Christ Church Concert of Remembrance
Christ Church in Short Hills will present a Special Concert of Remembrance featuring Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. The signature performance at Christ Church in Short Hills commemorates its 140th Anniversary and honors those lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Concert to be held at Christ Church in Short Hills, will feature the Christ Church Festival Choir, Orchestra, Organ and vocal soloists conducted by guest conductor and Christ Church parishioner George Mathew. The Christ Church Festival Choir, under the direction of Christ Church Organist and Choirmaster, Dr. Andrew Moore, will include choristers from the Community Congregational Church in Short Hills, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Millburn, Temple B’Nai Jeshrun and other area institutions. The Festival Orchestra will comprise distinguished artists from major New York orchestras including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Orpheus. Short Hills resident and soprano Tharanga Goonetilleke, and baritone Charles Schneider will be the featured soloists for this performance of the Fauré Requiem.
The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass, Rector of Christ Church in Short Hills, will introduce the concert. This performance is presented as a memorial to those lives lost during the pandemic, as well as those who have passed away in the church and community during the church’s 140-year history. The Concert is presented free of charge. Free will donations are welcome. A Reception will follow the performance in Parish Hall.
About the Program
Fauré’s Requiem, often described as a gentler, more meditative and peaceful rendering of the Mass for the Dead, and its companion piece, the Cantique de Jean Racine, are particularly meaningful vehicles for this occasion. These works simultaneously honor the great musical, poetic and liturgical traditions of the past, those of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic eras. They also invite listeners to immerse themselves in an ancient mystical tradition of trance-like repetition, which underlies much of the music – an invocation of an eternal music that never ceases, quietly sounding beyond the relatively brief window of time that is the present moment. The “deeper music” of Christ Church in Short Hills and its ever-expanding community reflect its story over the decades, and perhaps centuries.
About the Artists
Award-winning Indian-American conductor George Mathew is the founder and Artistic Director of Music for Life International, a global social enterprise, which creates social impact and public diplomacy through music. He has appeared in the U.S., Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania and Europe as conductor, pianist and speaker. Since 2006, Mr. Mathew and MFLI have presented a series of global humanitarian concerts at Carnegie Hall, which have brought together hundreds of musicians from over 120 of the world’s most distinguished orchestral, chamber and choral ensembles to raise funds and public awareness for major international crises. He has served as Artistic Director/Conductor of the New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York and was the Founder Conductor of the Children’s Concerts at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
Dr. Andrew Moore is the Organist and Choirmaster of Christ Church in Short Hills. Dr. Moore is Chairman of the Music Department at the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Dr. Moore earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia and holds a Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied under John Weaver, chair of the Organ Department. He also has studied improvisation with Gerre Hancock and the harpsichord with Lionel Party, the acclaimed harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic.
The historic, renowned organ at Christ Church in Short Hills is a 63 rank Aeolian-Skinner opus 1347 designed by organ builder Joseph Whiteford in 1960. It is the largest of its kind in the state of New Jersey. The organ was restored in 2015 and the new antiphonal organ and Trompette en Chamade were tonally designed by organ builder, Bynum Petty.
Christ Church in Short Hills
Christ Church in Short Hills, established in 1882, is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Christ Church in Short Hills is located at 66 Highland Avenue, Short Hills. For more information, please visit: christchurchshorthills.org.
