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.
February - June 2019
There are no Friday midday concerts during the last week of December and the month of January. Music at Midday will resume on Friday, February 1.
February 1 – Hans Uwe Hielscher (Wiesbaden, Germany)
Suite for Organ – Christopher Tambling; Bells across the Meadows – Albert W. Ketèlbey; Toccata in D minor – Gordon B. Nevin
February 8 – Alexander Frey (Berlin, Germany)
Music of César Franck
Trois Pièces; Fantasy in A; Cantabile; Pièce héroique
February 15 – Zacchaeus Lock (Brookfield, Connecticut)
Litanies – Jehan Alain; What a Friend We Have in Jesus – William Bolcom; Bolero de Concert – Louis-James-Alfred Lebure-Wely; Prélude sur l’Introit d’Épiphanie – Maurice Duruflé; Offertoire sur le O Filii – Alexandre Guilmant
February 22 – Michael Stefanek (Salisbury, Maryland)
Fantasia for Organ – John Weaver; Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532 – J. S. Bach; What a Friend We Have in Jesus – William Bolcom; Music from “Star Wars” (Main Theme; Yoda’s Theme; Darth Vader’s Theme) – John Williams, arr. J. Mark Baker; The Stars and Stripes Forever – John Philip Sousa, arr. E. Power Biggs; Improvisation on “St. Clement” – Gerre Hancock, trans. Peter Stoltzfus Berton; Pièces de Fantasied, Seconde suite, op. 53 (Toccata) – Louis Vierne
March 1 – Michael Ging (Houston, Texas)
March 8 – Christopher Schmitt (Washington, D.C.), piano
March 15 – Jacob Reed (New Haven, Connecticut)
March 22 – Jonathan Vaughn (Albany, New York)
March 29 – Patrick Pope (Charlotte, North Carolina)
April 5 – Craig Williams (West Point, New York)
April 12 – Christopher Reynolds (Richmond, Virginia)
April 19 – No Recital (Good Friday)
April 26 – Colin MacKnight (New York City)
May 3 – Derrick Ian Meador (Laurel, Mississippi)
May 10 – Amanda Mole (Rochester, New York)
May 17 – Loreto Aramendi (San Sebastián, Spain)
May 24 – Carson Cooman (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
May 31 – Samantha Scheff (College Park, Maryland)
June 7 – Pride Recital: Alan Hommerding (Chicago, Illinois)
June 14 – Eric Bowman (Ranson, West Virginia)
June 21 – Clara Gerdes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
June 28 – Aaron Comins (New York City)
There are no midday concerts during July and August. Friday Music at Midday will resume on September 6.
September - December 2019
September 6 – TBD
September 13 – Sondra Goldsmith Proctor (Canton, New York)
September 20 – Solomon Eichner, piano ((Raleigh, North Carolina)
September 27 – Tyler Canonico (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
October 4 – Wm. Glenn Owborne (Baltimore, Maryland)
October 11 – Carol Feather Martin (Arlington, Virginia)
October18 – Emmanuel Duperrey (Villemonble, France)
October 25 – David Brock (Zephyr Springs, Nevada)
November 1 – TBD
November 8 – Phillip R. Lamb (Queens, New York()
November 15 – Benjamin LaPrairie (Washington, DC)
November 22 – Jordan Prescott (Baltimore, Maryland)
November 29 – No Recital (Thanksgiving Weekend)
December 6 – Kimberly Ann Hess (Arlington, Virginia)
December 13 – TBD
December 20 – TBD
There are no midday concerts on December 27 or during the month of January. Music at Midday will resume on Friday, February 7, 2020.
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
Artistic Director, Music at Midday
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.