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Save the Date: Trinity, Pottsville Concert Series features Canon Mark Laubach and Cora Gamelin-Osenbach on April 15th

Advent Lessons and Carols, St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre on December 14th

ChurchPost.com » Advent Lessons and Carols

 

St. Stephen’s Choir will present the annual Festival Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent on Wednesday, December 14 ^th at 6:00 p.m., led and accompanied by Canon Mark Laubach.  Offerings will support St. Stephen’s “Voice For Life” Fund and gifts of food and clothing will be received for those in need.  A reception will follow in the Auditorium.

Diocesan Life for September 2011

Download the September issue of Diocesan Life as a .pdf
Download September2011_DiocesanLife_SMALL (3.3 MB file)

Canon Mark Laubach's 25th

May 22 Evensong and Laubach Celebration

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Pro Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Canon Mark Laubach’s service to the church following a choral Evensong at 5:00 pm Sunday, May 22, in the church, at 35 South Franklin Street.  Evensong is one of the most beautiful services in the Anglican tradition, and the public is invited to stay for the reception afterward.

Music at the Evensong will include Let the People Praise Thee, O God, the majestic anthem composed by William Mathias for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July, 1981.  The St. Stephen’s choirs under Mark Laubach’s direction also will sing the Evening Canticles in E by Herbert Murrill, and William Smith’s Preces & Responses.

Mark Laubach came to St. Stephen's as Minister of Music January 2, 1986, just two years after winning the National Young Artists Competition in organ performance.  He was appointed a Fellow in Church Music at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and shortly thereafter came to St. Stephens.  Canon Laubach has performed in major venues all over the world, including the Kennedy Center, St. Thomas Church and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (both in New York), and in London at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, as well as the King’s Chapel in Cambridge.

Canon Laubach administers a busy liturgical, choral, concert, and broadcasting schedule at St. Stephen’s. In 2002, under his supervision the church’s large pipe organ was rebuilt by the Berghaus Organ Company of Chicago. This instrument now stands among the finest of its type in the Mid-Atlantic region, having won high praise from organists and audiences.
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Suzanne Fisher Staples
www.suzannefisherstaples.com
570.945.7143
570.561.5962 (cell)

Lessons and Carols in Wilkes-Barre

[From Andrea]

Wednesday, December 15 at 6:00 p.m. at St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre. This is an annual program we do to commemorate the beginning of Advent.  This year, however, will be extra special because it is our Organist/Choirmaster Mark Laubach's 25th anniversary at St. Stephen's.  Mark will perform for the first time ever a brand new commissioned piece by David Briggs, an accomplished organist from Great Britain, who performed at our last silent film showing last year.
 
Find below a memo from Mark with a listing of songs we will be performing. The memo als invites you to join the choir. So, if you don't plan on that, kindly disregard the info there.

Download Advent Lessons and Carols 2010.doc

There is no admission, but as usual, the Choir will collect free will contributions that will go towards our music activities. You are free to give as much or as little as you'd like. Free parking is available next to the church.

Duo piano and organ recitals

[From Canon Mark Laubach]

Erika Funke informs me that she will air an interview she did with Rick Hoffenberg and me (about our duo recitals) on her program, Arts Scene, tomorrow (Thursday, October 21st) at 11 AM. Set your dial (if you have a radio with such an ancient thing!) to 89.9 FM and be listening! You can also listen to the interview live online at www.wvia.org. I think it will be an informative and fascinating program in which we both discuss the pieces we’re playing and other aspects of doing organ & piano duets.

Dr. Rick Hoffenberg is a good friend and music faculty colleague of mine at Marywood University in Scranton, a phenomenal pianist, and a graduate of Princeton, Westminster Choir College, and Yale. Rick and I are collaborating on three performances of a duo piano & organ recital in the coming weeks. Dates and locations are as follows ...

Friday, October 22nd at 7:30 PM
The Marian Chapel, Marywood University, Scranton

Sunday, November 7th at 4 PM
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Wilkes-Barre

Friday, November 19th at 7:30 PM
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown PA

All performances are free and open to the public. The recital will feature duo works by Marcel Dupre and Igor Stravinsky, and solo works by Brahms, Nikolai Kapustin, and William Bolcom. I hope you can join us for one of these!

Thanks –
Mark

Canon Mark Laubach, Organist & Choirmaster
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Bethlehem
35 South Franklin Street
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701
Church Phone: (570)825-6653
Church Fax: (570)825-0430
Mark's Mobile Phone: (570)704-7055

Hymn-a-thon at St. Stephen's Wilkes-Barre, Sept. 25

[From Canon Mark Laubach]

In days gone by, when people would visit in homes, a customary form of entertainment was to gather around a piano or pump organ and sing hymns. You didn’t have to always sing perfectly in tune, and you didn’t have to listen to a sermon – you just sang and had fun doing it!In that same joyous spirit, on Saturday, September 25th from 12 noon to 5:00 p.m., St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (35 South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre – right across the street from Boscov’s) will open its doors to any and all who wish to come by for a good, old-fashioned “hymn sing” – with a twist.  We’re calling it a “HYMN-A-THON”, as it will fill five full hours with singing hymns, and will raise money to support St. Stephen’s VOICE FOR LIFE Chorister Training Program for children and youth.

Fear not, you don’t have to be here for all five hours! But you’re invited to come and sing (or even just sit and listen) for as long as you’re able. If you have favorite hymns, you can request them in return for a designated contribution (pay by the verse). And for an extra contribution, you can even request a special organ piece or an improvisation based upon your chosen hymn!