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 Music at MPC

 

 


OPEN POSITION: CHOIR DIRECTOR
Montclair Presbyterian Church (MPC) invites applications for the position of Choir Director. To learn more about the position and the application process, please download the Job Announcement (70K PDF).

ALL ARE WELCOME!
The choir rehearses every Thursday from 7:30-9:30pm at the church during the school year. Refreshments are provided. All are welcome, and no experience or tryout is needed. Questions about joining? Email Brandon Adams, Choir Director, at bradavada@mac.com

 

PART-LEARNING ONLINE
Click on the following link to listen to your choir parts online:

Link to Podcast


SUNDAY CELEBRATION
Music is an integral part of our Sunday Celebration.  Our Music Director is Brandon Adams and our Associate in Music and Organist is Marcia Roy.  Our Pastor, Karen Stokes, is an accomplished singer and guitarist.  Together, Karen, Marcia, and Brandon work to interweave music into our Sunday Service that will both enhance and emphasize the day's celebration, sermon, and prayer.

 

 

THE MPC CHOIR
Montclair Presbyterian Church has a dynamic, versatile music ensemble that performs every Sunday in the fall, winter and spring seasons.  Our repertoire ranges from Mozart to Menotti to Mancini to Monteverdi.  Our choir may sing an easy, familiar hymn one week and perform a challenging major work, complete with orchestra, the next.  Our selections range from a traditional hymn to a song from a hit Broadway musical.

Everyone is welcome to join the Choir, whether a professional or an occasional singer.  There is no audition. Each new choir season begins with a BBQ and an all-day retreat. Our weekly rehearsals start mid-September and continue until the end of May.  Sunday mornings, we gather for a short rehearsal before Celebration.

 

Access the online calendar

 

MPC CHESTNUT CHOIR
This is a supplemental choir that comes into action when the choir does "chestnut" or familiar, easy to learn songs. This is a group of people who can't make a weekly commitment or who want to sing music that is accessible. Chestnut choir rehearses on the same Sunday that the Anthem is sung.

THE MUSIC
Each year, our choir performs two or more major works.  One major work is always a celebration of the Advent Season and oftentimes includes our children and youth.  Past selections have included:  The First Nowell - A Nativity Play, a medieval celebration and drama of the Christmas Story; Messe de Minuit pour Noel (Midnight Mass for Christmas) by the French composer, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 - 1704); and The First Noel by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a Nativity play with the MPC Choir and MPC children and youth.  Other major works performed by the MPC choir during celebration have included:  "Songs of Democracy" from the poem by Walt Whitman with music by Howard Hanson; "Somewhere" by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim from West Side Story; and "Requiem" by Maurice Duruflé.
 
GUEST ENSEMBLES
Soloists, quartets, musical groups and Ensemble groups enliven many Sunday Celebrations. The Barrelhouse Jazz Band, a foursome from our congregation, appears regularly for our Easter service and our courtyard celebration on Labor Day Weekend.  The Pacific BoyChoir sings during our Celebration of Epiphany.  Other groups who regularly add to Sunday Celebration include The Exeter String Quartet, the women's vocal ensemble,  "Cecilia", The Brazilian Drum Corp, Voices Lesbian Ensemble, and the Oakland/East Bay Gay Men's Chorus.  Soloists, both singers and musicians, from within our congregation and from without, contribute to our Sunday service.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
Because our congregation has such a wealth of musical talent and a broad appreciation of these gifts, our Sanctuary is often blessed with evening performances by those soloists and groups who have enriched our Sunday service.  These performances are open to all.

 Photos by Lee Aurich