The year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the installation of Trinity’s pipe organ: Taylor and Boody Organbuilders’ Opus 34. Over the past twenty-five years, countless organists have traveled to Staunton to play the instrument. It has been a featured instrument in regional American Guild of Organists events and the American Institute of Organ Builders. In addition to its primary purpose of leading congregational song and accompanying the choir, the organ has been played in concert, accompanied large scale works, is used regularly as a teaching instrument, and has accompanied a silent movie! Several events are planned over the course of this year to celebrate the incredible instrument
Award-winning violinist and Heifetz alum, Liana Branscome and pianist Wayne Ching join forces to make their debut as a duo in Staunton, presenting Romantic Effervescence: the Music of Brahms, Bacewicz, Beach and Prokofiev. Their innovative program takes us on a journey of romanticism through time and circumstance and includes works by women pioneers as well as beloved classics. Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz composed her Sonata da camera as an homage to music of the 17th century as she emerged from the perils and dislocation of World War II, shadowing the sonata with a touch of fatalism. Boston-native Amy Beach was among the first American composers to rise to prominence in a male-dominated field. Her tender Romance has quickly risen to become a favorite of violinists around the world. Johannes Brahms adds to this romance as he pens his lyrical Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major in the beautiful Thun, Switzerland where he describes the land as “so full of melodies one has to be careful not to step on any.” Branscome and Ching will end the program with the triumphant Violin amd Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Major by Sergei Prokofiev, another work born out of WWII as the composer hides in a remote Soviet shelter, temporarily out from under Stalin’s thumb and scrutiny. Despite the horror of war, as well as Prokofiev’s own personal persecution, this work exudes optimism, signaling the power of music as transcendence over circumstance.
Sundays at 5 is our series of Choral Evensongs, special concerts and special liturgies, held about once per month, usually at 5 p.m. on Saturdays or Sundays in September through May. Evensongs are typically Tuesdays at 6 p.m. We welcome guest choirs, guest organists and other instrumentalists to be a part of these special events and services that are free of charge and open to the public. The Carl Broman Series enables a guest organist to present a full-length organ recital each year.
2025-26 Sundays at 5 schedule to come
Please contact Virginia Bolena, Organist & Director of Music at 540-886-9132 or through the Trinity Church contact form to be added to our email lists to receive notification about these special services and events.
Want to become a Friend of Music to help fund these concerts? Please mail donations to Trinity Church, PO Box 208, Staunton, VA, 24402, or donate online here.
Thank you for your generosity.