St. Luke’s Episcopal Church will offer an Evensong for the third Sunday of Advent beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17.
The event is the first of the parish’s series of “Solemn” Evensongs, which are designed to be contemplative and intimate. The liturgy will be offered in St. Luke’s auditorium to take advantage of its spectacular acoustics, featuring both the church’s Moller tracker organ and Steinway piano.
Evensong is a completely sung Vespers service preserved through the centuries in English cathedrals and college chapels, church spokeswoman Jennifer Hackett said in a press release.
“A vast amount of literature was written for this daily service,” Hackett wrote. “St. Luke’s is the only church in this area outside of major cities (New York, Philadelphia, and Washington) to sing regular Evensong.”
Members of the Festival Choir will debut several works by choirmaster Jason Yannuzzi composed specifically for this liturgy in conjunction with the Introduction to Hymn Singing Workshop currently being offered by the parish. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis contain deliberate musical and rhythmic concepts that have been taught to workshop participants this month. The Preces, Responses, and Psalm Setting will also be Yannuzzi’s compositions.
Familiar and beloved Advent music will compliment the new compositions, including John Scott’s arrangement of “Creator of the Stars of Night,” J.S. Bach’s haunting “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland,” and several Advent hymns.
This event is free and open to the public. A freewill offering will be taken.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located at the corner of Chestnut and South 6th streets in downtown Lebanon.
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