Evensong Westminster Choir Donald Nally, conductor
Claire Fritz, graduate assistant conductor Lucas Heredia, graduate assistant conductor Michael Diorio, organ
September 28, 2025 at 3 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen 270 Woodbridge Ave Metuchen, NJ 08840 ••• In our lives as singers and conductors, we regularly encounter motets, masses, and historical works originally intended for church use but now treated as a part of the canon and considered appropriate to many performance settings. Yet, the purpose of these compositions and their place in a liturgy was the defining factor in their creation; the function and intent inform our programming as we consider the journey through which any liturgy, ritual, or concert progresses. Today we sing a concert based on the beautiful liturgy of Evensong, a sung Evening Prayer, the service established in the Church of England’s first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, in which the canonical hours of Vespers and Compline were combined for communal worship. Our concert replaces the readings appointed to the day with contemporary motets that tell the stories we live with – our stories, of our time, standing next to these ancient prayers that have helped generations navigate the stories of their times. We hope this music reaches all ears – of the Church and of the Academy, of believers and non-believers – as we intend: an expression of our human experience, described through an enduring, ancient musical architecture. – Donald Nally