Children can Mingle with Professional Musicians as they prepare for a Sunday Musical Eucharist. Free Reception.

Time Sensitive: Bring your children to the orchestra's practice session Saturday April 23rd, beginning at 10am at St. Mark's. Meet the musicians and singers. A reception will be served.

PRESS RELEASE FOR ST. MARKS CELEBRATION Saturday- Sunday, April 23-24, 2016
Written by Kevin DeMarrais – Teaneck, NJ

Music has been an important part of worship services at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church since its founding in Teaneck nearly a century ago, but nothing comes close to what is planned for this Sunday.

To celebrate St. Mark’s Day, honoring the congregation’s patron saint, Sunday’s 10 a.m. Eucharist service will feature a full 16-member orchestra composed of professional musicians who have performed on some of the nation’s most prominent venues, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and Broadway. They will be joined by members of the St. Mark’s Choir.

The Choral Eucharist is the centerpiece of the church’s celebration of St. Mark’s Day. Activities kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday with an open rehearsal in which children and their parents are invited to watch and interact with the professional musicians as they prepare for Sunday’s Eucharist. There is no admission cost.

In additional, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, performance-artist Christopher Johnson will present a solo performance of the Gospel according to St. Mark as it might have been given in a private home in first-century Rome. Johnson will present Mark's complete original text as an after-dinner entertainment, the form in which it may have been "published" in first-century Rome.

Tickets for this event are $20.00 ($15.00 for students and seniors) and may be purchased in advance online. Proceeds will benefit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund.

Sunday’s music, which will be incorporated into the traditional Eucharist service, includes works from "Majesty," a hymn celebration of worship and praise arranged by Ron Huff, the former producer and principal conductor for the Nashville Symphony, said George Wesner, St. Mark’s organist and music director, who will direct the assembled musicians.

The program also includes “O Worship the King,” “How Firm a Foundation” from the Anglican tradition, a sung version of the Apostles-Nicene Creed, and “Holy, Holy, Holy” as a sung Sanctus during the Eucharist, Wesner said.

The full congregation will be invited to participate throughout the service, culminating with the "Hallelujah Chorus" as a postlude, Wesner said.

The orchestra -- including violin, viola, cello, string bass, trumpet, trombone, French horn, flute, percussion, harp and organ -- was assembled by Wesner.”

The musicians have performed with the American Symphony, New York Grand Opera, Radio City Music Hall Christmas Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theater, NY Pops, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Brass, Seattle Symphony, and Stamford Symphony, They hold degrees from Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Arizona State University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

St. Mark’s is located at 118 Chadwick Road, behind Holy Name Hospital. For further information or directions, call (201) 836-7275 or go online at www.stmarksteaneck.org.

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