Bring a Friend to Chanticleer this Friday

“What first brought you to Trinity Church?” 

When this question is asked, the answer I hear frequently from parishioners is, “I first came for a concert, or Candlelight Carols, or even a Friday organ recital. I loved what I heard and wanted to know more about this place and its people.” Music is indeed one of the best warm-up acts for the Gospel. The unchurched, formerly churched, and especially those who have been burned by past experiences with the church, will likely enter our doors for a musical event before they would a worship service. Music is a powerful evangelistic tool. If music can bring them in, then beautiful liturgy, elucidation of Scripture, and a bold, courageous sermon can transform music lovers into disciples. 

Every concert at Trinity is an opportunity for us to exercise our evangelistic muscles, yet tomorrow night’s offering will be a doozy, as the Trinity Concert Series presents Chanticleer, one of the world’s foremost choral ensembles, in their first Boston performance in years. Their provocative and haunting program, “Heart of a Soldier,” will examine “the pain and suffering of war, juxtaposed with the difficulty of achieving peace, with poignant nods to the devastation of lost life.” It will run the gamut from sacred to secular, Renaissance to contemporary, and classical to popular. 

Of particular note will be “Our beautiful Country” by Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, as well as John Musto’s setting of the poetry of Archibald MacLeish, and an arrangement of Pete Seeger’s “Where have all the flowers gone?”

Moving through familiar works of Byrd, Purcell and Tomkins, along with Troubadour and Russian songs, the program will end with Parry’s hallowed “My soul, there is a country,” which, in the words of Chanticleer reviewer Stephanie Adrian, “is a benediction and a reassurance that there is life beyond this one for our fallen soldiers.”

Come and hear Chanticleer tomorrow night…and bring an unchurched friend who happens to like music. Who knows where it might lead?  

Faithfully,
Richard Webster
Director of Music and Organist

(Chanticleer will perform at Trinity Church on Friday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m.  Advance tickets are available here.)