Advent Evensong Meditation 2004
Charmed and challenged by Handel's Messiah
Coventry Choir sings with Garrison Keillor, LA Philharmonic, Pasadena Presbyterian Kirk Choir in Disney Hall
Philip Brunelle is the organist-choirmaster who worked with Garrison Keillor for many years. When the LA Phil contracted Keillor to lead a Christmas show at Disney Hall, Phil contacted his long-time colleague, Fred Swann, asking which church choirs would be best suited to be part of the event. (Garrison asked specifically for church choirs to participate.) Since Kirk Choir of PPC and Coventry Choir of ASC had just joined forces to lead worship that July for the national AGO convention, Fred recommended us. What a fun event, especially the choir/piano rehearsal with Keillor and Brunelle at All Saints, in preparation for the event — time up close with Garrison Keillor.
Canterbury sings for Los Angeles Chapter, American Guild of Organists
What a busy year 2004 was. Since Coventry sang for the National A.G.O. convention in July, when the Los Angeles chapter invited All Saints to open their 2004-2005 season with an evensong, I asked Canterbury to lead this service. It was a "first" for Canterbury Choir to lead a musical event for a professional music organization, and they rose fantastically to the occasion.
American Guild of Organists National Convention 2004
With the national convention of the American Guild of Organists coming to Los Angeles, I was honored that Coventry Choir was invited to join with Kirk Choir of Pasadena Presbyterian Church to lead this ecumenical service. Hanan Yaqub, Greg Norton and I planned the service, including the premiere anthem by Williametta Spencer, and 1000 organists attended and belted out those hymns.
Coventry’s Lenten Evensong of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem
“A musical/liturgical experience I will never forget. It was as if time stopped and the very breath of God became our communal breath (Coventry Choir, Orchestra, myself). We became vessels of hope in the midst of war.”