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.
Winter/Spring 2018
May 18 – Benjamin J. LaPrairie (Washington, DC)
Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 14 (I. Prélude; IV. Allegro vivace; V. Andante; VI. Final) – Louis Vierne
May 25 – Carol Feather Martin (Arlington, Virginia)
Fête – Jean Langlais; Le Banquet Celeste – Olivier Messiaen; Prélude et Danse Fuguée – Gaston Litaize; Huit Images de Provence (2. Swaying of colorful boats at the Old Port of Saint-Tropez; 6. Sunset at the majestic towers of Chateau de Lourmain; 7. Sweetness of the lavender fields with flowers) – Eugène Reuschel; To Call My True Love to My Dance – Naji Hakim
June 1 – Christopher Betts (Houston, Texas)
Fanfare – John Cook; Chorale Prelude ‘Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein’, BWV 734 – Johann Sebastian Bach; Pastorale, from Symphony No. 1 – Louis Vierne; Scherzetto, from Sonata in C minor – Percy Whitlock; Toccata – Leo Sowerby
June 8 – Christopher Reynolds, Pride Recital (Richmond, Virginia)
Suite for Organ (Chaconne; Sarabande on Land of Rest; Final) – Gerald Near; Lullaby from Suite No. 2 – Calvin Hampton; Cantabile – César Franck; Fanfare – John Cook
June 15 – Colin MacKnight (New York City)
Fantasia and Fugue in G, Op. 188 – C. Hubert H. Parry; Fantasie Choral in D♭ – Percy Whitlock; Concert Fantasy on Themes by Gershwin – David Goode
June 22 – Lynn Trapp (Cockeysville, Maryland)
Te Deum – Lynn Trapp; Three Pieces for Organ (I. Prelude; II. Petit Canon; III. Improvisation) – Nadia Boulanger; Three Tone Pieces (Allegretto; Allegro) – Niels Gabe; Six Pieces for Organ (Scherzo/ Final) – Albert Alain
June 29 – John Nothaft (Rochester, New York)
Symphonie No.3, Op.28: I. Allegro maestoso – Louis Vierne; J. S. Bach: Trio Sonata in C Major BWV 529 – J. S. Bach; What a Friend we have in Jesus! – William Bolcom; Marcel Dupré; Prelude and Fugue in G minor – Marcel Dupré
There are no Friday midday concerts during July and August. Music at Midday will resume on Friday, September 7.
Fall 2018
September 7 – Mitchell Miller (Oberlin, Ohio)
September 14 – Jason Farris (Upperville, Virginia)
September 21 – The Barclay Brass (Washington, DC)
September 28 – Sondra Goldsmith Proctor (Canton, New York)
October 5 – Justin Brueggeman (Kingsport, Tennessee)
October 12 – Jordan Prescott (Durham, North Carolina)
October 19 – Tyler Canonico (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
October 26 – Colin Mark Andrews (Bloomington, Indiana)
November 2 – Stefan Donner (Vienna, Austria)
November 9 – Christopher Schroeder (Baltimore, Maryland)
November 16 – Carol Feather Martin (Arlington, Virginia)
November 23 – No recital (Thanksgiving holiday)
November 30 – Jackson Borges (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware)
December 7 – Chuyoung Suter (Gaithersburg, Maryland)
December 14 – Nicholas Will (Steubenville, Ohio)
December 21 – Kimberly Ann Hess (Arlington, Virginia)
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.