 ranks, and 954 pipes, the organ is currently being tonally expanded and updated. In 2000, the family of Mr. Richard “Dick” Stanley, organist emeritus of St. Peter’s, gave a special gift in his honor. St. Peter’s presented Richard Standley with a plaque that included a pipe from the organ formerly located in his home. The Richard Stanley Organ Addition was completed in the summer, 2001. Pipes from various historic organs as well as Mr. Stanley’s own house organ have been combined with new custom designed pipework to create a balanced timelessinstrument well suited to the music of the Episcopal Church. All but one stop are located on new, custom built wind chests located in the expressive chamber behind the exposed pipes. The tonal revisions were completed in the summer, 2001. Currently, the instrument includes 18 ranks and 1,340 pipes. The tonal work has been completed by our organ curator, Mr. Paul Sahlin, of Burlingame.
Phase two of the organ project was completed in 2002. A new software based control system was installed along with a wonderful Aeolian-Skinner console. All of the obsolete mechanical switching in the old installation was replaced with non-moving electronics that will never fall out of adjustment, and since it is computerized it will be fully programmable and major changes can be made by the organist simply and quickly with the aid of a laptop computer (the wonders of technology!)
With the completion of this project, our organ is now tonally and mechanically up-to-date. Some of the features included with the new system are the ability of the organ to record (save data) and play back performances (like a modern player piano,) print out a musical score, connect electronic keyboard instruments to the console via full MIDI connections, etc.