CHRISTMAS CONCERT IN WARWICK, RI

Saturday, December 10, 2011 - 7 PM - St. William Church, Warwick, RI

St. William Church will be putting on a Christmas concert on Sat. XII-10-11 at 7 PM. Featured choirs will be the Pro Cantare and the St. William Church Choir, both directed by organist (and old friend and mentor) Reuel Gifford, as well as the Chamber Singers of Rhode Island College, directed by Theresa Coffman.

My wife and I have gone to concerts directed by Reuel Gifford a number of times at St. William, as well as his previous parish, St. Mary in Providence. He does not disappoint. We will be there again!

BTW, after the concert, stop in the hall for munchies!

Directions here!

Peace,
BMP

TONIGHT IN BOSTON...

(click the picture so you can read it!)

At St. Cecilia Church, 30 St. Cecilia St. (corner of Belvedere), right behind Berklee College of Music's Mass. Ave. building, Boston, MA. Beautiful church with a majestic four-manual organ by Smith and Gilbert.

Peace,
BMP

SCHOLA CANTORUM SANCTAE CECILIAE IN CONCERT

I got this announcement from a family I'm good friends with.

The Schola Cantorum Sanctae Ceciliae of Northern Rhode Island, directed by Henri St. Louis, will offer a Concert of Sacred Music, April 27, at St. Anthony’s Church, 128 Greene Street, Woonsocket, RI. The group will be performing works of various composers dating from the early Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century. The concert will begin at 7:00 P.M. followed by refreshments in the church hall. A free-will offering to benefit St. Anthony’s Church may be given.

Henri St. Louis is a very well-known organist, singer, and choir director in the Northern Rhode Island area. The singers that he is directing and singing with here are all one family. The mother, Fran Garrepy, is also an established organist in Northern Rhode Island. Her father, the late Alcee Brodeur, was also a well-known organist in and around Woonsocket. Fran, Henri, and five of her sons make up the schola cantorum. Four of those five boys sang with me when I was at Holy Name. The youngest, Mark, was too young then. One of the boys, Michael, is studying organ with Henri St. Louis, and is doing quite well. I have heard this group in action on the local cable channel, and have a CD of their work. They are excellent.

Definitely an asset to the sacred music scene in the Providence diocese.
Peace,
BMP

SOME CONCERT EXCERPTS

Sorry so late!

I finally decided to make use of my own YouTube membership. Here are some video excerpts from the Christmas Season concert we did at Holy Ghost on 1/3/07.

Video clip #1 - an excerpt from Rejoice in the Lord Always (written by yours truly). Accompanist is longtime friend and mentor Reuel Gifford. Cantors are Jude Nagle and yours truly.



Video clip #2 - an excerpt from Cantique de Noel. Violinist is Conrad Briere, 85 years old and he can still go, go, go! :-)



Video clip #3 - an excerpt from Angels We Heard on High. Joining us on trumpet is Nick Fleming, and on vocals, the audience. This was from the carol sing segment with the audience.



Video clip #4 - an exceprt from The Worship of God in Nature by Beethoven. Don't mind the extra flapping at the beginning. From where the organ sits down back, it's not always easy for the accompanist to see the "big beat" flapping from the front.



Peace,
BMP

SOME CONCERT PICTURES

This time my wife's camera was used for more positive purposes. We just finished our Christmas concert this evening. For being shorthanded, I was very pleased with the turnout, and the sound. OK - why were we shorthanded? One singer down in Florida visiting husband who is stationed there with the Reserves, one singer in California for the funeral of a family member, one singer with a prior commitment, and two out sick. While we pray for those people, we seven did quite well - four sopranos, two tenors, and yours truly singing bass.

Special thanks to:
Mr. Reuel Gifford, our guest accompanist (note: the organ console is down back, so even with a mirror, watching me direct up front can sometimes be a challenge, but he endured the challenge well)
Mr. Nick Fleming, our trumpeter
Mr. Conrad Briere, our violinist
Mrs. Maria Monteiro, who made the red sash thingies that we wore for the concert and at Midnight Mass as well
Mrs. Jude Nagle, our cantor
Fr. Jay Finelli (the iPadre), for his tireless support
The staff and parishioners of Holy Ghost Church, for their tireless support
My wife and kids, plus my mother, for their tireless support

It was a fun night!

ad orientem: yours truly
front row: our tenors, Dolores and Val
back row: our sopranos, Jude, Maria, Ana, and Rylie.
far right on violin: Conrad
far left (hidden behind people): Nick

Might be a little blurry due to the Christmas tree lights.

Here I introduce Laetentur Caeli and its origin before we sing it.








Yours truly at left, with our guest accompanist, as well as my longtime friend and mentor, Reuel.

BTW, yes the dates on the pictures are way off (just two years and two days to be exact). We never got around to fixing that, so every pic we take comes with a date of 01/01/2005.

Expect some really cool surprises for next year!

Peace,
BMP

THIS WEEK AT HOLY GHOST CHURCH

Our second annual Christmas Concert
within the Christmas Season
Wednesday, January 3, 2007 - 7:00 PM

Four generations of instrumentalists!
Nick Fleming, teen trumpeter
Brian Michael Page, fortysomething organist/conductor
Reuel Gifford, sixtysomething guest organist
Conrad Briere, eightysomething violinist

And of course, the Holy Ghost Choir.

First of two segments:
Page - Rejoice in the Lord always
French, arr. Holst - Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Adam - Cantique de Noel
Gastoldi/Page - Laetentur Caeli
Darke - In the bleak midwinter
Beethoven - The Worship of God in Nature

Second of two segments:
Carols for the audience to join in
Hark, the herald angels sing *
Angels we have heard on high
Silent night, holy night
God rest you merry, gentlemen
The first Nowell
O come, all ye faithful *
(* indicates arranged by Willcocks)

Holy Mass - The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
January 7, 2007

HYMN: Songs of thankfulness and praise (Salzburg)
Jubilate Deo (Gloria, Sanctus, Memorial, Amen, Agnus)
Psalm 72: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you (Page)
Alleluia adapted from the Mode V chant Divinum Mysterium
HYMN: We three kings of Orient are (Kings of Orient)
Chant Lord's Prayer, in English
HYMN: The first Nowell (English carol)
HYMN: As with gladness men of old (Dix)

Happy and blessed 2007!
Peace,
BMP

A CHRISTMAS CONCERT DURING CHRISTMAS SEASON

Wednesday, January 3, 2007 - 7 PM will be the date and time for the Holy Ghost Choir's "2nd annual Christmas Concert during the Christmas Season". Our guest accompanist will be my good friend and mentor Reuel Gifford, director of southern New England's well-known Pro Cantare. Music by Holst, Gastoldi, Darke, and Beethoven, as well as some of my own work. There will also be carols that the audience can join in and sing.
Come join us, as we feature three instrumentalists and a conductor from four different age groups - a teenage trumpeter, a fortysomething conductor, a sixtysomething organist, and an eightysomething violinist (who still plays very well!!!).
Holy Ghost Church is on Judson Street in Tiverton, RI. For directions, please visit www.holyghostcc.org, and click on Directions.

Peace,
BMP

Boulevard Brass Qunitet

I just returned home from a Sunday afternoon concert with the Boulevard Brass Quintet. They are five graduate students from the University of Kansas City Conservatory of Music. They are on an August tour of South Louisiana to help raise funds for charitiable organizations which help(ed) persons in Lafayette, Vermilion and Calcasieu Parishes (civil parishes, folks, not Church parishes) after Hurricane Rita. Here's the program:

Fanfare, Lemmens
Solemn Entry, R. Strauss
Praise the Lord, Karg-Elert
Toccata, Frescobaldi
Contrapunktus Nr. 9, J.S. Bach
Magnificat primi toni, Buxtehude
Symphony No. 3, "Organ", Maestoso, Saint-Saens

I joined the group at the console for the Strauss, the Karg-Elert, the Frescobaldi, and the Saint-Saens. The Buxtuhude was all mine, though, to give the guys a chance to rest before the Saint-Saens. We wish them well on their two-week tour of my area which will bring them to a number of churches between Lafayette and Lake Charles.

FOR OUR WEST COAST READERS

Charles Culbreth is one of our California pals on multiple message boards. I'm promoting this for him.

REQUIEM
GABRIEL FAURÉ
Arranged by John Rutter
FOR THE FORGOTTEN OF
DARFUR AND THE WORLD
4:00 P.M. SUNDAY
APRIL 9, 2006
ST. MARY’S CHURCH
VISALIA, CALIFORNIA

A BENEFIT CONCERT PRESENTED
BY SCHOLA ST. MARY’S,
CHARLES CULBRETH, DIRECTOR
THE MONACHE H.S. CHAMBER SINGERS
SUSAN EVANS, DIRECTOR
CHARLOTTE GARCIA, SOPRANO
MILTON FRIESEN, BARITONE
TRENT BARRY, ORGANIST
MEMBERS OF THE TULARE CO. SYMPHONY
PROCEEDS DONATED TO THE
DARFUR ASSISTANCE PROJECT OF VISALIA

Break a leg Charles!
Peace,
BMP

Another Concert....

....this time at one of the neighboring parishes. Sunday, April 2, at 4 pm. My program follows below.


RUTTER: Toccata in Seven

BUXTEHUDE: Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist

MENDELSSOHN: Prelude in G Major

HINDEMITH: Ruhig bewegt (Sonata II)

DURUFLE: Prelude sur l'Introit de l'Epiphanie

LOCKLAIR: "The peace may be exchanged." (RUBRICS)

BACH: Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532)

Recital Details (and 300th post!!!)

Well it seems Brian beat me to my own announcement. Punk. LOL.

My program will be as follows:



Toccata in D Minor ("Dorian")

Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (2 settings)

ORGELBUECHLEIN:
Vater unser in Himmelreich
Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund
Christ lag in Todesbanden

Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland (from Leipzig/Great Eighteen Chorales)

Air for the G-String (organ/bass duet)

Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532)





And this is the THREE HUNDREDTH POST on the CHRISTUS VINCIT BLOG!!!

CHRISTUS VINCIT! CHRISTUS REGNAT! CHRISTUS IMPERAT!

~nb

THIS IN THE HARRISBURG CATHEDRAL BULLETIN

MUSIC UNDER THE DOME
Sunday, March 19, 2006, at 4pm
Nicholas F. Basehore, organ
assisted by Raymond M. Matula, contrabass
Cathedral Organist Nicholas F. Basehore will present a program of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, in observance of what would be Bach's 321st birthday. This is Mr. Basehore's first solo performance at the cathedral since becoming Director of Liturgical Music in October 2005. He will be assisted by Raymond Matula of Lititz, his grandfather. Mr. Matula is known throughout the Harrisburg and Lancaster areas as an excellent jazz bassist. As part of the program, they will play a duet. There is no admission fee, however, a suggested donation of $10 may be given at the door.

Kick butt, Nick, and grandpa! (ok, this last missive is from me)
Came across it this morning - just HAD to promote it. ;-)

Peace,
BMP

Mozartjubilaeum!

Fatima Church Lafayette adds itself to the list of celebrations around the world of the 250th birthday of W.A. Mozart. Visit the Fatima website to learn more details about the concerts offered throughout the year. All of the concerts will feature works of various composers, but will include at least one item by Mozart. The series starts on March 17 with my organ program:


Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Samuel Scheidt
Adagio fuer Glasharmonika, W. A. Mozart
Fuge in g moll, W.A. Mozart (realised fragment)
Passacaglia und Thema-Fugatum, J.S. Bach
The Combat of David and Goliath, Joh. Kuhnau

The series runs through the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with choral Vespers in the church.

SOME PICTURES FROM THE CONCERT

My wife Ann took some pictures at tonight's concert. Some may be a little fuzzy, as her camera is pretty much on her last leg. Please bear with me.

A better shot of the choir, and my ugly mug (hehehehe)

St. Teresa of the Little Flower and our Crucified Lord looks over Reuel and me (I'm on the right; Reuel, my guest accompanist, is on the left)
The Rodgers Insignia 577 Organ

The choir, directed by yours truly. It kinda looks like it's seen through bifocals, but that's my wife's flash, half shattered. I really have to get her a new camera.

I'll have some sound clips on the next post. Right now they're saved as .wav files, but I need to convert them to .mp3 files. Some of the clips may even be part of my next podcast.
Everyone pulled through tonight. Everything went wayyyyyyyyy beyond my expectations. Attendance was far better than expected, and a lot of happy people greeted the choir and me out the door. The choir was at its best ever!

Special thanks to the choir for its hard work, commitment, and devotion, to Mike Alves and the Tiverton High School Honors Band, Reuel Gifford for his top notch accompaniment (he's as humble as they come, but he was at his usual - great!), Father Jay Finelli, my pastor, boss, and now fellow podcaster, for his tireless support and encouragement, and to all who attended. I can't remember when the last time was that I was this moved. I was dang near speechless.

One shocking note: When I first wrote "Rejoice in the Lord Always", I expected it to run about 4 to 4-1/2 minutes long. When my wife did the audio, also from her camera, little did I ever believe until today that, even with the first measure truncated by the camera, the piece turned out to be six minutes long! 5:59 to be exact! Figure about 6:04 before the minor truncations. That makes for THE longest piece of sacred music I've ever written. Breaks my record of 1999 with "Christus Vincit", which was 5:33. I nearly fell back in my seat when I saw the timing on my wife's media player.

+Peace,
BMP

CONCERT PROMO

The Holy Ghost Parish Website has just been updated, and Fr. Finelli put the concert right on the front page. He and I are obviously both excited. It also got into this past weekend's bulletin.
Also, a special thanks to Fr. Joseph Santos over at Holy Name for including the announcement in their bulletin. This was my first contact with Fr. Santos, and he was just as cordial as the former pastor (whom I worked for), Fr. Kevin Fisette, had been the four years I was there (he was great!). Thank you very much. For their bulletin, just click on the link above, or on the sidebar, and click the bulletin link and follow instructions there. But you only have till the weekend to check it out, as the bulletin page gets updated weekly by Mark Berardo and John Corrigan (two super gentlemen from the Latin Mass community there).

+In Christ,
BMP

MY FIRST CONCERT IN SIX YEARS

The last time I did a concert was at Holy Name Church in Providence - in 1999. For the first time since then, I will have a choir in concert at Holy Ghost Church in Tiverton. This concert will take place on Wednesday, December 28, at 7:00 PM at Holy Ghost.

Guest organist will be Reuel Gifford. Special guests will be Nick Fleming and select members of the Tiverton High School Band.

FINAL lineup:
SEGMENT 1 (choral anthems and organ pieces)
Page - Rejoice in the Lord always
Holst (arr.) - Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Gastoldi/Page - Laetentur caeli
Adam - O Holy Night
Vaughan Williams - Prelude on "Lovely" (I will be at the organ for this one)
Beethoven - The Worship of God in Nature

SEGMENT 2 - (TBA) Nick and band

SEGMENT 3 (carol sing with audience)
Joy to the World
O Little Town of Bethlehem
What Child is This
Angels We Have Heard on High
It Came upon a Midnight Clear
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Silent Night
O Come, All Ye Faithful (arr. Willcocks)

Wish me well. This is my first concert in six years as a conductor, and my second concert EVER.

+In Christ,
BMP

Advent Vespers and Recital

Yours truly has been asked to provide a 30 minute recital this coming weekend at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Camp Hill, PA. Their tradition is to celebrate Vespers on the four Sundays of Advent, with a recital preceding the Office. My program will be as follows:

Prelude on Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah -- Wayne Wold
(from "Prelude, Fugue and Variation....", Wold's homage to Franck)

Rorate Caeli -- Jeanne Demessieux

Pastorale on "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying" -- Wayne Wold

Reprise -- Paul Manz
(organ reflections on "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come")

Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland -- J. S. Bach (Great Eighteen)


I will conclude the program by improvising on "Creator of the Stars of Night"

I have also been asked to serve as the cantor for the Office, and will chant the psalms in alternatim with the congregation. They use the St. Meinrad psalm tones.

~nb

CONCERT UPDATE: GUEST ORGANIST

One of the requests I was given the other day is that for the concert (and ONLY the concert, thank God) the choir and I be up front. Since the console is in back (but with the mirror I can still well be seen), I had to make a slight personal adjustment.

I was able to acquire a guest organist yesterday who will play from the back, while I conduct up front. The organist is Mr. Reuel Gifford. Reuel and I go back - WAYYYYYYYYYY back - like about 30 years! You see, in the fall of 1975, I joined the choir of boys and men at Holy Trinity Church in Central Falls, RI, which was directed by Reuel. I was only 11 years old then - singing tenor - YES, tenor, while 12- and 13 year-olds were still singing with the treble boys and 15- and 16-year-old guys were still singing alto. It was through Reuel that I got to learn the really good stuff - Mozart's Ave Verum, Stainer's God So Loved the World, Holst's gorgeous arrangement of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, etc. It was the first time that I had gotten to know a better tune for Away in a Manger (CRADLE SONG, by Kirkpatrick), and the beloved O Little Town of Bethlehem to FOREST GREEN. There was a Gloria by Mozart that still sticks to me to this day. However, I cannot recall which Mass it was from.

Reuel left for Worcester, MA, in the beginning of 1976. His predecessor was Mr. Kevin Valentine, who eventually became my organ instructor for a brief period in 1987. I ceased my lessons upon the birth of my daughter Jessica. In 1988, Reuel came back to RI, where I got to meet him again, not as a chorister this time, but as a colleague and friend. He and I have been friends since. He is currently organist and choirmaster at St. Mary's Church in Providence. The organ there is a three-manual 27-rank Kilgen - probably the best sounding Kilgen in Rhode Island. He also directs a choir there called Pro Cantare.

It is my great pleasure to welcome my good friend and colleague, Reuel Gifford, to the console at Holy Ghost, as part of our concert!

+In Christ,
BMP