April 20, 2020

Annual Report for Music

We have had a very busy musical year here at Second Presbyterian. We again joined with several area churches to present combined worship for Maundy Thursday and at Thanksgiving in 2019. At Easter, 2019 we again invited all interested to join our choir to sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus for the postlude and several did. Due to coronavirus distancing, for Holy Week 2020 we relied on recorded music from previous years and some anthems sung by a quintet from the choir. We hosted the Youth Music Festival for one day of Piccolo Spoleto again in May 2019, when several hundred people attended over the course of the day and over $500 in donations received. Our bell choir has rehearsed and played in the service several times, and continues to be an inspiring and close-knit group. Sally McDuffie joined the bell choir this year.

We had several performances from promising young instrumentalists during the service, in return for using our sanctuary as a venue for recording auditions for competitions or schools. In June 2019 Charleston Academy of Music moved into our Education Building and we have had a couple of students play in the service, hopefully more to come. The Charleston Gospel Choir/Spiritual Ensemble sang in May and December 2019. During Piccolo Spoleto we hosted the Spotlight Series of nine concerts for the first time, showcasing musicians of national and international renown. We hosted the College of Charleston Concert Choir in concert in May, October and November.

Our music program welcomes persons who wish to sing, play bells, or contribute their other musical talents. Please contact me at jharlow@2ndpc.org if you would like to be involved in any of our choirs or to play an instrument in the service. I would encourage all also to visit the Music page on the church website (www.2ndpc.org/music) to hear some of our anthems or the Christmas Pageant. As of this writing, in April 2020, the church is still presenting services online, for which the quintet is singing, but the choirs gather virtually on Zoom on Sunday mornings to keep in touch.

Respectfully submitted,

Julia Harlow, Director of Music and Organist

Chancel Choir

From Lee, for choir: The choir is continuing to do great things at Second Presbyterian Church to praise God and share his message with the church and community. The highlights of our year have been selections from Handel's Messiah during Advent with the addition of amazing string players. The choir works really hard every year for the advent offering and I couldn't be prouder of them. Following the Messiah selections, the choir was hard at work to provide many beautiful carols for our Christmas Eve service. We were looking forward to performing Randall Thompson's Alleluia for Easter this year, however, due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis we had to change course. Thanks to our loyal Church musicians, we provided a "socially distanced quartet" for the services of Holy Week and Easter. During this pandemic, we have kept in touch via zoom and are eager to get back into rehearsal and perform music to the glory of God for the community of Second Church.

We are always looking to add more members to our choir family. It is such a special opportunity to come together to create something greater than we can on our own to glorify God. We have a lot of fun while working hard at this and welcome anyone of any ability to join us. All that is required is a love of music and a desire to sing. Please send me a message a leelingle3@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us.

Clarissa Rider, our soprano section leader, is continuing to do excellent work with the youth choir. We have brought the choirs together for joint anthems and I am looking forward to working with her and the talented youth of the church for future collaborations as well. If your child is interested in singing please email me or Dr. Harlow. Working with such wonderful musicians here at Second Presbyterian is an honor and privilege.

Lee Lingle, Chancel Choir Director

Children’s Choir

The Second Presbyterian Children's Choir has accomplished a lot this year! They have sung in the service several times, two of those times in collaboration with the adult choir. The children learn new music quickly and enthusiastically. We hope that our choir of 7 will grow even larger in the future!

Clarissa Rider, Children’s Choir Director