Tag Archives: Advent

Only two more Advent concerts left for the season

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advent-concert-15-12-12-10WILLIAMS — There are only two more free Advent concerts at St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church this season. The Church is located at 202 W. Grant Street next to the Williams City Christmas Tree.

The next concert is this Sunday at 4 p.m. The choirs of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and St. John’s will join together in a selection of Christmas favorites. If Reverend Marc McDonald is there to sing, you won’t want to miss it.

The last concert will be Sunday, December 20 at 4 p.m. It will feature guest musicians Anthony Flesch on the flute and Joel Rieck on acoustic guitar.

St. John’s hosts a reception after each concert. The concerts are free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Last St. John’s Advent concert a great success

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L-R, Elana Gonzlez, Tony Norris and Bill Burke

L-R, Elana Gonzlez, Tony Norris and Bill Burke perform folk and international music for the last Advent concert.

WILLIAMS – A crowd gathered for the last Advent Concert sponsored by St John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church. The music was performed by Tony Norris, singer and storyteller from Flagstaff, and his friends. Tony was joined by Bill Burke with whom he has worked for over thirty-years.

They were joined by violinist (that’s a fiddle for you rural folks) Elana Gonzalez who has performed with them for about five-years. Tony credited Elana with injecting a classical influence into the group. She performed a beautiful interpretation of Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
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They even prompted the crowd to join in on their rendition of Come Out of the Wilderness. The author of the song is unknown.

Tony interjected a story concerning his youth as a cowboy in Flagstaff. He had a horrific climate change experience in which a turkey froze solid in the sky and he rode a log down a crevasse to be deposited on Aspen Street in Flagstaff. I know that most people today associate journalists with storytellers, but you will have to get a hold of Tony in Flagstaff to get the details.

The concert series this year was tremendous from beginning to end. This concert was a beautiful end to the series with folk music and music from the Emerald Isle mixed with a little folklore.

Santa showed up in casual dress with the grand kids.

Santa arrived in casual dress with the grand kids. Somehow he’s much taller and thinner than I remember.


And what is bluegrass without a hound?

And what is bluegrass without a hound?


Here is a sample of the Advent concert:

St. John’s holds first Advent concert for the season

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St. John's Choristers led the first concert.

St. John’s Choristers led the first concert.

WILLIAMS – St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran church held the first of the Advent Concerts on Sunday. There are three more concerts upcoming each of the next three Sundays at 4 p.m. There is a reception afterward. The concerts are free, but donations are accepted.

The St. John’s Choristers led the concert with the processional hymn O, Come, All Ye Faithful in which the crowd participated. They then sang a series of traditional Christmas songs from around the world. They also added a song from the musical Mame called We Need a Little Christmas. George Albers sang The Christmas Song.

The Choristers did an amazing job with only eight voices.
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Steve Bingell added the Harmonica voice to the piano playing of Susan Kerley to play What A Friend We Have in Jesus and Amazing Grace. Susan played the music for the presentation of the Choristers.

Charles Spining

Charles Spining

Pianist Charles Spining played a great selection of classical pieces from Johann Pachelbel, Paul Manz, Johann Sebastian Bach and others.

This concert will be followed by three more.

December 7 at 4 p.m. will feature traditional lessons and carols with speakers and the St. John’s Choristers.

On December 14 at 4, Corelia Tom will perform The Celtic Harp portion of the series.

The last concert on the 21st will feature Julie and Roger Sullivan & friends performing A Blue Grass Christmas.

Second St. John’s Advent Concert a success

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WILLIAMS—If you missed the second in the series of Advent concerts at St. John’s Episcopal church, you missed out on a real treat. The schedule was apparently changed to allow the stage to the NAU students of the undergraduate program in chamber music directed by Dr. Maryann Ramos. This type of music is usually scheduled for the concerts, but was not this year. This was a pleasant surprise.

The concert began with Sarah Gallaher on the piano and Therese Cudmore on the cello playing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. Rachmaninoff was a Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor and is considered one of the finest pianists of his day. He died in Beverley Hills in March of 1943.

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Kasey Calebaugh played a selection of Paul Hindemith music on the viola. An article at The Telegraph on the fiftieth anniversary of his death calls the composer the most neglected of the 20th Century. Indeed I had never heard of the composer until this presentation by Kasey who played it with such enthusiasm that it was impossible to not enjoy it. The selections Calebaugh chose was the Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25, No. 1, Breit Viertel and Sehr Frisch un Straff.

Sarah-Gallaher

Sarah Gallaher, Piano

Sarah Gallaher followed up on the piano beginning with a Partita No. 1 in B flat Major and Praeludium by J.S. Bach. After she presented Reverie and Homage a Raneau by Claude Debussy. This was the best part of the concert, in my opinion, because if featured two of my favorite composers. In addition to the fact that she played them so well. She finished with the only Christmas selection of the concert, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and her interpretation was excellent.

(L-R) George Teague, Brett Lindsay, Therese Cudmore, and Brittany Parker, Cello

(L-R) George Teague, Brett Lindsay, Therese Cudmore, and Brittany Parker, Cello

Brett Lindsay, Brittany Parker and Therese Cudmore presented Tchaikovsky’s Chason Triste and were later joined by George Teague to present Jesu, Meine Freude by Johann Sebastian Bach and Yesterday by the Beatles.

(L-R) Justine DeMarco and Josh Lynch, violin, joined by George Teague and Kasey Calebaugh.

(L-R) Justine DeMarco and Josh Lynch, violin, joined by George Teague and Kasey Calebaugh.

Justine DeMarco and Josh Lynch on the violin joined George Teague on the cello and Kasey Calebaugh on the viola to form the quartet which played String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor commonly known as Death and the Maiden. The piece by Franz Schubert was originally played in homes and was only published three-years after the death of the composer. Although Schubert is another favorite composer of mine and this piece has apparently become quite well-used, I was introduced to it with the performance by these students this evening.

Brett Lindsay returned on the cello to present Julie-O by Mark Summer. I checked his performance against a Youtube video by Mark Summer so I can say that Brett performed it well. I personally was not impressed with the piece.

There are two more concerts at St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church (Facebook) next Sunday featuring bluegrass music. The final concert on the 22nd will feature local artists Susan “Squared” with Susan Kerley and Susan Hendricks on the piano accompanied by Andrew Hambey. The concerts are free to the public and begin at 4 p.m. with a reception following.

Glen Davis

St. John’s Advent concerts start Sunday.

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St. John's Episcopal Lutheran Church; Corner of Grant and Second Street.

St. John’s Episcopal Lutheran Church; Corner of Grant and Second Street.


WILLIAMS—The Seventh Annual Advent Music Series sponsored by St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church begins Sunday December 1 and runs each Sunday until the 22nd. The concerts begin at 4 p.m. in Walker Hall. The Church is located at 202 West Grant Street where it intersects with 2nd Avenue.

The concert on the 1st is a traditional lesson of scripture, readings and music in English and Spanish concerning the birth of Jesus. A Blue Grass Christmas with Julie and Roger Sullivan and friends will be held on December 8. On December 15th there will be traditional music with Rita Borden on the piano and Bert Herclerode on the tuba. The final music will be Susan “Squared” with Susan Kerley and Susan Hendricks on the piano.

A reception will follow each concert. There is no charge for the concerts but donations are appreciated.