Music at St. James
St. James Music Ministry
St. James' music ministry pursues the mission of providing spiritual nourishment through divinely-inspired music. It enjoys a long history of playing a fundamental role in worship and being a pillar of the church's community outreach. While firmly grounded in a timeless heritage of great choral and organ music, the music filling our church also embraces modern compositions of like spirit, including works by living composers.
St. James' 10:00 AM Sunday worship, along with such special liturgical events as Christmas Eve, bring the extraordinary sound of the church's new three-manual Ahlborn-Galanti organ and the exciting Choir of St. James into a partnership with the congregation, in musical services noted for their joyful energy and high quality. Far from being routine, the various sung portions of a service at St. James become energized celebration that helps the entire assembly recharge its spiritual batteries. Congregational song can range from spirituals and music from the American folk tradition, through the most stirring historic hymns, all enthusiastically led by choir and organ. The diversity of choral music includes Taize chants and anthems ranging from medieval to modern. Organist-choir director Charles Olegar provides organ preludes and postludes taken from a large repertoire of historic and modern organ masterpieces, to which piano compositions are occasionally added.
The St. James Choir
As one of the few traditional-type four-part choirs among Episcopal churches in the region, St James Choir comprises a wide variety of ages, personalities, and experience, ranging from novice to professional. Our Choir's primary mission is to provide strong, energetic musical leadership for regular corporate worship (10:00 AM, Sundays) by leading congregational singing, providing choral music during communion,and regularly enhancing services with anthems encompassing a wide spectrum of periods and styles. Annually, St James Choir provides special music on Christmas Eve and Easter.
An all-volunteer organization, St. James Choir's door is always open to any and all who wish to participate in a spirited group noted for its enthusiasm and strong , mutually-supportive sense of community, as it pursues a central role in the parish's music ministry.
Choir rehearsals are held weekly at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays, prior to the 10:00 service, along with monthly Saturday-morning special practices.
Participation arrangements are flexible so as to accommodate individual schedules and needs.
The Ahlborn-Galanti Organ
St. James' Walker-Beatty Memorial Organ was dedicated in May, 2006.
Serving both as a service and recital instrument, our new Ahlborn- Galanti AG-3200 represents the latest and most far-reaching advances in organ building technology. Beginning with a large 376-stop specification on three manuals and pedal that can be readily modified, it provides an amazing range of color and artistic flexibility.
Musical Outreach
As part of our parish's commitment to outreach, musical events offered to the community stand in partnership with worship music at St. James, through self-generated public offerings along with the church's being host to a number of regional presenters. For many years now, musical events at St. James are widely known for their high quality.
Bach and Beyond
Since 2004, the organ series Bach and Beyond has been a primary forum for regularly sharing a wealth of great organ music. Performed by music minister Charles Olegar and associate Tim Boomer on St. James' new concert-level Ahlborn-Galanti organ in the church's exceptional acoustical space, the series center-stages the principal organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, which are balanced with a wealth of music from the twentieth, and, occasionally, the nineteenth centuries. Bach & Beyond directs monetary donations from the audience to the needy through Saint James' outreach organization. The series has already released its first CD, "Bach and Beyond I", which also serves charitable outreach purposes.
Sundays In July
In a similar spirit, St. James Church is now headed towards its third season of offering weekly chamber music programs featuring regional talent during the month of July, free and open to all. During its first two seasons, Sundays in July has presented the instrumental ensembles American Double, Les Inegales, and the New England Baroque Soloists, the vocal/choral groups Aeode and Albany Vocal Arts Ensemble, and solo artists Constantine Finehouse, Euna Cho, and Rob Martin, among others outstanding programs.
Hosted Musical Organizations
St. James community outreach also continues a history of making the acoustical and aesthetic ambience of the church available to a variety of classical musical presenters, including, at present, Close Encounters with Music, Berkshire Bach, the New England Baroque Soloists, Les Inegales, Crescendo, and Cantilena.
