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Choir Returns from England, to Host Organ Recital and Evensong on Sunday, Aug. 16

SMOH choir at Durham Cathedral
SMOH choir at Durham Cathedral

A recital showcasing the Lively-Fulcher organ at St. Mary of the Hills in Blowing Rock, given by guest organist Joby Bell, will precede the service of Evensong this Sunday, August 16 in the nave of the church.  The recital begins at 3 p.m., and Evensong follows immediately at 3:30 p.m.

Dr. Bell is on the faculty at Appalachian State University where he teaches organ and church music and maintains a lively discussion of these topics on his blog <www.jobybell.org>.  He will perform a varied program, including Brewer’s Marche Héroïque, Master Tallis’s Testament by Herbert Howells, Chorale in trio style: “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr,” BWV 664 by Bach, and César Franck’s Choral in B Minor.

Service music for the Aug. 16 Evensong will include the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in G by Stanford and the Clucas Preces and Responses;  the anthem will be the lovely and expressive Like as the hart by Howells.

The choir of St. Mary’s sings Evensong one Sunday each month through October, and everyone is welcome. The choir has just returned from it’s biennial sojourn in the U.K. where it was the choir-in-residence at Durham Cathedral for a week, singing daily evensong and Sunday morning services.  This was the choir’s third residence at the 900-year-old cathedral. 

For more information on this service, please contact St. Mary of the Hills at 828-295-7323.