UPDATE (Wednesday, April 17, 2024): Two Orchestra Nexus performances planned at Trinity Episcopal Church for this weekend and next have been postponed.

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Trinity Episcopal Church will host two special performances this month by Orchestra Nexus. Both events are free, with donations requested for the church’s Little Pantry.

Each event will focus on a single work of music.

The first performance is planned for Friday, April 19, at 7 pm.

It will be a one-night-only musical sojourn for the soul with Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 featuring the celebrated soprano Diana McVey.

The symphony sets poems in Polish about the intense relationship between a mother and a child in times of loss. Subtitled “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” the work is cast in three substantial slow movements, each with a different, but thematically linked, Polish text.

The first movement utilizes a 15th Century monastic lament, the second sets a Marian plea written on the cell of a young prisoner of the Gestapo, and the third employs a folk song which is another lament of a mother for her dead son.

Górecki’s Third Symphony is a meaningful instance of contemporary orchestral music that attains true victory. The work achieved unexpected success, surpassing one million copies sold and establishing a precedent for the genre recognized as “holy minimalism.”

The piece’s second movement has been utilized in various marketing campaigns, television advertisements, and cinematic productions. It has also been featured on the newly debuted Classic FM radio station.

Maestro Eric Dale Knapp and Orchestra Nexus will be joined by the elegant soprano Diana McVey who has captured the hearts of American audiences with her interpretation of Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. The piece will be performed in Polish as intended by the composer.

The concert is open to the public with a $25 per person suggested charitable donation at the door.

Doors will open at 6:30, the church is wheelchair accessible, seating is limited, and plenty of parking is available.

‘Ode To Joy’ April 26

The following weekend Orchestra Nexus will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the world premiere of perhaps the most famous piece of orchestral music ever written: Beethoven’s towering Ninth Symphony. The first symphony ever to feature vocalists and a chorus, Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 was judged to be the greatest symphony ever when it was composed in 1824.

The sung text is taken from the German poet Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” a paean to what used to be referred to as the “Brotherhood of Man,” but which is now better understood as the vast interconnectedness of the entire human species. Lofty ideas and unforgettable music.

A musical expression of unity and peace, the monumental masterwork will be conducted by Eric Dale Knapp, with Orchestra Nexus and Nexus Choral Artists joined by guest soloists soprano Catherine Spitzer, mezzo-soprano Teresa Buchholz, tenor Taylor Comstock, and bass-baritone John Green.

Suggested donation is again $25, with proceeds to also benefit The Little Pantry.

Formally opened in October 2023, The Little Pantry at Trinity offers emergency food to neighbors at all hours. Located near the church’s playground, all are invited to give or take non-perishable food as needed.