Re-Cap of Carolina Treble Fest
Last weekend, choristers from six parishes gathered in Southern Pines to participate in the 2025 Carolina Treble Festival held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The weekend was a tremendous success that will long be cherished in the hearts of the choristers who spent their weekend making beautiful music, forging new friendships with choristers from across the Carolinas, serving as leaders of the church, and deepening their spiritual lives as they worshipped together in the beauty of holiness.
Forty-four singers offered music for our 10 A.M. Eucharist and then again for a 3 P.M. service of Choral Evensong. Every seat in the choir loft was utilized, including an extra 12 overflow seats in the choir stairs and back corners. It did, unfortunately, mean that ten or so young choristers had a completely blocked view of the church and liturgy because of our choir screen, and I had several visiting parents express their frustration in not being able to see their child(ren). Hopefully we can find ways to overcome this physical barrier in the future and identify ways where our response to hospitality can improve, especially when hosting many guests.
Even so, I want to point out that the music that was offered last Sunday was only possible because of the acoustical environment we constructed for our church in 2014-15, as designed by world-renown acoustician Dana Kirkegaard. Additionally, the completion of our incredible pipe organ in 2024 finally gave us the capability to accompany the Anglican choral literature in such an effective and beautiful way, a requirement that is absolutely essential for the music offered last Sunday. Thanks be to God and to all the people who made those things a reality, living out a vision God clearly has for this place.
I want to thank and recognize the directors, parents, and choristers of the following parishes, who traveled to Southern Pines to make this memorable and marvelous weekend a reality:
Pamela Hair - St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church - Columbia, SC
Charles Hogan - St. Mary's Episcopal Church, High Point, NC
Kevin Kerstetter - St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Raleigh, NC
Alan Reed - St. John's Episcopal Church, Charlotte, NC
Stephen Williams - St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Salisbury, NC
Like us, most of the parishes that participated, have smaller chorister programs. An event like the Carolina Treble Festival allows young singers to sing in a larger group, gaining experience, confidence, and learning new choral skills, in a way that is only possible through this type of event.
Emmanuel’s involvement in the Carolina Treble Festival will certainly be an annual endeavor. It is my deep desire to have the Carolina Treble Festival return to Emmanuel in the very near future. My fear, however, is that as the festival grows, the constraints of our worship space will prevent us from serving as the host parish again.
To celebrate and experience the musical gifts that we all received last weekend through the work of the choristers, I have made several videos, with permission, available on YouTube for distribution. For those who were not able to attend, these videos will help you capture the spirit of the weekend. I hope that they will inspire you, because I believe they give us a peak behind the veil of what is truly possible. For those that participated in this year's festival, especially our choristers, their families, and all the volunteers, thank you! I hope that these videos will remind us of all of the incredible blessings that are had by being together in community.
St. David's Service Magnificat - Simon Lole
St. David's Service Nunc dimittis - Simon Lole
Let all the world in every corner sing - C.S. Lang
Let him who seeks - Richard Shephard
The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
Let us break bread together
Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee
Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III
Organist/Choirmaster