Friday Music at Midday
Come and join us on most Fridays of the year at 12:15 p.m. for beautiful music in the magnificent setting of National City Christian Church.
Schedule of Performances: Fridays at 12:15 p.m.
Fall 2017
September 15 – Mary Mozelle (Sarasota, Florida). Program: Allegro from Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 – J. S. Bach; Carillon – Leo Sowerby; Fantasia in F minor, K 608 – W. A. Mozart; Sonata in F minor (2: Adagio; 4: Allegro assai Vivace) – Felix Mendelssohn
September 22 – Hans Uwe Hielscher (Wiesbaden, Germany). Program: Rhapsody on King’s Lynn – Henry Coleman; Adagio in E Major – Frank Bridge; Rhapsody on Scottish Folktunes – Hans U. Hielscher
September 29 – Patrick Pope (Charlotte, North Carolina). Program: Prelude in C minor, Op. 37, No. 1 – Felix Mendelssohn; Carillon – Leo Sowerby; Requiescat in pace – Leo Sowerby; Folk Tune from Five Short Pieces – Percy Whitlock; Exultemus from Seven Sketches on Verses from the Psalms – Percy Whitlock
October 6 – James Mellichamp (Demorest, Georgia). Program: Paean – Ernest Tomlinson; Cantilène, Op. 29, No. 2 – Gabriel Pierné; Romance sans paroles, Op. 7, No. 8 – Joseph Bonnet; Psalm Prelude – Craig Phillips; Allegro risoluto (from Symphony No. 2, Op. 20) – Louis Vierne
October 13 – Michael Batcho (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Program: Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Op. 37, No. 1 – Felix Mendelssohn; Meditation from Trois Improvisations – Louis Vierne; Postlude-Partita on The Old One Hundredth (Variations I – VI) – Theophane Hytrek; Pavane: Danse Liturgique pour Orgue – Richard Proulx; Carillon-Sortie – Henri Mulet
October 20 – John Walker (Baltimore, Maryland). Program: From Symphony II (Choral; Scherzo) – Louis Vierne; Berceuse à la Mémoire de Louis Vierne – Pierre Cochereau, transcribed by Frédéric Blanc; Hills in the Springtime from Taiwanese Suite – Chelsea Chen; Concert Variations on Old 100 – John Knowles Paine
October 27 – Nicholas Will (Steubenville, Ohio). Program: Präludium in E minor (the “Larger”) – Nicolaus Bruhns; Fantasia on Ton-y-Botel – Richard Purvis; Cortège et Litanie – Marcel Dupré; Sicilienne from Peléas et Mélissande – Gabriel Fauré; Allegro from Symphonie 6 in G minor – Charles-Marie Widor
November 3 – Phillip Lamb (New York City)
November 10 – NO RECITAL (Veterans Day)
November 17 – Derrick Ian Meador (Laurel, Mississippi))
November 24 – NO RECITAL (Thanksgiving Holiday)
December 1 – David Brock (Zephyr Cove, Nevada)
December 8 – Tyler Canonico (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
December 15 – Neil Weston (Washington, DC)
Winter/Spring 2018
February 2 – Craig Williams (West Point, New York)
February 9 – Alexander Frey (Berlin, Germany)
February 16 – Christopher Schmitt, Piano (Washington, DC),
February 23 – James D. Hicks (Morristown, New Jersey)
March 2 – John D. Horman (Washington, DC)
March 9 – Joby Bell (Boone, North Carolina)
March 16 – Clara Gerdes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
March 23 – James W. Kosnik (Norfolk, Virginia)
March 30 – NO RECITAL (GOOD FRIDAY)
April 6 – Nathan Carterette, piano (Iowa City, Iowa)
April 13 – Axel Flierl (Donaualtheim, Germany)
April 20 – Christopher Betts (Bethesda, Maryland)
April 27 – Christian Gautschi (Zurich, Switzerland)
May 4 – Carson Cooman (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
May 11 – Alan Hommerding (Chicago, Illinois)
May 18 – Nathan Davy (Dallas, Texas)
May 25 – Liana Paniyeva, piano (Hartford, Connecticut)
June 1 – David K. Houston (College Park, Maryland)
June 8 – Christopher Reynolds, Pride Recital (Richmond, Virginia)
June 15 – Colin MacKnight (New York City)
June 22 – Lynn Trapp (Cockeysville, Maryland)
June 29 – John Nothaft (Rochester, New York)
Most of the Friday concerts at National City feature the church’s pipe organ, its MAGICAL, MYSTICAL, MUSICAL MACHINE!
Performers in our concert series make the pipe organ come alive and opens your eyes to the amazing world of the King of Instruments. Come surround yourself with the instrument’s 7,000 pipes and hear the ROAR that Washington D.C.’s third-largest pipe organ makes in this reverberant space. You’ll experience the organ’s MAGIC, power, and versatility, the MYSTERY of the organ’s unique sounds, the exciting MUSIC of the great composers for the pipe organ, and a fascinating fully hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind musical MACHINE that incorporates wood working, metal-smithing, electricity and electronics, computer technology, physics, acoustics, and a lot of other scientific and musical know-how.
You are invited to come hear the majesty of the five-keyboard Möller pipe organ in 30-minute FREE recitals of some of the most thrilling and sublime music written by the great musical geniuses of the pipe organ. Hands-on displays of organ pipes, colorful photographs of the inner workings of the NCCC organ, interesting information on pipe organ history, and a post-recital demonstration of how the organist operates the keyboards, pedal board, and over 300 controls provides an up-close-and-personal look at this complex and intriguing musical machine.
Even if you’re not a musician, familiar with the pipe organ at all, or one who rarely steps foot inside a church: these recital/demonstration events are for YOU! The recital series events are geared to attract and engage people of all ages, those familiar with the pipe organ, and those who’ve never seen one up close, or are acquainted with its musical possibilities.
Be sure to join us on FRIDAYS from 12:15-1:00pm (September through December & February through June) and start your weekend with the exciting and floor-shaking sounds generated by National City Christian Church’s “Magical, Mystical, Musical Machine” and other concert offerings.
National City Christian Church is enormously grateful to all those who have supported and continue to support this recital series through their weekly presence and generous financial contributions.
Organists who are interested in performing on the Friday noon-time recital series are encouraged to apply by submitting an unedited recording of a most recent public organ recital and a printed program from that recorded recital, other copies of recently played recital programs, and a current biography. Please send all materials by e-mail to mmcmahon@nationalcitycc.org or by postal mail to:
Rev. Dr. J. Michael McMahon, Minister of Music
National City Christian Church
5 Thomas Circle, NW
Washington D.C. 20005
For additional information about this series, the music ministry, and the organ of National City Christian Church, please call the NCCC Music Office 202-797-0103 or contact us via email.