Soon after the
New Jersey Episcopal election, I received a call from Canon Rob Picken of the
Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York in the Diocese of Long
Island. It was good to hear from
him. He was a former student. Rob was a fifth-grader at Grace Day School in
Massapequa, New York when I was the School Chaplain there. Over the past few years, Rob had become
involved with the renowned Montreal Boys’ Choir Course. Rob called to ask if I
would be willing to be the preacher and celebrant at the closing Eucharist of
the 2013 program.
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| With Canon Rob Picken |
The Montreal
Boys’ Choir Course was begun in 1960, when four Anglican parishes in Montreal
determined to bring together outstanding choral musicians from Canada and the
United States (and now from Great Britain) “for a week of
singing, sports, creative activities, and worship.” (See http://www.mbccusa.com) While, historically, the course had been held
in Montreal, circumstances determined that the 2013 MBCC would be held in the
United States. The course itself was to
be hosted at the Lawrenceville School. Participants came from 22 different
churches including All Saints Ashmont Parish, Dorchester, MA; Cathedral of All
Saints, Albany, NY; Cathederal of the Incarnation, Garden City, NY; Christ Church
Cathedral, Lexington, KY; Grace Church on-the-Hill, Ontario; Metropolitan Boys
Choir, Minneapolis, MN; St. Mary’s, Swanage, UK; St. Thomas Choir School, New
York, St. Paul’s K-Street, Washington, Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston
and several others. The closing Eucharist
would take place on August 4, at The Miller Chapel of The Princeton Theological
Seminary. I was thrilled to accept! Being a trained choral musician, having
attended St. Thomas Choir School in New York as a boy, I felt this would be a
glorious and personally meaningful way for me to celebrate my first Sunday and
kick-off my ministry in the Diocese of New Jersey.
On Thursday, August 1, Susan and I made the short drive from
Trenton to the Lawrenceville School to observe some of the MBCC
rehearsals. There were two
sessions. A group of about 40 treble
boys was rehearsing under the direction of Simon Lole. Simon is a major figure in England. Trained as a chorister at St. Paul’s
Cathedral in London, he was educated at the
Guildhall School of Music and King’s College, London University and served as Organist and Music Director at Sheffield Cathedral and at
Salisbury Cathedral. He also taught at Jesus College, Cambridge. A noted composer, today, Simon is a recognized
figure in classical-crossover music, appearing regularly on BBC and recording
regularly with major international record labels. It was a great joy to watch Simon rehearse
the trebles. He was meticulous, but
always caring and enthusiastic. Short
phrases were repeated until they were perfect.
The adult men and women rehearsed separately under the direction of
Patrick Wedd, another enormously talented and gracious man, who is the Director
of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal. The sounds were magnificent. I couldn’t wait to see how it would all come
together when this choir of over 70 people joined forces for the closing
Eucharist on Sunday morning and for Evensong on Sunday afternoon.
The theme and focus of this year’s MBCC was “the Holy Spirit.” The repertoire included:
J.S. Bach - Der Geist hilft (Carus edition).
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| With choristers from St. Thomas Choir School |
Francis Jackson - Evening Service
in G
Gabriel Jackson -Preces &
Responses (Edinburgh)
Jonathan Dove - Missa Brevis
Gerald Near - Spiritus Domini
Grayston Ives – Listen, Sweet Dove
It was a great privilege to be the
preacher and celebrant for this incredible music event. Miller Chapel was
filled with ethereal sound. I was most
honored to welcome the entire gathering on behalf of the people of the Diocese
of New Jersey.. For this to be my first
official act as the Bishop-elect of the Diocese of New Jersey was a grace-filed
and wondrous thing for me, for which I am deeply thankful to God. Susan and I stayed for lunch and
Evensong. I even got to meet three boys
from my alma mater St. Thomas Choir
School. It was a glorious first Sunday
as Bishop-elect of New Jersey!
The text of my
sermon which tells of my own experience as a choirboy at St. Thomas Choir
School, is available as a separate blog entry.
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