Celebrate the Arts Series
From our Director of Music and the Arts
Dear Celebrate the Arts Supporters,
It is my pleasure to announce the 2024/2025 season calendar for Celebrate the Arts. Celebrate the Arts (CTA) at DPC is one of the ways we reach beyond the walls of our church and engage with our larger community. CTA has a long and rich tradition of bringing in the finest soloists and ensembles from the region and beyond.
CTA is entirely funded entirely by the generosity of our guests and supporters. You can donate online at http://bit.ly/2fenIXT, entering your donation under “Celebrate the Arts.” Benefactor $400 and above; Patron $200—$399; Sponsor $100—$199; Friend $50—$99; Contributor $25—$49
Those interested in sharing artwork for our seasonal visual art displays in the Celtic Cross Room should CLICK HERE to review the guidelines for submitting pieces. All shows (except for the Fiber Art display) will feature art of any medium as long it can be hung on a wall. This may include paintings, drawings, photographs, wood carvings, prints, etc.
– Jason Moore, Director of Music and the Arts
Celebrate the Arts Concert Series
Martha Redbone – Sunday, November 10 at 4:00 pm
Martha Redbone is a Native American and African American vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator. She is known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky, that is infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn. Inheriting the powerful vocal range of her gospel-singing African American father and the resilient spirit of her mother’s Southeastern Cherokee/Choctaw culture, Redbone broadens the boundaries of American roots music. With songs and storytelling that share her life experience as a Native and Black woman and mother in the new millennium, she gives voice to issues of social justice, bridging traditions from past to present, connecting cultures and celebrating the human spirit.
Festival of Lessons and Carols – Sunday, December 15, at 1:30 pm
DPC’s annual Festival of Lessons and Carols is one of our largest and most beloved musical traditions of the season. Featuring the DPC Chancel Choir and Orchestra, youth ensembles and handbell Ensembles and supported by the Bucks County Ecumenical Choir, this annual tradition is always a family favorite.
Strings and Pipes with Dr. Mina Choi and Tosca Opdam – Sunday, May 4 at 4:00 pm
A concert violinist, Tosca Opdam and a concert organist, Mina Choi happened to sit next to each other on an airplane to Amsterdam several years ago. This chance encounter began an enduring friendship. Their friendship and musical journeys will be shared through this concert titled “Strings and Pipe.” The program will include famous Fritz Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro, A.T. Vitali’s Chaconne in G minor, Johan Severin Svendsen’s Romanze, Rheinberger’s Suite for Violin and Organ, Op. 166, and some new transcriptions and compositions by Mina Choi.
The Music of Benedict Sheehan – Sunday, May 18 at 4:00 pm
Two-time GRAMMY® nominee and American Prize-winner Benedict Sheehan has been called “a choral conductor and composer to watch in the 21st century” (ConcertoNet) and “a remarkable musician” (Choral Journal). He is Artistic Director and Founder of Artefact Ensemble and the GRAMMY®-nominated Saint Tikhon Choir, and Artist in Residence at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania.
Sheehan’s music has been performed by many of today’s leading choral ensembles, including a 2022 collaboration with Austin’s GRAMMY® Award-winning Conspirare on a setting of the African-American manifesto Credo by W.E.B. DuBois, and the UK premiere of A Christmas Carol by the BBC Singers at the Barbican in London. Sheehan is also a person who stutters. In recent years he has become an increasingly passionate advocate for people in the arts with disabilities and speech differences, and his projects and ensembles have become known within the choral community as welcoming, inclusive, and life-affirming spaces for musicians and audiences alike.
Maestro Sheehan will lead the DPC Chancel Choir and the Bucks County Ecumenical Choir in this inspiring performance.