Music @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church/Brunswick,
Maine in the Diocese of Maine
The mission of music used in worship at St. Paul’s is to nurture congregational singing and provide opportunities for intergenerational participation. All instrumental, keyboard and choral selections reflect a purposeful connection between music and the Word.
10:30 a.m. Rite II Choral Eucharist
St. Paul’s Choir season runs from September through the end of June. In addition to weekly services, St. Paul’s singers also provide vocal leadership for Evensong, Christmas Eve, and all Holy Week services. Weekly rehearsals meet in the upstairs Choir Room Sundays 9-10:15 a.m. No auditions are required, and all ages are welcome. St. Paul’s Choir amplifies the spoken liturgy by supporting hymns with harmony and descants and singing all service music and Offertory Anthems. Choral repertoire is chosen from a wide variety of musical genres and styles, from plainchant and Anglican psalm chant to compositions by current composers and arrangers.
Diversity is key to all plans made for every worship. Clergy and staff work as a team to ensure that the Book of Common Prayer guides liturgical offerings, along with other Episcopal resources. Selections from The Hymnal 1982, Wonder, Love and Praise, Voices Found, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and Taize compositions are carefully chosen, weaving a thematic thread from Prelude to Postlude.
Keyboards @ St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s is blessed with a two-manual hybrid pipe-digital organ and two Clavinova keyboards. Our organ is comprised of both digital speakers and pipework borrowed from the former instrument, expertly combined by Bob Faucher and his crew at Faucher Organ Company in Biddeford, Maine. Both of our Clavinovas were provided to St. Paul’s by two generous anonymous donations. Other instruments are used for fuller participation in worship, such as tambourines, drums, and other hand-held percussion options. A string quartet, flute, and other guest instrumentalists will enrich Christmas Eve late service.
Summer Music @ St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s Choir takes a hiatus during July and August. A variety of pick-up ensembles are sprinkled throughout this time frame, along with soloists and other vocal combinations. Singers and instrumentalists, members or guests, are welcome to participate.
