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Last Organ Recital and Evensong of the Season at St. Mary of the Hills on Sept. 30

St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church offers rest and reflection at their last Evensong of the season.
 
The last organ recital and Evensong of the season will be this Sunday, Sept. 30, at St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church in Blowing Rock. Organist for this recital will be Kyle Ritter, Canon Organist and Choirmaster at the Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville.  
 
Ritter earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Indiana University, where he was a pupil of Robert Rayfield and Marilyn Keiser. Ritter is active in the Association of Anglican Musicians, is an adjunct faculty member at Brevard College, and chairs the Liturgy and Music Commission of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, in addition to his duties at the Cathedral. 
 
This free concert begins at 3 p.m. and is immediately followed by Solemn Evensong (with incense) at 3:30 p.m.
 
Music for this Evensong includes the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (St. Paul’s Service) by Howells, with Preces and Responses by Shepherd. The introit will be Rheinberger’s Abendlied (‘Evening Song’), and the anthem is an exciting piece about a battle between the Archangel Michael and a dragon, Factum est silencium, by Dering.
 
Evensong is sung daily at Anglican cathedrals and churches around the world and offers an opportunity for rest and reflection in the midst of our stressful lives. The choir of St. Mary’s studies abroad each triennium with one of the leading choral directors of Anglican music in Cambridge, U.K., and this past May studied with Tim Brown, professor emeritus of Clare College.  
 
The choir sings Evensong one Sunday each month during the warmer months and everyone is welcome. The church is located on Main Street in Blowing Rock. For more information about this service, contact St. Mary of the Hills at (828) 295-7323, or follow us on Facebook @ MusicfromStMaryoftheHills.