This fall we welcome a new Assistant Organist to the music staff of Third Church. Jonathan Wessler, who played his first service with us on August 31, has begun doctoral studies in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music with William Porter. Jonathan was born in Peoria, Illinois and lived there until his musical studies took him to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance studying with David Boe. He recently graduated from the Master of Sacred Music program at the University of Notre Dame, where he studied with Craig Cramer.

Jonathan has served as organist and substitute organist for several churches, most recently as the director of music at The Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist in Elkhart, Indiana. For six years he has been a featured performer and the continuo player in the Peoria Bach Festival in Peoria, Illinois. Additionally, Jonathan has performed in master classes with Marie-Louise Langlais, Daniel Roth, Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, Carole Terry, and Hans Fagius. In March 2007 he was a finalist in the Arthur Poister Organ Competition in Syracuse.

Jonathan and his wife, Joy, recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary. Joy is a registered nurse in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital. She also plays the flute. Both Jonathan and Joy are alumni of the acclaimed Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, where they first met.

We extend a warm welcome to Jonathan as he begins his work here, and look forward to getting to know him and Joy in the coming months.

The new season of Chapel Concerts by Candlelight will kick off with the Inaugural Piano Recital on the new Baldwin grand piano in our chapel on Thursday evening, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. Eastman faculty member Ulrika Davidsson will treat us to a wonderful program of music by Schubert, Chopin, Clementi, P?rt and de Frumerie.

The piano is a generous gift from Bruce B. Bates and the Estate of Nancy S. Bates. Please join us, and bring your friends, as we celebrate this wonderful gift in the beauty and splendid acoustic of the Third Church Chapel.

The program is free and open to the public. An offering will be received to support future concerts.

This series is made possible in large part through the generosity of the Janet S. and David B. Reed Fund.

Event Poster

Program details

Join us for an organ program featuring works by Flor Peeters, Craig Phillips, J.S. Bach, Dan Locklair, César Franck, and Max Reger.

The program is free and open to the public.

Dieter Hennings will play baroque lute in this program featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach and his close friend, the 13-course lute virtuoso from the court of Dresden, Sylvius Leopold Weis. Dieter is one of the few concert artists devoted to new music on the guitar and early music for lute, baroque guitar, and theorbo. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona School of Music and a Master's degree from Eastman in Early Plucked Instruments, studying with world-renowned lutenist Paul O'Dette. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in both Guitar Performance and Early Plucked Instruments at the Eastman School of Music. Invite your friends to join you for this wonderful concert.

The program is free and open to the public. An offering will be received to support future concerts.

This series is made possible in large part through the generosity of the Janet S. and David B. Reed Fund.

Special Music in Worship
Sunday, December 14 at 10:45 a.m.

John Rutter's "Gloria" was commissioned by the Voices of Mel Olson, a Midwestern professional chamber choir, in the mid 1970's. Tonal, accessible and beautiful, Rutter's works have a distinctly personal style. Accompanied by brass, organ and percussion, the Gloria is truly uplifting and glorious!

The service will also include the Rochester premiere of Advent Fanfare for organ and brass by the gifted young American composer, Aaron David Miller.

A special offering will be received to support the expenses of this presentation. Since special music presentations are not supported through the budget, your generosity is appreciated.

Manuel Minguillon, playing baroque guitar, will return for a fascinating program entitled, "She, She and only She" - Lute Songs from the English and Spanish Renaissance. Manuel will be joined in this unusual program by Canadian countertenor Andrew Pickett. Manuel, who has performed at Third Church many times in recent years, now lives and works in London, where he is one of the most active solo and continuo lutenists on the scene. Andrew's singing has been described by Opera Today as "the sweetest liquid legato". This concert is part of their February tour of Canada and the United States.

The program is free and open to the public. An offering will be received to support future concerts.

This series is made possible in large part through the generosity of the Janet S. and David B. Reed Fund.

The Third Church Chancel Choir, accompanied by an instrumental ensemble, will present Three Consolations by acclaimed Rochester composer Cary Ratcliff as a special Lenten musical offering in worship on Sunday, March 1 at 10:45 a.m.  (prelude begins at 10:35).

There will be additional music by J. S. Bach and Craig Phillips.

Choir member Scott Stratton-Smith will give a preview of the piece during the Adult Education hour at 9:30 a.m. in Johnston Hall.   

Visitors are welcome.  The service is free and open to the public.
An offering will be received to support future special music presentations.

Please join us for this special Sunday.

Third Church member and RPO cellist Kathleen Murphy Kemp will perform the concluding program of this fourth season of Chapel Concerts by Candlelight in the intimate beauty and wonderful acoustic of Third Church?s Chapel. Accompanied by Doleen Hood, this delightful program will include music by Vivaldi, Bach, Debussy and Rochberg, among others.

Kathy is well known to Third Church members and Rochester audiences. She serves as Assistant Principal Cello with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she has been a member since 1977. In addition, she is an active chamber musician and teacher, both at the Eastman School of Music and the Hochstein School of Music.

The program is free and open to the public. An offering will be received to support future concerts.

This series is made possible in large part through the generosity of the Janet S. and David B. Reed Fund.