Music at Old First
Worship the Lord with gladness, come into God's presence with singing. - Psalm 100:2
O Come let us sing to Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
- Psalm 95:1
Sing to the Lord a new song, for God has done marvelous things! Psalm 98:1
Music is a vital and lively element of worship at Old First. With music, the people at Old First participate in making a worthy offering of praise to the glory of God. This experience lifts our hearts in celebration of God and draws us into the community of faith. In our worship we celebrate the rich heritage of classical Western music, as well as songs, spirituals and anthems from around the globe and across the Christian era.
Choir
The adult choir sings at the 11 am worship service and for special services throughout the church year. In addition, the choir presents concerts of large works for chorus and orchestra. recent performances have included the Requiem of Faure, Lux Aeterna of Morton Lauridsen, Schubert's Mass in G and the Mass in G minor of Vaughan Williams. Rehearsals are 730-9 pm on Thursdays and new members are always welcome.
The Children's Choir rehearses from 9:30-10:00 am on Sunday mornings.
The Organ
After much study and discussion in the mid-1990s about what to do about the rain-damaged and failing 1910 Hutchings organ, Old First first engaged noted organ historian and consultant Barbara Owens to report on the condition of the organ. She observed that there was enough of the Hutchings left to form the nucleus of a new organ. Then, with Old First member (and Assistant Organist) George Becker as consultant, a new organ was planned, about half incorporating the distinguished older pipework of George Hutchings that remained, the other half new pipework to increase the flexibility, color, and range of the organ. This extensive rebuild (complete with two 32-foot stops) of the organ was entrusted to Visscher Associates of Felton, California. The magnificent organ that graces Old First today is Visscher's Op. VI. Its stoplist can be seen here.
Dr. Jay A. Pierson, Director of Music at Old First Church has enjoyed a career as a singer, conductor, organist, pianist, composer and harpist for over two decades. He has been Director of Music at several churches in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina and California. He is an active and published composer of harp music and sacred choral music. Former faculty member of Bucknell University and The School of Music at East Carolina University, he is presently on the Voice faculty at Santa Clara University. He holds a BM degree in Music Education from Olivet College and MM and DMA degrees in Voice Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music.
Dr. Pierson follows Kenneth Matthews and Mark Smith. Mr Matthews served as Director of Music from March of 1998 until he passed in January of 2007. Mr. Smith retired in 1997 after 26 years as Director of Music. In recognition of their many years of service, both Mr.
Matthews and Mr. Smith have been named Director of Music, Emeritus.
For more information on the music program at Old First, please contact Dr. Pierson at (415) 776-5552 or jay@oldfirst.org.
©2001-2005 Old First Presbyterian Church