Music at Trinity

Music at Trinity

Choir-Trinity-Presbyterian-Church-Charlotte-NC

The Christian community sings. It is not a choral society. Its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. Singing is the highest form of human expression. It is to such supreme expression that the vox humana [human voice] is devoted in the ministry of the Christian community.

Music has always been a vital and beloved part of worship at Trinity. The congregation, of course, is the main choir, offering its praise and prayer to God through hymns and responses each week in the Service for the Lord’s Day. Through notes printed in the Sunday bulletin and an occasional brief rehearsal prior to worship, the congregation is encouraged and enabled to participate in the music, both as singers and as listeners.

The Trinity Choir, besides supporting the congregation’s singing, offers anthems and solos that serve as prayer, praise and proclamation. Members of the choir bring a wide range of musical expertise and experience. Through their devotion to the music they learn together and their mutual bonds of friendship and fellowship affirm the importance of each singer’s contribution to the group. Adults and students in 9th grade or higher are invited to join the choir. Rehearsals are planned to ensure that each singer has ample time to learn an anthem before singing it in worship.

Children in first through fifth grades are invited to participate in the children’s choir, which meets on Sunday afternoons. This choir program enables children to develop musical skills in a context of fun and fellowship, while also preparing anthems to sing in worship four times a year. The children often accompany their singing on Orff instruments and hand chimes.

Other instruments that support the music program are the 1965 Moeller pipe organ, a 1939 (restored in 1960s) Steinway piano, and a VanBergen carillon installed in 2001. In addition, youth from the congregation, as well as players from the Charlotte Symphony, play other instruments for special occasions.