Choristers to Participate in the 2026 Carolinas Treble Festival

This Sunday, I will be in Charlotte serving as the Director of the 2026 Carolinas Treble Festival.  Last year, Emmanuel served as the host for the festival.  This year, the festival is being hosted by the people of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where Alan Reed serves as the Organist/Choirmaster. 

From 1986 to 1996, Alan Reed was the Organist/Choirmaster at Emmanuel.  During his tenure, he developed a large children’s choir program associated with the Royal School of Church Music in America.  In conjunction with Ben Hutto, who served at Christ Church, Charlotte, and Barbara Beattie at St. Paul’s in Winston-Salem, the three created a three choirs festival, in alignment with similar festivals held in the United Kingdom.  Two separate three choir festivals were developed, a boys festival started in 1990, and a girls festival started in 1991.  The festivals happened each year.  The parishes hosted in a round robin style, so for any given year, two churches hosted and the other had the year off from host responsibilities.  It was a fun and wonderful time for music and fellowship and when I arrived in 2010, many stories and fond memories of that era were shared with me. 

The festivals that involved Emmanuel ceased in 1996 after Alan was released from our parish, yet the spirit and energy created by those festivals hung in the North Carolina breeze.  In 2002, Clara Godshall and others worked to create a new festival, gathering choristers from across the Carolinas for a weekend of music each spring.  In 2003, the first Carolinas Treble Festival was held at St. Alban’s Church in Davidson.  Chris Brayne served as the first Carolinas Treble Festival Director.  This year, I am honored to serve as the director of the 20th Carolinas Treble Festival.  The festival has been held at St. John’s, Charlotte, St. Helen’s, Beaufort, St. Timothy’s, Winston-Salem, Holy Comforter, Charlotte, St. Paul’s, Winston-Salem, St. Michael’s, Columbia, St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Columbia, Trinity Cathedral, Columbia, St. John’s, Columbia, St. Peter’s, Charlotte, Christ Church, Charlotte, and St. Alban’s, Davidson.  When Emmanuel hosted the festival last spring, it was the first time since Alan’s tenure in the 1990s that Emmanuel hosted any type of treble festival.  For those present at our Eucharist and Evensong last spring, it was a wonderful moment of restoration.

Planning for each festival begins in the days that follow the last.  The host parish selects the director, and repertoire is announced in the summer such that participating choirs can use the repertoire for their worship planning during the year.  The festival has been the source of great joy and through the years has had as many as 125 choristers involved.  The festival went silent after COVID, and in 2020, 2021, and 2022, there were no festivals.  In 2023, St. John’s, Charlotte hosted the resumption of the festival.  Charles Hogan served as director, and the festival had only 12 singers.  Yet, the seeds were planted.  In 2024, the festival was hosted at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Columbia, SC, and I was invited to serve as director.  The festival grew, and we had 26 young singers.  Last year, Kevin Kerstetter of St. Michael’s, Raleigh, served as director.  We hosted at Emmanuel with 36 young singers.  This year, I have been invited to serve as director again, and we have 50 choristers registered, not to mention the adults and directors who serve as chaperones, etc.  It is thrilling to see the festival grow and thrive, and it underscores the importance of this kind of community gathering and the importance of nurturing these young people who have a desire to serve the church and use their God given talents to express their love for God and the church. 

The festival has outgrown the physical space needed to host it again at Emmanuel for now, but it is exciting to realize how important our role in hosting the festival was last year.  Emmanuel served as a place for God’s love and message to be shared and to flourish.  Videos created during the festival of the anthems and hymns offered that weekend are on my YouTube channel, allowing the beauty of those moments to be shared with all the world.  Here two of my personal favorites:

Anthem - Let Him Who Seeks by Richard Shepherd

https://youtu.be/lAqEMD710XM?si=OJ1YHPVSJ_VX8OxH

Hymn - The day thou gavest, Lord, has ended:

https://youtu.be/l5ac9wloQPc?si=Wg0APF_3u-lj-4fK

This year’s festival will feature works by Andrew Walker, Ben Hutto, Robert Powell, Colin Mawby, and John Ireland.  Of special note is the world premiere of a new work by Sarah MacDonald on the text of the Choristers’ Prayer.  Sarah is the Fellow and Director of Music, Selwyn College, the University Organist at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral, and President of the Royal College of Organists.  The Choristers’ Prayer is a beautiful traditional Anglican prayer that has become closely associated with the Royal School of Church Music.  It is often used by choirs before services, asking God to bless their ministry, align their hearts with their musical offerings, and reflect their faith in how they lead their lives.   

Bless, O Lord, us thy servants,

who minister in thy temple.

Grant that what we sing with our lips,

we may believe in our hearts,

and what we believe in our hearts,

we may show forth in our lives.

Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.

Our anthem by John Ireland is titled, Ex Ore Innocentium, which is Latin for “Out of the Mouth of the Innocents” from Psalm 8:2.  Nothing compares to the sweet music offered by young singers.  Eight of our Emmanuel choristers will be singing as part of the fifty this Sunday at St. John’s.  Our choristers have spent several months preparing the repertoire.  Some of it was offered at last Sunday’s Choral Evensong, and more will be offered this spring at our upcoming morning Eucharists.  If you happen to be near St. John’s this weekend, I certainly hope that you will join us.  The Sunday morning Eucharist will be at 10:15 A.M. and Choral Evensong will be held at 3 P.M.  The church is located at 1623 Carmel Road, Charlotte.  Both worship services will be opportunities to be immersed in the splendor of the beauty of holiness.