 The 1990 Casavant Organ The Choir of Grace Church and João Kouyoumdjian perform Cantate Domino by Hans Leo Hassler Concerts at Grace Church, March 2011 Mr. Joseph Arndt, Director of Music As Director of Music at Grace Church, Joseph Arndt directs the parish choir, plays the Casavant organ for High Masses, and coordinates Concerts at Grace Church. Mr. Arndt received a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College. He has studied organ with Paul Jacobs, Ken Cowan, and Diane Meredith Belcher. A recipient of numerous awards, he is a past First Place winner of the West Chester University Organ Competition. He has performed organ recitals throughout the eastern United States and has also performed in Cambridge (UK) and Paris. He is a continuo organist and harpsichordist for Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City and is the concert accompanist for the Rutgers-Newark Chorus. An advocate of new music, he has given premieres of new organ works by Jonathan Dawe, Christian Carey, and Conrad Cummings. In 2011 he will be recording Jonathan Dawe's new organ piece Zipoli Automata for an upcoming CD release. Mr. Arndt is committed to promoting awareness of the pipe organ and serves on the Executive Board of the Metropolitan New Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Prior to his appointment at Grace Church, he was the Associate Organist at Christ Church (United Methodist) in New York City and Assistant Organist at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Morristown, NJ. Mr. Jonathon Hampton, Director of Choristers Jonathon Hampton performs professionally as an alto, tenor, and bass and is an accomplished conductor and music educator. A native of Chicago, he has performed locally with such acclaimed ensembles as The American Boychoir, the choirs of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, St. Mary the Virgin, St. John the Divine, and he now begins his second season with The Choir of Grace Church. Mr. Hampton also founded and conducted two choirs in affiliation with Cornell University, where he graduated in 2004 - the Chorus and Glee Club Summer Ensemble and the Alumni Singers - and he has been guest conductor of Cornell’s World Music Choir, the Pacific Boychoir’s Continuum, and Trinity Church Wall Street’s Trinity Choir. Mr. Hampton has given lectures, masterclasses, and recitals of African-American spirituals across the country, and as a resident of New York City, he also works in education for the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. |
Music at Grace Church The music program at Grace Church exists to enrich parish worship services and offer cultural outreach to the City of Newark and its suburbs. Music at High Mass reflects the beauty of the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The Choir of Grace Church offers the finest sacred music with an emphasis on Renaissance masses and motets and Gregorian Chant. The Choir is composed of professional singers and one or two talented volunteers. At High Mass the Choir sings the Introit, Offertory, and Communion antiphons from the Graduale Romanum, one or two motets or anthems, and often a full mass setting. The congregation joins in the singing of at least three hymns, the Nicene Creed, psalm refrains, and other responses. The organ is a 48-stop tracker instrument built by Casavant Frères in 1990. Major works from the organ repertoire can be heard before and after all services.
The Music Society of Grace Church provides funding for the Choir and Concerts at Grace Church. Donations of all sizes are welcome. Interested donors should speak to the Director of Music or the Rector. Liturgical Music Click here to view the choral music list for the Sundays in the Epiphany season. Click here to read a Star-Ledger article about Joseph Arndt by reporter Jeff Diamant Mr. João Kouyoumdjian, Artist in Residence In his role as Artist in Residence, Brazilian classical guitarist João Kouyoumdjian presents recitals on the Concerts at Grace Church series. He received a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Sharon Isbin. In November 2011 Mr. Kouyoumdjian will perform a recital at Carnegie Hall sponsored by the Consulate General of Brazil in New York. |
