Grace Church Adult Choir
Grace Church choir is made up of men and women is an integral part of Sunday morning worship, leading the singing of hymns and liturgical music as well as performing an offertory anthem. They are also present at all major feasts which fall during the week, such as Ash Wednesday; and they sing Evensong typically 2-3 times a year. They rehearse from 7:30-9:00pm on Thursday’s and again 45 minutes before Sunday worship.
New singers are always welcome! Parish Office Admin@gracechurchmanchester.org or just show up at choir practice!
Musical Instruments at Grace Church
In 1975, The Andover Organ Company of Methuen, Massachusetts built and installed the fine, two-manual and pedal organ of 16 stops (hand-drawn knobs on either side of the keyboards) composed from 19 ranks (rows) of pipes operated by a totally mechanical (“tracker”) action. There are a total of 968 pipes of wood and metal in the instrument. The Zimbelstern (Cymbal Star), activates a set of small bells and the rotating star visible in the upper center of the case and was added in 1996. A tremolo affecting the manual keyboard stops was added in 2015.
The 1930’s Mason and Hamlin grand piano was purchased by the church in the late 1990’s and expertly refurbished by the New England Piano Restoration Co., then located in the Millyard in downtown Manchester.
The harmonium (reed organ) was built by the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro,Vermont in 1915. It is a completely portable, single-reed, foot-pumped, so-called Military Chaplain’s Organ or “folding organ.” It came into the possession of the Robert Fox family who donated it to the church. Through the generosity of parishioners and the careful restoration done by Bruce Stevens of Wells River, Vermont, it was first heard in worship on Palm Sunday in 2016.
A parish-wide fund drive in the summer of 2016 resulted in the purchase of four octaves of Suzuki hand chimes to be used by the children of the Sunday School (see St. Michael’s Children’s Chimers).
Four other pianos are available throughout the rest of the church and parish hall building in the Choir Room, Great Hall, Library, and Sunday School area.