Music & Drama

Director of Music - Terrence Gaus-Woollen

Assistant Organist - M. P. Moon

When you come to Trinity Parish, you can expect to hear and participate in a rich range of music, from the hymns and anthems of seven centuries to spirituals, contemporary songs, and original compositions. Instrumental accompaniment is usually by the organ and piano, but an eclectic mix of instruments is heard during the year, ranging from chamber orchestra to kazoo.

Choirs

Directed by Terry Gaus-Woollen, the Trinity Choir blends volunteer singers and professional section leaders. The choir supports the congregation's worship, bringing musical expression to the varying themes and stories of the Church year. A Junior Choir of children ages 7 to 14 rehearses after church each Sunday and sings in the service every few weeks. At Old Swedes Church, congregational singing is supported by a cantor each Sunday.

Opportunities to become a part of this dynamic music and drama ministry are always available, regardless of experience. Please contact Terry Gaus-Woollen by e-mail or phone (302-652-8605) for more information. We're actively seeking new members!

Special Music & Drama Offerings

Music Festivals and bilingual services highlight a vigorous music calendar. At least once a year the choir performs a major work accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Works recently performed include Bach's "Magnificat" and Cantata 17, the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems, and Schubert's Mass in G . Four times a year, our Spanish and English congregations come together to celebrate the Holy Eucharist from both our distinctive and our common heritages, sharing language, music, and prayer.

Christmas, Lent, and Easter are times for special musical offerings marking these notable seasons of the Christian year. On Christmas Eve, the choir and younger members of the church family retell the Christmas story in a traditional Christmas pageant. The birth of the Christ Child comes alive through costume, candlelight, song, scripture, and the voices of cherubim, lambs, and the heavenly chorus. A Festival Choral Eucharist is celebrated both at Trinity Church and at Old Swedes.

Lent is marked with a retelling of the last days of Jesus. On Palm Sunday, through music ancient and modern, choir and narrators enact the story of Jesus' passion and death in a powerful and moving dramatic presentation. The somber mood of Good Friday is transformed into joy with the coming of Easter. Celebrated with pageantry and triumphal music, the Easter message of hope and renewal is proclaimed.

Trinity Parish offers other music and drama events for the congregation and public. A free concert series, "Music at Trinity," featuring our fully restored 1935 Steinway concert grand piano, has brought artists including Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Awadagin Pratt, Zuill Bailey, Terrence Gaus-Woollen, the Jupiter Chamber Players, Marc-André Hamelin, and the Concordia String Quartet into our midst for afternoon concerts. The Trinity Players have staged a dramatic reading of T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" in the church. Trinity provides opportunity and space for members and friends to share their gifts in music and art for the benefit of the community and particular causes.

In our number are jazz and blues musicians, guitarists and pianists, singers, actors and artists, and their creative energy enriches worship, fellowship and hospitality.

To be put on our mailing list for these events, contact the Parish Office by e-mail or phone (302-652-8605).