Recent Events

Sign up for the MMH Mailing List

Sunday, June 2, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Local Freight — A Renowned Bluegrass and Country Group
" Local Freight features clean harmonies, strong pickin', and a solid groove. Seasoned musicians John Tibert (mandolin/vocals), Lynne Fontaine (bass/vocals), Rich Piccarreto (guitar/vocals), and Gretchen Bowder (banjo/vocals) bring their varied musical backgrounds together to original songs and classics alike, crafting a fresh, original sound, with solid original underpinnings."

The group has been together for ten years and has played at venues throughout New England, including the Ocean State Oyster Fest (RI), Old Sturbridge Village Cider and Folk Festival (MA), Shelburne Farm Harvest Festival (VT), Framingham Concerts on the Green (MA), Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival (ME), Lakeshore Village Resort (NH), and Bluegrass on the Pawtucket Festival (RI). For more information, please visit  https://localfreightband.com.

Come on over, put your worries and cares on hold, lean back, tap your feet and enjoy the spontaneity of four enthusiastic musicians!

Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Generations
Generations is one of the most sought-after barbershop quartets in New England, and this will be its second appearance at a Music at the Meeting House event (we hosted them in 2012). Led by Bill Wright, the quartet also includes Bob Barnard, Bass; Bill Cheney, Baritone; and Steve Donovan, Tenor. The concert will feature a lot of favorites from the 20th Century, including  such familiar tunes as Alexander's Ragtime Band, Feeling Groovy, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da, My Wild Irish Rose, Hello, Mary Lou, What a Wonderful World, Wait Until the Sun Shines, Nellie, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, I Love You Truly, and Hi Neighbor!

Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Amazing Grace
The story of how God's amazing Grace transformed a loud mouthed, blaspheming slave trader into the composer of many much-loved hymns.
Jeff Brooke-Stewart and various musicians
An afternoon exploring the life of John Newton. We will look into his childhood, his being pressed into the Royal Navy, his grim life below decks on a slave transporter, and how he eventually became the blaspheming captain of his own slave transportation ship. And then finally, after a spiritual transformation, his becoming a much beloved Anglican priest and hymn composer. It is quite a story!

His most popular hymn is Amazing Grace . The history of the words and the melody of this hymn will be described. Both the verses of the hymn and its melody have varied over the centuries, and we will explore that. The earliest known melody used for the hymn will be performed for us on the church organ. But there is, of course, one particular melody that has become synonymous with the hymn, and throughout the program we will hear it performed by several first-class musicians on quite a variety of instruments, and we will hear it sung by a choir and a solo mezzo soprano.

Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Silent Night, Joyful Night: The Christmas Carols of Northern Europe
W e will open the Christmas season with our annual Christmas Concert, this year entitled, "Silent Night, Joyful night: the Christmas Carols of Northern Europe" -- the third of four special annual regional Christmas presentations that we traditionally rotate. Northern Europe (including Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Low Countries and northern France, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine are rich sources of Christmas music, some very familiar (e.g., Silent Night, O Holy Night, Once in Royal David's City), and some less familiar, but still very beautiful. Joining us will be vocalists Grace Norton, Amanda Santo, Arielle Rogers, and Jason Shealy — all of whom are very familiar to (and much acclaimed by) Music at the Meeting House audiences. Klancy Martin on trumpet, Marie Kane on piano, and Marilyn Knight on pipe organ will be among our other performers. We might have bell-ringers! True to our tradition, we will hear the familiar Christmas Story as told by Luke and Matthew. It will be a wonderful afternoon to celebrate Advent and launch the Christmas season!

Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 2:30 PM
A Journey Through 20th Century American Music
Featuring The Ian Frenkel Trio — Ian Frenkel, Keyboard; Lou Bocchiarelli, Bass; Ben Bilello, Drums
A lively Fall Program featuring Swing, American Roots, Glen Miller, early jazz, Dixieland, American Songbook, Blues, Beatles, and Hit Parade features. Come tap your feet and enjoy the fun!

Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Celtic Tunes & Songs
Music at the Meeting House will open its thirty-fourth year with a concert by Stanley & Grimm entitled "Celtic Tunes and Songs," featuring Cape Cod's Nikki Engstrom and Sean Brennan as they present a celebration of traditional Celtic music with old and new interpretations of jigs, reels, and other songs (some they wrote themselves) presented with lively fiddle, guitar, and voice. The Celtic Radio Network describes their music as "emotionally stirring, exhilarating, perfectly splendid." The infectious fun they have on stage and their intense playing have helped them to become favorites in the New England traditional music scene. Nikki's virtuoso fiddle playing and Sean's warm vocals and rhythmic guitar capture the essence and energy of great traditional Celtic music. You will love this concert!

Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Celebrating the Centuries: Our Bicentennial in Word and Song
In an unusual Music at the Meeting House afternoon, we will hold a postponed celebration of the church's bicentennial. It will feature an illustrated talk by Cliff Brown about the Meeting House's architecture, how it was built, and a half dozen major events in the church's 200 year history -- and the Town's history. Because this is a "Music at the Meeting House" event, this talk will be accompanied by special music sung to commemorate the events.

Did you know that President Tyler played a very active role in negotiating an end to the Dorr Rebellion? the culminating events of which took place in Chepachet? Did you know that many Proprietors of the Chepachet Meeting House played a major role in the Dorr Rebellion?  A wonderful opportunity to sing "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!" Did you know that a pastor of the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church was a leading abolitionist and temperance advocate (and, incidentally, the grandfather of actress Betty Davis)? Come and hear some interesting history and hear some famous songs (that you probably haven't heard for a while) sung to commemorate some important historical events.

Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Spring Forward
"Spring Forward" will feature Dan Gabel and a seven-piece band playing lively 20th Century band music in the "Big Band" tradition — Dorsey, Glenn Miller, dixieland, swing, polka, and lively classic band music from the first half of the 20th Century. It will be an exciting time to celebrate the arrival of Spring! This is the group that has been riding in the Church's wagon in the Fourth of July parade and playing band music for the folks along the route.

Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 2:30 PM (Palm Sunday)
Music for the Holy Week
 "The Music of Holy Week" is a new program based on the well-received one we presented four years ago. It will be a musical celebration of the major events of the seven days of the Passion of Jesus: his Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Joining us will be the wonderful Choir of the Greenville Baptist Church, led by Dianne Du; the accomplished organ recitalist Donald Dame (accompanied by Bruce Hopkins on trumpet), playing passion music from Bach, Handel, Schubert, Telemann, Langlais, Bohm, Schumann, and other classical composers; the truly memorable mezzo-soprano soloist Arielle Rogers-Wilkey, singing Foure's The Palms, Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, Go to Dark Gethsemane, and He Lives; our marvelous church organist, Marilyn Knight playing familiar hymns sung by the congregation, some of which will be accompanied by a brass quartet organized by Elizabeth Gates. Pastor Ethel Corbin will read the story of Holy Week from Luke, Mark, and John.

Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 2:30 PM
Soloists Grace Norton, Arielle Rogers-Wilkes, Amanda Santo, and Jason Shealy, accompanied by Marie Kane on the piano. Marilyn Knight on the Pipe Organ, and other artists.

An American Christmas
We will open the Christmas season with our annual Christmas Concert, this year entitled, An American Christmas . Our musicians will be presenting Christmas songs and hymns composed by American writers and composers, or songs deep within the traditional American celebration of Christmas. The first part of the program will feature contemporary classics like Sleigh Ride, White Christmas, and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. The second half of the program will feature the Christmas Story from the books of Luke and Matthew, accompanied by songs and hymns from the American tradition, such as O Little Town of Bethlehem and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (both written by New Englanders). We will welcome back Arielle Rogers-Wilkey, Jason Shealy, Amanda Santo, and Grace Norton, accompanied by Marie Kane on the piano, a brass quartet organized by Elizabeth Gates, and other performers. Marilyn Knight will play the pipe organ as the audience sings Christmas hymns. It will be a wonderful afternoon to celebrate advent and launch the Christmas season!

Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 2:30 PM
The Coast Guard Academy Chorale, Daniel R. McDavitt, Director
Returning soloists Amanda Santo and Jason Shealy, accompanied by Marie Kane on the piano; Trumpeter Klancy Martin; and Marilyn Knight on the Pipe Organ

A Celebration in Song
Music at the Meeting House is honored to host the Coast Guard Academy Chorale from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, one of America's five military academies. They will be joined by Amanda Santo and Jason Shealy, accompanied by Marie Kane on the piano, with Klancy Martin on the trumpet and Marilyn Knight on the pipe organ.

Entitled A Celebration in Song, the program includes a postponed commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which we plan to honor all veterans and those who served their town, state, and country as first responders in the Covid epidemic. Please try to attend, and bring a veteran or a first responder with you!

The Coast Guard Academy Chorale will sing patriotic songs and a set of sea chanties (including High Barbara, Whale of a Tale, and Wild Rover); our soloists will sing a set of World War II era songs (including I'll be Home for Christmas, The White Cliffs of Dover, and As Time Goes By). Marilyn Knight and Klancy Martin will play a medley of patriotic songs; and Klancy Martin, accompanied by Marie Kane, will play a medley of World War II era songs.

In this concert, held during the week of Veterans Day, we are honoring those who have served in our armed forces and also those who have served our country as first responders in the fight against Covid-19 : our police, our fire fighters and rescue teams, our medical professionals, the Staffs of our nursing homes and assisted living facilities and other employees and volunteers who were on the front lines.

It is truly fitting that the Coast Guard Academy Chorale join us on this day as representatives of those who serve our country. The men and women of the Coast Guard serve to defend our coasts and their adjacent waters from those who would violate them and serve as first responders to those in peril on the sea—and elsewhere as emergencies require. We thank you for your service!

Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 2:30 PM
Proteus String Quartet

The Proteus String Quartet will open our thirty-third year with Happy Birthday Ludwig!—Part II. For those of you who enjoy Beethoven, this will be another real treat featuring world-class musicians playing in our sanctuary, which is beautifully designed for chamber music. This nationally-acclaimed quartet was formed in 2010 and is headquartered at Rhode Island College. John Sumerlin (first violin), Laura Gulley (violin), Susan Culpo (viola), and Theodore Mook (cello) are string virtuosos who, between them, have played with the Boston Symphony Boston Pops, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and with orchestras in Dallas, Cincinnati, Honolulu, Santa Fe, and many other locations throughout America, Europe and Asia. Members of this group have also taught (or are teaching) at RIC, URI, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School, Providence College, the University of Massachusetts at Lowel, and many other locations.

The concert will consist of two main parts. First, PROTEUS will play Beethoven's String Quartet in E-Minor (Opus 59, No.2), a very engaging work written in 1808 that contains solemn, joyful, and sometimes sorrowful passages as it sweeps the listeners purposefully through an unfolding of different, but always engaging, emotions.

Then, PROTEUS will play Beethoven's most impressive String Quartet in C# minor, Opus 131– acclaimed by some as Beethoven's most impressive string quartet. Written in 1826 near the end of his life (when the Chepachet Meeting House was five years old), this piece anticipated many musical innovations that followed throughout the rest of the century. The seven-movement fascinating and riveting composition is intense, filled with variety and experimentation, and as with all of Beethoven's great works packs an enormous emotional punch.

We will end the concert with the audience singing Beethoven's Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, based on the Ode to

Sunday, June 5, 2022, at 2:30 PM
Happy Birthday, Ludwig – Part I

At this much-postponed 250th birthday bash for Ludwig von Beethoven (in 1770), we will feature the Hilltop Woodwinds Trio (Jane Murray, Denise Plaza Martin, Donna Marie Cobert), piano soloist Philip Martorella, and our church organist, Marilyn Knight. Included in the program will be two special woodwind trios Beethoven wrote for oboe and English horn, his famous Appassionata Sonata, the first movement of his even more famous Moonlight Sonata, and his delightful Sonata #31 in A-flat major, which was composed in 1821, the very year the Chepachet Meeting House was built -- in honor of that date. We will celebrate Happy Birthday, Ludwig, Part II, in the fall.

Unless required in the meantime by the state, there will be no covid restrictions on attendance; but if you have not been vaccinated, we would urge you to wear a mask to protect yourself and those who sit near you.

Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 2:30PM
A Virtual Organ Tour Through History

Randall Steere will give a special organ concert entitled, A Virtual Organ Tour Through History. Randy was the person who inaugurated the Music at the Meeting House series over 30 years ago in 1990. He has planned an exciting concert of a dozen or so major sacred and classical pieces spanning three centuries. It will include such famous composers as Mendelssohn, Selby, Reger, and Stanley, as well as other, more recent artists. Of local interest will be Symphonic Prelude by William Steere, an organist and composer whose ancestor Samuel Steere was an early settler of the town of Glocester.

The concert will feature a Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ, a unique instrument and product of modern technology that reproduces the actual sound of different important pipe organs throughout the country and the globe. When played, it sounds like one of those organs. Mr. Steere will not be playing recordings from the organs, but through the miracle of contemporary virtual technology, he will be playing in front of you as if he were playing on the organs themselves.  His selections will illustrate the evolution of organ sound from the late 19th century to the present -- spanning the time that organ music has been played at the Meeting House. He will also be playing the church's own pipe organ. This concert therefore will be instructive as well as enjoyable!!

Mr. Steere  holds a Master of Music degree in Pipe Organ Performance from the Yale University School of Music and the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music, a Master of Divinity degree from the Yale Divinity School, and a Masters in Computer Science degree from RPI. He has served as Minister of Music at the First Church in Glastonbury, CT, and Assistant Organist at Old South Church in Boston. This concert will launch the resumption of our Music at the Meeting House series after the pandemic and also the Church's 200th Anniversary celebrations.

Sunday, December 1, 2019, at 2:30 PM
An Old English Christmas
Various Artists

The final event of the fall season will be our annual Christmas program, this year entitled An Old English Christmas. We will welcome back Arielle Rogers, Jason Shealy, Amanda Santo, and Grace Norton, accompanied by Marie Kane — all favorites with Music at the Meeting House audiences. Klancy Martin will play trumpet. Colin and Marie Kane will perform on the recorder, and we will be joined by the Greenville Baptist Church bell ringers.  Our own Marilyn Knight will play the century-old Lane tracker pipe organ. It will be a wonderful afternoon to celebrate Advent and launch the Christmas season!

Sunday, November 10, 2019, at 2:30 PM
Classical Guitar
Scott Sanchez

Internationally acclaimed classical guitar virtuoso Scott Sanchez

Details to come.

Sunday, October 6, 2019, at 2:30 PM
Vocal Revolution
Men's Chorus

We are excited to open our thirtieth season with Vocal Revolution, a men's very large "barbershop quartet." A dozen singers will visit us from Lexington, Massachusetts, for their Chepachet debut. This is one of New England's finest multi-award winning á capella close harmony chorus , and it is sure to be a wonderful concert.

Vocal Revolution, whose roots are in Greater Boston, is a winner of WGBH's television show Sing That Thing, and for the last eight years has been acclaimed New England's Barbershop Chorus Champion. Founded in 1970 (under the name Sounds of Concord), the group has a nearly 50-year history of wowing audiences and spreading joy through music. Under the frontline directorship of Cay Outerbridge, it sings in a variety of musical styles, both locally and nationally. Nashville, Las Vegas, Boston Symphony Hall, and Fenway Park are just a few of the many locations in which Vocal Revolution has performed recently. Their repertoire includes classics such as Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and How Sweet it is to be Loved By You, as well as regional favorites like Sweet Caroline, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, the theme from Cheers, and Charlie on the MTA.

Sunday, June 2, 2019, at 2:30 PM
Melville and the Great White Whale
The Aurea String Ensemble

Throughout the history of our music series, we have celebrated many anniversaries. Our final Music at the Meeting House event this spring will continue this tradition when we welcome back the Aurea String Ensemble to present a wonderful new program celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, Billy Budd, and many other famous literary works. Although born in New York, Melville spent much of his life in New England and was very much a part of the New England literary circle that included Nathaniel Hawthorne (to whom Melville dedicated Moby Dick). Although we think of New Bedford and Nantucket in Massachusetts, when remember the whaling industry, Warren, Rhode Island, was also a major whaling port during the first half of the 19th century. Needless to say, music of the sea will be a major part of this concert, an appropriate theme for the Ocean State. Featured will be three Beethoven quartets (Op. 18, #1; Op. 59 #1; and Op. 95), five Webern pieces for string quartet, a set of harmonica sea chanteys, and other nautically evocative music, along with readings from Melville, including his correspondence with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Sunday, May 5, 2019, at 2:30 PM
Heartland: Music of the Mid-West
Various Artists

The second concert in our series honoring different regions of our country, the program will feature songs containing the names of Midwestern states and cities, and songs and styles of music with Midwestern origins. It will feature soloists Amanda Santo, Jason Shealy, and Sarah Izzo Hamel, and a musical group assembled by John Banker (familiar to Music at the Meeting House audiences, who will remember him from the German Springfest last year and the Music of the South concert in 2017). We will present a variety of music — from traditional regional songs (e.g. Meet Me in St. Louis; On the Banks of the Wabash), Big Ten fight songs (e.g. that of Notre Dame), and Broadway favorites (e.g. Seventy-six Trombones ), to more modern epics (e.g. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald). John Banker will also present samples of the twentieth century Midwestern music of Missouri's Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag), and Motown (Detroit), and perform such classics as Sinatra's Chicago and the St. Louis Blues.

Sunday, April 14, 2019, at 2:30 PM
The Music of Holy Week
Various Artists

A new program based on the well-received one we presented two years ago. It will be a musical celebration of the major events of the seven days from Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. It will take place on Sunday, April 14, 2019, at 2:30 PM at the Meeting House. This will be the afternoon of Palm Sunday, the week before Easter.

Joining us will be the wonderful Choir of the Greenville Baptist Church (with additional singers from the North Scituate Baptist Church ), the very accomplished organ recitalist Donald Dame, the truly memorable mezzo-soprano soloist Arielle Rogers, and our own marvelous church organist, Marilyn Knight, accompanied by the inspiring trumpeter Klancy Martin. The choir will sing traditional hymns of the season and will lead the congregation in singing more. Donald Dame will play passion music from Bach and other classical composers; soloist Arielle Rogers, whose extraordinary voice is familiar to most Music at the Meeting House patrons, will sing Foure's, The Palms and several other famous Holy Week selections. Marilyn Knight and Klancy Martin will play several organ and trumpet pieces. Pastors Gillette and Henrichon will read the story of Holy Week from Luke and John.

Sunday, December 2, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Christmas Concert: Southern Europe
Various Artists

The final event of the fall season will be our Christmas program, this year featuring the Christmas songs of Southern Europe — France, Burgundy, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Austria and others — to complete our four-region cycle. We will welcome back Arielle Rogers, Jason Shealey, Amanda Santo, and Grace Norton , all favorites with Music at the Meeting House audiences. In addition, we will be joined by the Hornitholoy Brass Quartet and by bell ringers from the Greenville Baptist Church — a wonderful way to launch the Christmas season.

Sunday, November 4, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Songs from the Decades
Steve Caddick and Avalon

Our second concert of the fall season, will be entitled "Songs from the Decades," featuring Steve Caddick and Avalon , a trio with Steve (a 2013 inductee to the American Banjo Hall of Fame) playing the four-string banjo; Paul Porier, on the tenor banjo; and Bill Kass on tuba — you may recognize Bill from the annual Tuba Christmas in Boston concerts. They will sing and play hit songs from eight 20th century decades (from the 1910s through the 1980s), largely from the Great American Songbook, with a few "British invasion" pieces worked in. These are three great professionals!

At the beginning of our concert, to honor our veterans, we will take a few minutes to memorialize with song and prayer the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I , which occurred on November 11, 1918.

"Songs from the Decades" will begin in the World War I era and in the 1920s with pieces originally written or sung by George M. Cohan, Al Jolson, and Eddie Cantor. We will move through the decades with hit parade leaders by singers such as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and the Mills Brothers, entering the more modern era with classics by Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, and the Beatles. Avalon will wind up the concert with songs from the 70s and 80s from stars such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, Stevie Wonder, and Leonard Cohen (Hallelujah!).

Sunday, October 7, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Folk Meets the Classics
Virginia Sindelar — Flute
Phil Goldenberg — Classical Guitar

Virginia Sindelar, award-winning flutist from Pascoag, and Phil Goldenberg, award-winning classical guitarist from Brooklyn, New York, will present "Folk Meets the Classics," a lively program of flute and guitar solos and duets played by two extraordinary musicians. These are world-class professionals with national reputations.

Flutist Virginia Sindelar, an award-winning graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, has performed with the Chicago Symphony String Ensemble, the Berkshire Festival Orchestra at Tanglewood, and with many other distinguished groups here and overseas. She has taught music at Lowell University, Clark University, Eastern Nazerine College, and at the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. She has lived in Pascoag since 1994 where she runs the Grace Note Farm Inn.

Classical guitarist Phil Goldenberg, a graduate of Rowan University with a masters in guitar performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, has recently won top honors at both the Philadelphia and the Straud Classical Guitar Competitions, and received a prized fellowship to the Crown of the Continent guitar festival at Bigfork, Montana. Critics acclaim his "considerable sense of drama and varied color," as well as his "Sense of pleasing calm, juxtaposed by moments of technical brilliance. " He is coming up to Chepachet from Brooklyn, New York.

Their program will consist of a mix of classical and folk songs, from Scottish airs and Argentine tangos to American Appalachian Mountain Folk Songs and Spanish popular songs. They will also include such American classics as "When You Wish Upon A Star." These pieces are composed largely by 20th century composers who take traditional folk airs and popular music and convert them into a more classical style -- for a truly elegant combination. You will enjoy both the music and the virtuoso musicians.

Sunday, June 3, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Springfest
Berkshire Mountain Wanderers

Our final spring Music at the Meeting House event will feature the Berkshire Mountain Wanderers in a lively "springfest" of German Music — horns, accordions, and lots of singing, including from the audience!

Sunday, May 6, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Spring in Provence
Hyunjung Choi, Harp; Susan Thomas, Flute

Spring in Provence will feature principal harpist Hyunjung Choi and principal flutist Susan Thomas, both highly-acclaimed musicians from the RI Philharmonic, who will play beautifully memorable selections of classical Spring Music — to celebrate (WE HOPE!) the long-expected arrival of Spring. The program of harp solos, flute solos, and harp-flute duets will include serenades, folk dances, fantasies, carols, opera excerpts, and other selections from Saint Saens, Faure, Bartok, Britten, Persichetti, Salzedo, and many other famous composers.

Ms. Choi is the Principal Harpist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches harp at Brown University. She studied musicology and harp at Tufts University and Boston University. Ms. Choi performs with various professional ensembles in New England and as a soloist at recitals and concerts. As a music editor/transcriber specializing in early music printing, Ms. Choi has collaborated with noted musicologists and leading academic publishers. Her Masters thesis, a modern transcription of the complete works of the French composer Nicolas, is published as part of a series of 16th century Chansons.

Susan Thomas is an active orchestral, solo and chamber musician in the New England area. She is Principal Flute with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and a founding member of the Block Ensemble, a prize-winning woodwind quintet. She has made solo appearances with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Ocean State Chamber Orchestra, the Cape Ann Symphony, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the American Band.

An award-winning soloist, Thomas studied with the noted player and pedagogue James Pappoutsakis and also with James Galway in Lucerne, Switzerland. She has garnered prizes in a range of noted competitions, including the Concert Artists Guild, the Performers of Southern Connecticut and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra.

She has received numerous accolades in her performance career. The San Antonio Express-News said "…her agility and breath control were impeccable… (she) possesses an uncommon musical instinct." The Providence Journal commented about "…her obvious joy in making music, her performance a lesson in perfect placement and clarity." James Galway remarked that "….her playing and bright personality…won the unanimous admiration of all."

Thomas is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Rhode Island, where she teaches flute, chamber music, woodwind methods and oversees student creation of digital portfolios.

These are two very accomplished musicians and we look forward to their Music at the Meeting House debut.

You will not want to miss this concert! The acoustics in our small Meeting House are especially appropriate for harp and flute music, and the concert should be very beautiful.

Sunday, March 25, 2018, at 2:30 PM
Spring Fever
Various Artists

Featuring Soprano Amanda Santo, Mezzo Soprano Sarah Izzi Hamel, Baritone Jason Shealy, violinist Wendy Rios Dawber, pianist Marie Kane, and organist Marilyn Knight, presenting a wonderful variety of spring and Easter songs — including Broadway favorites, classical selections, traditional spring songs, and Easter hymns.

Found among the familiar pieces being planned are favorites by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Rogers & Hammerstein. The list of Broadway and popular songs we are working on include Easter Parade, Younger Than Springtime Am I, If Ever I Would Leave You,  April Showers, June is Busting Out All Over, I Love Paris, Singing in the Rain, and Edelweiss.

Among the classical selections we are planning to include are Mendelssohn's Spring Song, Schubert's Spring Song, Schubert's Dream of Spring, and the spring section from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

With the Lenten season drawing to a close, Pastor Angie Henrichon will give us a brief Easter meditation and we will sing a few great Easter hymns.

It should be a wonderful way to celebrate the realization that Winter is mostly behind us and our season of rebirth, promise, and renewal is about to begin. We would also love to have you join us on Easter Sunday itself at 10:00 AM for a music-filled Easter service.

So come along and Tiptoe Through the Tulips while that Red, Red Robin Goes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along! (We do remember that two years ago our first Spring concert in early April featured four inches of snow on the ground and snow squalls during the program — let us hope that will not be the case this year!)

Sunday, December 3, 2017, at 2:30 PM
Silent Night, Joyful Night: the Christmas Carols of Northern Europe
Various Artists

Silent Night, Joyful Night: the Christmas Carols of Northern Europe, will take place Sunday, December 3, 2017, at 2:30 PM. It will be a wonderful occasion to celebrate the advent of the Christmas season.

We will sing and hear Christmas music from many countries, including Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. Some will be familiar (Silent Night, Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, O Holy Night, Once in Royal David's City, While Shepherds Watched their Flocks, Hark the Herald Angels Sing), and some less familiar, but still very beautiful such as the Christ Child Lullaby and Balulalow, from Scotland; The Darkest Midnight in December, That Night in Bethlehem, Ye Sons of Men With Me Rejoice (Wexford Carol), from Ireland; Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, from Poland; and Carol of the Bells from the Ukraine. And then there are songs from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, which have become part of our seasonal Christmas tradition (The March, Arabian Dance, Waltz of the Flowers, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy). All in all, we will be presenting a couple dozen Christmas selections from more than a dozen countries, played and sung by very accomplished musicians.

The program will feature vocalists Grace Norton, soprano; Amanda Santo, soprano; Arielle Rogers, mezzo-soprano; and Jason Shealy, baritone — all of whom are very familiar to (and much acclaimed by) Music at the Meeting House audiences. Klancy Martin, a veteran of our series, will play trumpet. Tom Kane, also a series veteran, will play the baritone horn and accompany his parents Collin and Marie Kane in a recorder trio. Marie will also accompany on the piano, and our own Marilyn Knight will play the church's 110-year old E.W. Lane tracker pipe organ, as members of the congregation contribute their voices to our celebration! Last, but certainly not least, Pastor Angie Henrichon will give a Christmas meditation entitled "We Need Christmas." and read the Christmas Story as told by Luke and Matthew. She, too, is a trained vocalist, and she will be singing What Child is This?

This will be a marvelous and inspiring program!

Sunday, November 12, 2017, at 2:30 PM
Thanksgiving Hymn Sing
Greenville Baptist Church Choir
Wes Woolmington, Director

A celebration of Thanksgiving hymns, with the Choir of the Greenville Baptist Church , Wes Woolmington, Director; and our Pastor Emeritus Jeff Brooke Stewart, narrator.

The choir and congregation will sing a couple dozen or so traditional Thanksgiving hymns and harvest songs, from such old favorites as Come Ye Thankful People Come and For the Beauty of the Earth to Shine on Harvest Moon and Over the River and Through the Woods. Also featured will be hymns of Wesley (O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing) and Fanny Crosby (To God Be the Glory). Needless to say the early Reformation hymns of Thanksgiving, such as Now Thank We All Our God and We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing will emphatically be included. Jeff Brooke Stewart's narrations in which he will describe the traditions of harvest festivals and the background of the hymns to be sung will help make this a very special occasion — as will the beautiful voices of the Greenville Baptist Church Choir, accompanied by Marilyn Knight on the organ, and by virtuoso trumpet accompanist Gino Villarreal.

Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 2:30 PM
The New England Church Organ Tradition: A Concert in Honor of Marilyn Knight
Stephen Martorella, organist

Our second fall concert will be another special occasion. We are celebrating the 115th anniversary of the church's E.W. Lane tracker pipe organ, and the 15th anniversary of Marilyn Knight's service as our organist at Chepachet Baptist. Not surprisingly, and very appropriately, we will be celebrating these events with an organ concert!

We are honored to have as our guest organist: Stephen Martorella, an internationally acclaimed musician and, for the last thirty years, Minister of Music at The First Baptist Church in America. Very active in the Rhode Island music community, he has also appeared as both soloist and conductor in renowned performances (including world premieres) in New York, London, Paris, Belfast, St. Petersburg, Miami, and at the Kerkrade summer festival in the Netherlands. The Providence Journal describes him as a "performer of the most refined musical tastes and abilities."

This concert will celebrate two centuries of New England church organ music, and will feature masterpieces of the organ literature (by such giants as Buxtehude, Bach, Handel, and Mendelssohn) alongside lesser known gems which were written by American composers specifically for the "Classic American Organ."

............................................

Marilyn Knight is our church organist, and has been a pianist, organist, and music director for many years, serving, among other places, at the First Baptist Church of East Providence, the Meshanticut Baptist Church, St. Mary's Church in Providence, and Temple Sinai in Cranston. She has been with us in Chepachet for fifteen years, during which time our congregation has enjoyed her marvelous preludes and postludes, as well as her wonderful hymn renditions, which everyone looks forward to every Sunday.

Sunday, October 1, 2017, at 2:30 PM
Music of the South
Various Artists

We will open our twenty-eighth season with the first of a set of four or five concerts that we plan to offer over the next couple of years featuring music about (or from) a specific region of America. This fall we will start the series with a concert entitled Music of the South. In the South's time of agony, and in recognition of the devastation that has taken place across much of that region from the two recent monster hurricanes, our musicians will be compensated from an advanced gift, and our entire free-will collection will be donated to the relief effort to help the victims of Harvey and Irma.

The music of the south is as diverse as southern culture itself, and this concert will reflect both the rich musical heritage of the region and musical interpretations of southern culture by Americans from other regions. We will feature three marvelous accomplished soloists (Amanda Santo, Soprano; Sarah Izzi, Mezzo-soprano; and Jason Shealy, Baritone). Music at the Meeting House audiences will remember Amanda and Jason; this will be Sarah's series debut.

They will inspire us with a set of a dozen or more familiar songs (both traditional and contemporary) about southern states and cities,  -- songs like Our Great Virginia, Carolina Moon, Carolina in the Morning, Georgia on My Mind, Swannee River, Oh Susanna, Old Man River, The City of New Orleans, Summertime from Porgy and Bess, Galveston, Yellow Rose of Texas, Deep in the Heart of Texas, and others. They will be accompanied by Marie Kane, who has played marvelously for our concert series on many occasions.

Also, we are honored to be joined by the Riverboat Ramblers, a band from Connecticut playing such favorites as Dixie, The Charleston (which was named for Charleston, South Carolina), and lively selections of Dixieland music and New Orleans cajun pieces. We expect that those Saints will indeed go Marching In!

The musicians in this band have distinguished records:

• Band Director John Banker (trumpet, banjo, Cajun Rubboard) has toured with such legends as Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme, has directed the Coast Guard Academy Band, and currently is Minister of Music at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Old Saybrook.
   
• Sherman Kahn (clarinet, sax) has toured with many famous big bands, including Sammy Kaye, Vaughn Monroe, Bob Crosby, and Vincent Lopez.
   
• Sal Ranniello (drums) plays classical, jazz, Cajun, and rock music. He travelled as percussionist on the world tour of "Evita." He plays in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and teaches at the world-famous Hartt School of Music in Hartford.
   
• Joe McWilliams (piano) has played and recorded with some of the best Jazz and pop musicians in the world. He now teaches in the New Haven schools and is the Director of Music at Beacon Falls Congregational Church in Beacon Falls, Connecticut.

Our third Music at the Meeting House concert will take place on Sunday, June 4. It will feature The Hilltop Trio, a woodwind group consisting of three performers from the Rhode Island Philharmonic (Jane Murray, Denise Plaza-Martin, and Donna Marie Cobert), each of whom are masters of both oboe and English horn. These accomplished musicians will give a lively concert entitled, Winds from the Hilltop, offering a spirited program of classical, romantic, folk, and dance tunes — along with brief commentary on each piece. You will hear Bach inventions and a Ravel fugue as well as 20th century "Cake Dance" music by Aitkin and mambo and tango pieces by Kalke. The trio consists of highly-trained professional musicians, and we are honored to have them join us.

Music at the Meeting House tries to encourage young performers, and we are especially happy that the Hilltop Trio will be joined by three members of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Oboe Trio (Jacob Migneault and Christina Burns, oboes, and Sarah Jager, English horn). They will play Variations on a theme of Pleyel: by Krommer on their own, and join the Hilltop adult group in the Cake Dance suite.

Sunday, May 7, 2017, at 2:30 PM
Village Music
Walter Buckingham

Used by permission from Walter Buckingham

Featured will be the early New England musical tradition down through the nineteenth century, with a special emphasis on music played in New England villages like Chepachet — in churches, at dances, in parlors, at military and celebratory marches, and at revival meetings . Some selections will relate to the history of the Village of Chepachet and the Chepachet Meeting House itself.

This concert will help honor our church's "mini-anniversaries" — the 195th anniversary of the building of the Meeting House (completed, fall 1821), the gathering of the Baptist congregation (spring 1822), and the purchase of the Holbrook steeple bell, cast in 1822.

Mr. Buckingham will bring with him a collection of early musical instruments that he will discuss and play. He will also sing for us, so the concert will include both vocal and instrumental offerings. Some examples:

—In recognition of the 175th Anniversary of the Dorr Rebellion, the climactic events of which took place in the Village of Chepachet in June 1842, Mr. Buckingham will play a selection of military and marching pieces, some of which trace their origins to dance music.

—George Holbrook and George Handel Holbrook, who cast our steeple bell, were both movers and shakers in Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, founded in 1815. In their honor, and in commemoration of our Holbrook  bell, we will  hear some examples of Baroque chamber or parlor music on period instruments.

—We will honor Lowell Mason, a friend of the Holbrooks and a prominent New England hymn writer, and will hear about the origins of the tradition of singing hymns in church services with musical instruments in accompaniment.

—We will enjoy a selection of village dance songs.

—Finally, in honor of Rev. Alexander Morrell and other 19th century Chepachet Baptist Church pastors, Mr. Buckingham will play a selection of period Temperance songs.

Mr. Buckingham received his music training at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was associated with Old Sturbridge Village for nearly 35 years, retiring in 2015. At Sturbridge he supervised the music, dance, and performance programs for many years. He is proficient on the keyboard, and plays the guitar, flute, and many early 19th century period instruments.

We hope you can make it to this very special program!!

Sunday, April 2, 2016, at 2:30 PM
The Music of Holy Week
Various Artists

The Music of Holy Week, taking place during the Lenten Season, will be a musical celebration of the major events of the seven days from Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem through the Resurrection. It will take place on the Sunday before Palm Sunday and two Sundays before Easter.

We will feature many performers:

—The Choir of the Greenville Baptist Church (with some additional singers from the North Scituate Baptist Church), under the direction of Wes Woolington, will sing many traditional hymns of the season, and will lead the congregation in singing many more. These will include such meaningful favorites as All Glory, Laud and Honor, Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, O Sacred Head Now Wounded, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, In the Cross of Christ I Glory, The Old Rugged Cross, and Christ the Lord is Risen Today.

—Organ soloist Donald Dame, who will play Bach's All Glory, Laud and Honor, selections based on Brahms' Passion Chorale, and Bach's O Lamb of God Undefiled.

—Our own marvelous church organist, Marilyn Knight, accompanied by the inspiring trumpeter Klancy Martin, will play Trumpet Fanfare by Mouret, Trumpet March by Clarke, Trumpet Voluntary by Stanley, and The Prayer of St. Gregory by Hovahness. Marilyn and Klancy will also will accompany the choir.

—Soloist mezzo-soprano Arielle Rogers, whose extraordinary voice is familiar to most Music at the Meeting House patrons, will sing The Palms, Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? and He Lives. She will be accompanied by Marilyn Knight on the organ.

—Our pastor, Angie Henrichon, will read the story of Holy Week from Luke and John and deliver brief messages about the significance of Holy Week music.

This will be a wonderful way to celebrate the Lenten Season, anticipate the coming of Easter, and welcome, we trust, the arrival of Spring—although we do recall that last year's first Spring concert, which took place in early April, featured four inches of snow on the ground and snow squalls during the program. Let us hope that will not be the case this year!

A dozen or so accomplished musicians will be singing, tooting, and playing Christmas songs and hymns composed by American writers and composers, with one or two hymns from other traditions that are now deeply established in our own traditional celebration of Christmas.

We will welcome back four soloists familiar to Music at the Meeting House audiences: Grace Norton, Arielle Rogers, Jason Shealy, and Aimee-Rose Willett. We will also welcome back a wonderful brass quartet assembled by Elizabeth Gates, who plays the French Horn for the Rhode Island Philharmonic and will do so for us in this concert. It will include her husband Joel Gates (Trombone), Tom Kane (Euphonium), and Dennis Martel (Trumpet). We will also have a couple of brass solos from Tom Kane. Also, Janice MacLeod will play the Native American flute. Marie Kane will be our piano accompanist.

The first part of the program will feature fifteen or so contemporary classics, including such favorites as It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, Let it Snow, I'll Be home for Christmas, White Christmas, Chestnuts Roasting, Silver Bells, Winter Wonderland, Leroy Anderson's marvelous Sleigh Ride, and of course, Jingle Bells!

The second half of the program will feature the Christmas Story from Luke and Matthew, with special comment by Pastor Angie Henrichon, accompanied by songs and hymns from the American tradition, such as O Little Town of Bethlehem, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (both written by New Englanders), We Three Kings, Away in a Manger, I Wonder as I Wander, and Go Tell it On the Mountain. The audience will also enjoy singing a few Christmas classics like Longfellow's I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, (O Little Town of Bethlehem), Silent Night and Joy to the World, the last two from other traditions, accompanied by Marilyn Knight, our organist, on the church's beautiful century-old tracker pipe organ.

As currently planned, the program will include such famous pieces as Sousa's Semper Fidelis and Washington Post, a George M. Cohan medley and other pieces by Cohan, Danny Boy, a Vaudeville Medley, the Colonel Bogey March, the Florentiner March, American Patrol, the Belgian March, It's a Long way to Tipperary, an Armed Forces Medley, and many other familiar tunes played during that era.

We expect that this will be the first of two concerts commemorating this titanic struggle. The second performance will be in the Spring.

Sunday, October 2, 2016, at 2:30 PM
The Songs of Nelson Eddy
Various Artists

Starting his singing career in church choirs, Eddy achieved fame in many venues: he appeared in nineteen major film productions, he sang with some of the leading opera companies in America, he produced nearly 300 records, and he sang as a guest on many televisions shows in the 1950s and 1960s, hosted by such famous names as Dinah Shore, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ed Sullivan, and Bob Hope. A few months before he died, he was the featured singer on Guy Lombardo's New Year's Eve program at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Although many of Eddy's songs reached huge audiences through records and other media, we must never forget the superb live performances that he gave -- and affirm our belief that there really is no substitute for live performances of great music.

To honor Eddy, we have invited Amanda Santo, Arielle Rogers, and Jason Shealy, three artists from the Rhode Island Opera Theater (RIOT), to bring you a selection of some of Eddy's most memorable songs from the wide range of musical traditions he worked with: Broadway musicals, Gilbert and Sullivan, classical opera, folk songs, and church hymns. Our selection will therefore be "eclectic" (as the critics say) — in the true meaning of the term — excellent examples from many traditions. This is RIOT's second visit to the Meeting House. Many will remember their Rogers and Hammerstein performance a year ago. We expect that October 2 will be a wonderful afternoon of nostalgia, romance, and inspiration, and we hope you will take the time during this busy fall to join us.

For our final concert of the spring season, The Aurea Ensemble will present a special program of Bach, Mozart, and Dohnanyi, inter -spaced with poetry readings from classical and contemporary poets. The performers are: Chris Turner, harmonica, Katherine Winterstein, violin; Consuelo Sherba, viola; and Emmanuel Feldman, cello. Chris Turner will lead the program with improvisations on the harmonica, followed by Bach's Fuge in F Major for the Well Tempered Clavichord, Part II; Mozart's Divertimento for Violin, Viola, and Cello in E-Flat; and Serenade for String Trio by Dohnanyi. The Ensemble, returning by popular demand, brings classical music to life in marvelous ways. Each movement of these classics will be followed by a brief poetry reading. It should be a memorable afternoon!

Sunday, May 1, 2016, at 2:30 PM
The Brown University Madrigal Singers

Music at the Meeting House every year tries to encourage young musicians and singers and this spring we have invited the Brown University Madrigal Singers, one of the College's most famous a cappella singing groups to perform for us. The concert, featuring women composers, will be held in honor of Mother's Day, which will be the following week.

This program will consist of mostly classical compositions spanning nearly a thousand years, with some from recent times. Composers will include Beatriz Corona, Hildegarde von Bingen, Anne Boleyn, Isabella Leonarda, Fanny Mendelssohn, Vienna Ting, Ethel Smyth, Maddalena Casulana, Joan Szymko, and Amy Beach.

The program will conclude with the audience joining the group in the singing of one of Fanny Crosby's most famous hymns.

Fiddler Nikki Engstron and singer/guitarist Sean Brennan will come to Chepachet for an afternoon of spirited Celtic-style traditional music, complete with new interpretations of jigs and reels — and other inspiring songs from many traditions.

This Celtic duo will create a musical journey through a bounty of tunes and ballads alongside modern scores and songs they have composed. They call themselves Stanley and Grimm — taking their name from the maker of Nikki's fiddle — and the maker of the bow she uses to play it. Stanley was the late F. O. Stanley (you guessed it) of Stanley Steamer fame. Grimm was a German bow maker. We are dying to ask her if he was related to the Grimm of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

These are great performers. The Irish Rambler Radio Show describes the duo as having "a wonderfully pure, organic and authentic sound that makes them rank among the finest entertainers this side of the Atlantic. Their arrangements and playing ability enables them to produce an acoustic tapestry which is close to perfection." The infectious fun they have on stage and their intense playing has helped them to become favorites on the New England traditional muscal scene. If you wish a preview, you can hear a sample of their music and watch videos of their perfornances at www.stanleyandgrimm.com.

This award-winning duo from Cape Cod was recently described by the Celtic Radio Network as "emotionally stirring, exhilarating, perfectly splendid."

This will be an occasion when you can tap your feet and enjoy a great concert of Celtic music and other traditional music played in Celtic style!

Sunday, December 6, 2015, at  2:30 PM
An Old English Christmas
Various performers

The final event of the fall season will be our Christmas program. For the last several years we have been drawing on the musical traditions of different parts of the world. This year we will return to the theme of An Old English Christmas, similar to that which we presented four years ago. It will feature bell-ringers, and performances on Renaissance musical instruments, such as the lute, sackbut, and recorder, together with many songs sung by great performers — and by the audience. The second half of the program, as always, will include a narration of the Christmas Story from Matthew and Luke, inter spaced with appropriate inspiring carols and hymns. If you haven't been grabbed by the Christmas Spirit up to this day, you'll be sure to feel it by the time this concert ends!

Union saxhorn and drum musicians probably at Camp Griffin, Langley, Virginia Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Civil War Photographs, #LC-DIG-ds=05534

Our third concert of the fall season will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the end of the American Civil War. Featured will be the Providence Brigade Band, chartered in 1847, one of the country's oldest and most famous performers of Civil War music; pianist Philip Martorella; and Marilyn Knight on the church's ancient pipe organ. The audience will be asked to join in singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Sunday, October 18, 2015, at 2:30 PM
Le Canal en Octobre (From Harmonica to Hurdy Gurdy)
Turner, Maloney, Greene and Jobe

How long has it been since you heard someone perform on a hurdy-gurdy?

Our second Music of the Meeting House fall event will feature a marvelous selection of great tunes performed by Chris Turner on harmonica, Rachel Maloney on the fiddle, Geoff Greene on the accordion (and viola) and Steve Jobe on the hurdy-gurdy for a lively and fun-filled musical afternoon. You will remember Chris, Rachel and Geoff's exciting performances last Spring at our Amazing Grace concert.

The concert will feature lively, inspiring, and melodic French, English and American tunes, some familiar, and some original, written by the performers themselves. Although you never rule out their breaking into song at some point, the focus will be on instrumental music with harmonica, fiddle, accordion, and hurdy-gurdy, occasionally supplemented by viola, piano, and possibly pipe organ, as the performers have a lot of fun playing and improvising.

A tribute to the music of Rogers and Hammerstein on the 50th anniversary of the movie The Sound of Music, one of the all-time favorites of American film lovers and television viewers, performed by the Rhode Island Opera Theater (RIOT). The program features some of the best-loved songs from seven Rogers and Hammerstein classics: State Fair, South Pacific, The King and I, Cinderella, Carousel, Oklahoma, and The Sound of Music, including such favorites as: Some Enchanted Evening, Younger than Springtime, Getting to Know You, Hello Young Lovers, If I loved You, Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oklahoma, and most of the familiar tunes from The Sound of Music — including The Hills Are Alive, I Have Confidence..., Do Re Mi, Some of My Favorite Things, I am 16 ...., Something Good, Edelweiss, and Climb Every Mountain. The audience will be invited occasionally to join in the singing.

Sunday, May 31, 2015, at 2:30 PM

John Newton 1725-1807

Featured in this inspiring program will be Marilyn Knight on the church's century-old tracker pipe organ, Klancy Martin on the trumpet, Frank Igoe playing the bagpipe, the Gates Family Brass Quartet, Pastor Steve Crosby on the guitar, Janice MacLeod playing the Native American flute, Jane Murray and Geoff Greene with an English horn and pipe organ duet, Chris Turner and Rachel Maloney on harmonica and violin, and singers from the former Greenville Choral Ensemble, accompanied by Marilyn Knight on the piano. The audience will be asked to join in singing Amazing Grace, as well as Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, another hymn written by John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. The original musical version of Amazing Grace will also be played. If you love this hymn, you will love this concert!

The story of John Newton, a slave ship captain who came to Jesus through God's Grace, who totally changed his life, and who became a servant of the Lord is awesomely inspiring — as is the music he wrote. This program, a reprise of one we held four years ago, will be a memorable and heartening experience for all who attend.

Everything from French Canadian dance tunes, to Tin Pan Alley, to Old Time Country, to their own impressive originals is likely to be on the musical menu. Great harmonies and wonderful instrumentation are the hallmark of these two much traveled musicians. They have charmed many audiences with their Banjo, Guitar, Flute, Hammered Dulcimer, Keyboard, Ukulele, seated clogging, and fine humor.

Patti is an award winning songwriter and her voice will melt your heart. Tom's Banjo and voice are a perfect complement, as the two of them weave their way through the many styles of traditional based songs and tunes. You will leave one of their performances with toes tapping and a smile on your face.

The two have traveled all lower 48 states and have never failed to charm an audience with great tunes, old and new, and their polished harmonies. Patti has appeared on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, and has won several national songwriting contests. Tom has established himself as the backbone of Old Time Banjo and master of Hammered Dulcimer in the northeast. Their music is truly Bodacious (bold and audacious) — and we know you will truly enjoy it.

Sunday, April 12, 2015, at 2:30 PM
A 25th Anniversary Organ Concert
Randall Steere, Organist

Photo provided by Randall Steere

Mr. Steere holds a Master of Music degree in Pipe Organ Performance from the Yale School of Music and Yale School of Sacred Music, as well as a Master of Divinity degree from the Yale Divinity School. He also has a MA in computer Science from RPI.

Through the miracles of "virtual" technology, we will hear Mr. Steere today play works from:

• Bach and Lubeck on the 1675 Arp Schnitger pipe organ located in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Cosmae et Damiani in Stade, Lower Saxony. Arp Schnitger was the foremost organ builder of the Baroque period, and Lubeck (a famous composer of organ music) was the music director at this church when the organ was installed. He was greatly inspired by the instrument for his compositions.
   
• A four-movement Mendelssohn sonata on the 1892 Henry Willis pipe organ in the Cathedral at Hereford, England. Willis was the foremost builder of organs in Britain during the romantic era.
   
• Works of Dupre, Messaien, and Franck on the 1903 Cavaille-Coll pipe organ, located in Notre Dame de Metz in Lorraine, France. Cavaille-Coll was the foremost builder of organs during the romantic era in France.
   
• A special piece on the American-made 1902 E. W. Lane pipe organ here in the church.

Music ministry depends on the music pointing us to the spiritual, and anything that hinders the hearing of the music hinders that ministry. For many people, their experience of pipe organ music is confined to that of a single instrument in a space that is not always optimal for listening. This new technology is a major first step in addressing that limitation and expanding their range of musical experience.

The Hauptwerk virtual organ is unique both in its technology and impressive results. Using off-the-shelf hardware, this organ is powered primarily through a high-performance 12-process computer with 64GB of memory and 1 terabyte of storage capacity. The key to its success is the Hauptwerk software which contains "sample sets" of individual organs throughout the world. The Hauptwerk organ takes on all the characteristics of each sample set when loaded. The sets sample every single pipe of the existing pipe organ in at least three different ways along with the acoustics and ambience of the church itself. In every respect, the result is astounding and realistic right down to the noise of the keys and the layout of the console. Both the performer and listener will feel like they are in the actual church!.

Sunday - December 7, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
A Latin Christmas
Various artists

Presenting these wonderful pieces (and many others) will be some very talented musicians who will be familiar to regular attendees at our music at the Meeting House programs,  including vocalists Arielle Rogers, Grace Norton, and Jason Sheeley (who sang last spring at our Glenn Miller performance). And with our emphasis on the music of Southern Europe, what can be more appropriate than a French Horn Quartet? Elizabeth Gates, from the RI Philharmonic, will be directing one.  And if purists insist that the French Horn is not French, we'll happily ignore them! We hope to have Peter Nightingale present with his lute, although at this writing he is not sure if he can make it. Our very talented organist, Marilyn Knight, will play for us as we sing Christmas Carols, and the very talented pianist, Marie Kane, will be accompanying our singers.

As is our long-standing tradition, the second half of the program will be devoted to the reading of the Christmas Story from Matthew and Luke, accompanied by the singing of appropriate Christmas songs and hymns, many of which originated in Southern Europe, and some of which come from other traditions. Our vocalist and instrumentalists will contribute, and everyone will be invited to sing some familiar Christmas songs.

Sunday - November 16, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
The Romance of Strings
Aurea String Quartet
Artistic Director: Consuelo Sherba

What is a good way to spend a bleak November Sunday afternoon? By coming to the Chepachet Meeting House and listening to some of the world's best music performed by some of the best musicians around—where, in this case, you will be warmed, inspired, enchanted, uplifted, and relaxed by the music of Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert, two of the greatest composers of the romantic era in the early nineteenth century.

The Aurea String Quartet was formed eleven years ago. The group has performed to much acclaim in many venues throughout the country and the region. These include Firstworks, Providence; Chicago Humanities Festival; NYU Humanities Festival; Shakespeare and Company, Lenox, MA; Maverick Chamber Music Festival; Brown University; and Slater Mill. The concert will feature Amy Sims (violin), Katherine Winterstein (violin), Consuelo Sherba (viola), and Emmanuel Feldman (cello).

These are all experienced professionals that have played with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and other famous orchestras throughout the country—and especially in New England.

The Aurea Quartet will present two of the most famous and most beautiful string quartet pieces ever written: Mendelssohn's String Quartet Number 2 in A Minor and Schubert's String Quartet Number 14 in D Minor. Both are inspired (in different ways) by Beethoven. Each piece has four movements and each lasts about a half hour.

The Chepachet Meeting House is an especially fitting location for this concert because both pieces were composed in the same decade that the Meeting House itself was built—the 1820's. It is also an especially fitting location because the acoustics are superb, and well-fitted to the requirements of a string quartet. Don't miss this opportunity for a very enjoyable afternoon!

The Performers:

Katherine Winterstein, Violin 1.
Praised by critics for "livewire intensity," and for both "delightfully effective and memorably demonic" playing, violinist Katherine Winterstein enjoys a wide range of musical endeavors, as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, soloist, and teacher. She is concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony, a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and she performs regularly with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, the Hartt String Quartet, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has served on the performance faculty of Middlebury College in Vermont since 2002, and joined the faculty of the Hartt School of Music in September of 2011.

Amy Sims, Violin 2.
Los Angeles native Amy Sims recently launched a freelance career in Boston as a classical and Baroque violinist, performing regularly with Boston Philharmonic, Boston Baroque, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She is a member of symphonies in Springfield, MA and Portland, ME. She also plays each August as Assistant Concertmaster of the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, Wisconsin. Before coming to New England, she was Concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony and Opera Omaha. She has also held the position of Principal Second Violin with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

Consuelo Sherba, Viola
Consuelo Sherba is a founding member and artistic director of the Aurea Ensemble. A member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, she has been on the applied music faculty at Brown University since 1986, and also teaches at the RI Philharmonic Music School. She has served as principal violinist of the Simon Sinfonietta and Boston Virtuosi, and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Vermont Symphony, the Carvalho Festival in Brazil, Monadnock Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival. She was principal violinist of the Atlanta Chamber Orchestra, the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and the West Virginia Symphony, and violinist of the Charleston String Quartet. She is a graduate of the LaGuardia School for the Arts and City College of New York.

Emmanuel Feldman, Cello
Hailed by world-famous composer John Williams as "an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist," Emmanuel Feldman has emerged as one of the most creative cellists of his generation. Strings Magazine wrote of a recent CD release, "Feldman's commanding technical prowess, sense of poetry, and identification with the spirit of the music combines ... to create a brilliantly enjoyable performance." He enjoys an active career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, champion of new music, and educator. He has performed as soloist with the Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Greensboro Festival Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New England String ensemble, and many others. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music with training at the Paris Conservatory, he is currently on the cello faculty of Tufts and Brown University, and New England Conservatory's Preparatory and School for Continuing Education.

This widely-acclaimed group has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, at the White House, all across America, and in a dozen other countries. This will be their Chepachet debut. We're all in for a huge treat!

Sunday - September 28, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
A Celebration of Hymns
Marilyn Knight, organ; Klancy Martin, trumpet; Greenville Vocal Ensemble and YOU!
Throughout the last quarter century, Music at the Meeting House has sponsored many programs featuring sacred music, and especially hymns and their composers, such as Fanny Crosby, Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, Philip Bliss, and John Newton (author of Amazing Grace), and many others.

In recognition of these programs, our opening concert this fall will be entitled A Celebration of Hymns, featuring hymns from the composers we have honored in the past (such as those listed above), together with other old favorites. Our selections will include some of the world's most famous music, containing some of the world's most powerful and inspiring messages, such as Almighty Fortress, Fairest Lord Jesus, Give Me That Old Time Religion, Faith of our Fathers, Rock of Ages, On a Hill Far Away Stands an Old Rugged Cross, Amazing Grace, and many more.

The Greenville Vocal Ensemble participated in the Music at the Meeting House series almost from its inception. Veterans of the series will remember their marvelous rendition of selections from the Messiah and their memorable version of Amazing Grace sung at the concert devoted exclusively to John Newton and this hymn. They also took part in our celebration of the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church's 175th anniversary in 1997.

We are sad to share with you that the Ensemble's founder and long-time director, Charles Greathouse, passed away this last summer, and that the group itself officially passed into history not long before. Members of the Ensemble, however, will come together on September 28, to lead our concert, which will be dedicated to Charlie Greathouse's memory. It should be a truly memorable occasion and we urge you to attend.

Sunday - June 8, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
Under the Shed
The Jubilate Ringers
An outdoor bell ringing concert? Why not? Weather cooperating, we plan to have an unusual hand-bell ringing concert featuring The Jubilate Ringers from South County, Rhode Island, performing outside in our newly-renovated historic carriage shed — at times in conjunction with the steeple bell. Although a bit smaller (!) and considerably less elaborate than the Shed at Tanglewood, the Chepachet Meeting House Carriage Shed (built in 1827) is a delightful place for an outdoor early summer concert. If the weather does not cooperate, the concert will be inside the church. Although we often associate bell ringing with Christmas time, it is also wonderful to have a bell concert at other times of the year. The Jubilate Ringers, a group of more than a dozen bell ringers under the direction of Priscilla Rigg, will be ringing such tunes as Beside Still Waters, Waltz Fantasy, Londonderry Air, Osse Shalom, How Great Thou Art, Do Lord, The Sky Boat Song, A Solemn Procession, and other popular and sacred pieces. They plan do a change-ringing sequence to accompany the pealing of the historic (1822) Holbrook steeple bell (which rings at F#) — which will add to the uniqueness of the concert.

Sunday - May 4, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
An Afternoon with Glenn Miller
Various Artists

The concert will feature Miller's own creations, together with other music from the 1920's and 1930's Big Band era which he played and recorded. The Northeast Chamber ensemble, a woodwind and brass quintet, composed of veterans of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra will perform such Miller classics as In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Tuxedo Junction, Putting on the Ritz, American Patrol, That Old Black Magic, and other nostalgic as well as sprightly tunes from that era. Quintet members are: Mary Ellen Kregler, flute; Margo McGowan, clarinet; Jane Murray, oboe; Susan Wood, bassoon, and Elizabeth Gates, French Horn.

In addition, four accomplished vocalists, veterans of the Rhode Island College Opera program, will sing compositions written or recorded by Miller, including Chattanooga Choo-Choo, When You Wish Upon a Star, I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo, Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me, Sentimental Journey, Pennsylvania 6-5000, That Old Black Magic, As Time Goes By, I Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, Over the Rainbow, and Old Man River. The vocalists will be: sopranos Grace Norton and Aimee-Rose Willett, mezzo-soprano Arielle Rogers, and baritone Jason Shealy, accompanied by Marie Kane on the piano.

This will be a wonderful opportunity to hear some very familiar tunes and some less-familiar, but authentic period pieces from the swing era of the 1920's and 1930's that celebrate and memorialize Glenn Miller (who was born in 1904).

Sunday - April 13, 2014 @ 2:30 PM
Around the World With Saxophones
The Asylum Quartet

Photo used by permission of the Asylum Quartet

The quartet, consisting of Joseph Abad, soprano saxophone; Tony Speranza, alto saxophone; Max Schwimmer, tenor saxophone; and Andrew Barnhart, baritone saxophone; met as graduate students at West Hartford's Hartt School of Music in 2011. Together for only three years, they were just awarded the Grand Prize in the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in Boston, becoming the first saxophone quartet to receive this honor. Music critic Anne-Marie Cannata lauds their "poetic melodies with exquisite timing and tenderness, harmoniously drawing us into a world of classical music like I have never heard before," while composer Ryan Jesperson comments that, "one can't help but smile and be pulled into their sonic world."

The Website of the Chepachet Baptist Church
(Historically the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church)
-and-
The Proprietors of the Chepachet Meeting House

© Copyright 2004-2024 The Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church Society. All rights reserved.
1213 Putnam Pike - PO Box 148 • Chepachet, RI 02814 • (401) 568-3771
The church logo was produced by Zachary Andrews.
All photographs, unless otherwise noted, courtesy of Marilyn J. Brownell. All rights reserved.

MouseWorks