Our cover is World Tree © Tim Jutsum 2005
Premiered April 2, 2025- This setting of the Te Lucis ante terminum (Mode VIII) was composed by Stephen Kennedy in 2021 and was dedicated to James Weaver. Verse one and three bookend the 8-part polyphony of verse 2 which incorporates only the plainsong tone as composition material. This performance employs historic Colla parte practice with pipe organ, 5 sackbuts (Bass, Tenor & Alto), and 2 cornetti. Recorded in April of 2025 at Christ Church, Rochester, NY.
Premiered Apr 9, 2025- This motet of 8 voices is performed here by the Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Rochester NY. Stephen Kennedy director. Colla parte instruments include 5 sackbuts, 2 cornetti, 2 theorbo, and organ at A=465 Quarter-comma meantone. Recorded at Christ Church, Rochester NY May 2023. @techformusicians
Domine, ad adjuvandum by Ignazio Donatti (ca. 1575-1638) -premiered April 23, 2025
This 12-part motet with Basso continuo was first published in 1623 in Salmi boscarecci, Op. 9, no. 1. It is performed here with colla parte instruments: 5 sackbuts, 2 cornetti, and organ in quarter-comma meantone at A=465 by the Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy director. Recorded in May of 2024. @techformusicians Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Alleluia. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen. Alleluia.
This 5-part Mode II setting of the Compline hymn was composed by Rudolph di Lasso (son of Orlando di Lasso). Colla parte of 4 sackbuts and organ at A=465 in quarter-comma meantone. Performance by the Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy director. Recorded in May 2023. @techformusicians
Te lucis ante terminum, Rerum Creator poscimus, Ut solita clementia Sis præsul ad custodiam. Procul recedant somnia, Et noctium phantasmata; Hostemque nostrum comprime, Ne polluantur corpora. Præsta, Pater omnipotens, Per Iesum Christum Dominum, Qui tecum in perpetuum Regnat cum Sancto Spiritu. Amen
Translation: Before the end of the day, Creator of the world, we pray That with Thy wonted favor Thou Wouldst be our Guard and Keeper now. From all ill dreams defend our eyes, From nightly fears and fantasies; Tread under foot our ghostly foe, That no pollution we may know. O Father, that we ask be done, Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son; Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee, Doth live and reign eternally.
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Hi. My name is Dave Jutsum. I am excited to be starting a LEGO® building club at Christ Church Downtown. We meet each Sunday from 1pm til 3pm.
The purpose of our club is to walk in and build. People can stay for as long as they want. They do not have to stay for the entire two hours . There is no registration. There is no charge, whatsoever. We will display the finished creations, and people can take pictures.
I provide the pieces. I have acquired thousands of pieces for the purpose of hosting a building group. This is something which I have envisioned for a long time. I found out how much I enjoy providing for builders by accident. I brought some of my pieces to a brick convention where I had a display table. I invited kids passing by to build, and then to display their creations. It was a whole lot of fun. I waited a whole year to do it, again. And, it was still fun. I especially liked to watch parents interacting with their children. We had a lot of kids in our family, and I was reminded of those times. I would like to emphasize that this is not a drop off your child and leave event. I need a parent or guardian or grandparent or older sibling to stay with kids under the age of 12.
And, for that matter, our group is meant for builders of all ages.
Building with LEGO@ pieces can be joyful, playful, creative, and therapeutic for people of many different backgrounds. People on the Autism Spectrum often make connections through LEGO® building. I believe that all of these factors are inspired by our wonderful God. I am hoping to celebrate these joys with some LEGO® loving members of our downtown churches. It is intended to be an opportunity to focus on something which can bring us together: the joy of building LEGO@ creations. I would love to see LEGO@ builders from all kinds of denominations join in. Let's Build Together! is the name of our group.
Dear Christ Church Parents and Guardians,
Meet Jimmy Jeffery. Jimmy will be directing the Children’s Choir at Christ Church Sunday, right after the 11 am service.
It is a fun and rewarding way for youth to be involved in Christ Church’s liturgy and we would be delighted for your children to be a part of this ensemble! The choir will be geared towards children grades K-3, incorporating singing and movement through engaging activities to teach basic musicianship skills.
Weekly rehearsals will be in the second-floor nursery for 20 minutes on Sundays directly following the 11:00 Holy Eucharist. Regular communications and reminders will be sent to parents and guardians via email. Please feel free to contact him if you have a child interested in participating or if you have any questions about our program. Thank you!
Jazz improv ©2005 T Jutsum
VanDelinder fellow
Dominic Fiacco is a junior at the Eastman School of Music, where he studies with Prof. Nathan Laube. He is a VanDelinder Fellow at Christ Church Rochester, where he also serves as choral librarian for the Christ Church Schola Cantorum. Fiacco was named to the 20 under 30 Class of 2023 by The Diapason, the oldest American scholarly journal dedicated to the organ. He has given numerous recitals across New York and Maryland, including at the West Point Cadet Chapel and at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. In 2023, he dedicated Hamilton College’s new organ, later appearing with the Hamilton College Orchestra as organ soloist. Fiacco also played at the Organ Historical Society’s 2024 national convention in Baltimore. Finally, he is scheduled to perform Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 with the Syracuse Orchestra in September. Fiacco has also won prizes in several piano competitions, remaining active as a collaborative pianist. He previously studied with Stephen Best on organ and Sar-Shalom Strong on piano, both of whom lecture at Hamilton College. Fiacco has received numerous scholarships, including the Eastman School of Music’s Dean’s Performance Award.
Cobbs Hill ©2006 T.Jutsum
WXXI acknowledges the 25th anniversary of Compline on Sunday nights October-April.
Click on the image-link above to hear the story and get a feel for why so many people use this spiritual space to end one week and start the next.
This photo appears in the April edition of Crux est Mundi Medicina, the newsletter of Holy Cross in West Park, NY. It includes our own aspirant, Anthony Letchworth
Make this the joyous end to your weekend: Compline, preceded by the first Candlelight Concert. The Candlelight Concert begins at 8:30 p.m.; Compline begins at 9 p.m. Both events take place at Christ Church, 141 East Avenue.
Compline is performed by Schola Cantorum and directed by Stephen Kennedy, Director of Music and Organist of Christ Church Rochester, Instructor of Sacred Music at the Eastman School of Music, and Instructor of Organ for Eastman’s Community Music School. In 1997, he founded the Christ Church Schola Cantorum to perform the Office of Compline each Sunday at Christ Church.
This acclaimed ensemble of voices and Renaissance instruments specializes in the performance of Plainsong, motets of the Renaissance and Romantic eras, as well as contemporary music and improvisation. The group has been featured in various national radio broadcasts, appeared in international festivals and concerts, and collaborated with ensembles such as the Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble, and Ensemble Weser-Renaissance Bremen. The Schola has recorded for the Arsis and Loft labels.
We asked Stephen for his thoughts as this tradition enters a 25th year:
When I founded the Schola Cantorum in 1997, I never imagined that it would have developed into an ensemble with such transformative impact through high-level music making. What grew out of a desire to teach others to perform Gregorian chant from medieval notation is now a performance laboratory where we experiment and grapple with performance practices of many styles of music. These processes afford us choices that expand the expressive possibilities of our performance.
The Schola is presently comprised of singers, Renaissance sackbut players, an organist, and cornettist — all of whom get to perform to hundreds of people each week. We perform sacred chant, renaissance polyphony, romantic and contemporary works, choral improvisation within the ancient monastic office of Compline at Christ Church on Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. (October-April). Compline is performed entirely of music by candlelight. Members include Eastman and U of R faculty and students, RIT faculty, and Rochester-area musicians. Participation in the Schola is also offered for course credit at Eastman.
Members who have graduated from Eastman regularly let me know that Schola was one of the most important and fulfilling opportunities they encountered while in Rochester. Former members are now freelance performers, composers, notable church musicians, and those who hold important teaching positions around the country. We all look forward to Sunday nights when together we discover deeper hidden powers in music performance that transform us and those who experience our music making.
Every Sunday from October through April at 9:00 p.m. – Compline by the Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy, director
Candlelight Concerts precede Compline on first Sundays at 8:30 p.m.
Compline and Candlelight Concerts are supported by Christ Church “Friends of Music”
Our newest acolyte
The coffee hosts of pop-up coffee hour
The tall and short of it.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Wednesday Evening Prayer smiles