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Robert Barney, Music Director Music as Part of Our Worship Choral Evensong Music as Performance Choir Program Music Education  |
2007/08 MUSIC EVENTS
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Music as Part of our Worship
Music plays an important role in our Liturgy. Hymns, Psalms, Canticles and Anthems are sung with choir and organ every Sunday at the 10 am Eucharist. The choirs sing a Service of Lessons and Carols at Epiphany and sing Choral Evensong five times during the year. Many professional musicians are members of our parish, who, along with students and hired professionals participate regularly in worship. They offer prelude, postlude and communion selections, as well as add accompaniment to choir anthems and hymns. Music is also prominent at weddings, funerals and other special services.
Choral Evensong
Choral Evensong is a dialogue that has been given life
by singers and composers since 1549, when Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
organized our liturgies into The Book Of Common Prayer.
The beauty of this experience has continued for centuries, fostering
the creation of an immense body of music written solely for this
service. A first-time participant may feel as if he or she
has joined in a conversation already begun; but eventually the wash of
music and liturgy carries one into a new sense of God’s
presence in daily life. Choral Evensong is sung daily in many
cathedrals and parish churches in England and throughout the Anglican
Communion. At any given moment, somewhere, someone, in some
language, is offering up a voice of sung prayer as this miraculous
conversation continues between the Creator and the created.
Music in Performance
Music in Performance is recognized as a vital spiritual contribution to the life of our community, so Trinity presents various individuals and groups as part of our worship or stand-alone events. Groups as varied and diverse as early music ensembles, The American Boy Choir and the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus have performed here. Trinity is also home to two Ensembles in Residence, the Concordia Consort (Recorders) and BALA (Brass). Trinity also provides regular workshop and rehearsal space to the Recorders/Early Music West and the Concord Women’s Chorus. Such groups as the Concord Chorus, Concord Chamber Music Society and Boston Symphony Orchestra Ensembles use Trinity’s facilities often for performances.
The Choir Program recognizes the contributions of musicians of all ages, and provides an opportunity for singers from 2nd grade through adults. Trinity is affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). Our program reflects the varied traditions of the Episcopal Church, with a strong emphasis on providing a musical environment full of joy and fellowship.
The Parish Choir for high school
through adults, sings at the 10 am Eucharist year-round.
Rehearsals are on Thursday nights at 7:45 pm (September through June).
This group of about forty members has a great spirit of commitment and
takes pleasure in their music making, knowing that hard work can be fun
while producing exciting results. The choir is currently
working on travel plans to England to sing in a Cathedral.
The Youth Choir participates every Sunday in
the 10 am Eucharist (October through June). They sing an
anthem on the first Sunday of each month, as well as for other special
services like Christmas and Easter. In addition, they sing
the Service of Choral Evensong twice every year. They
participate regularly in Diocesan Youth Choir events.
Thursday rehearsals at 5:15 pm are designed around the RSCM program,
teaching musical skills and singing technique in the context of our
liturgical tradition. The group enjoys lively discussions on the
meaning of the texts!
The Junior Choir at the Thursday 4:00 pm
rehearsals, learns about singing, reading music, and traditions of the
church. This group serves as a preparatory experience for the
Youth Choir, singing at the 10 am Eucharist on the first Sunday of
every month (October through June), as well as for special services
such as Christmas and Easter.
Music Education
The Music Program is aligned with the Church School
program to
emphasize learning about liturgy and music. Music and visual arts are
also featured in many Adult Education programs here at
Trinity. The
educational structure of the Royal School of Church Music Chorister
Training Program, with its emphasis on individual achievement, forms
the basis of the Youth and Junior choir program.
Robert Barney, Music Director came to Trinity in 1994. He teaches private lessons in piano, voice and organ, as well as courses in liturgy and hymnody. He performs regularly as a solo organist, harpsichordist and singer.
From 1985 to 1997 he was Music Director of the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, which, under his baton, released two compact disc recordings on the AFKA label that have received critical acclaim: one of new music for men’s voices and another, a live recording of their 1995 Holiday concert in Jordan Hall.
After five years as Associate Conductor of the Treble Chorus of New England, a community choir program for young singers age 6-18, he led the organization as Interim Artistic Director from 2004 to 2006.
Robert has performed in the U.S. and Europe, for the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Organ Historical Society (OHS) and the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM). Several documentary recordings of the OHS include his playing, and he has been featured in the nationally syndicated radio program Pipedreams, and the AGO broadcast heard on Sunday Mornings at WCRB FM 102.5.