The St. Cecilia Society was founded in 1988 to support music appreciation and performance. Concerts feature fine musicians not only from our local region, but internationally recognized artists as well.

The 2008-09 concert schedule will feature:

Sunday, 16 November 2008, at 2:00 pm – James Harp, Cantor of St. Mark’s Church, will accompany the 1915 silent film sizzler “A Fool There Was,” starring the legendary screen temptress Theda Bara. This was the film that initiated Theda into the cult of vamp movies. The film, based on Kipling’s “The Vampire,” details the story of a moral man who falls from grace at the insidious hands of the unrepentant seductress. Watch for the immortal subtitle: "Kiss me, you fool!"

Sunday, 21 December 2008, at 2:00 pm – A Maryland Colonial Christmas. Chamber musicians from St. Mark’s and their friends will present a program of instrumental Christmas and Holiday music that would have been heard in Colonial Maryland. Solos and ensembles will be performed from various genres, including a work by Baltimore’s own Alexander Reinagle.

Saturday, 21 March 2009 at 7:30 pm – Peter Richard Conte, Organist Extraordinaire, will be presented in recital. One of America’s foremost organists, Mr. Conte is the Grand Court Organist of the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, a position he has held since 1989. He is also the Choirmaster and Organist at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, also in Philadelphia. Mr. Conte will celebrate the birthday of J. S. Bach by presenting some of his masterworks, and Mr. Conte will conclude his recital with a selection of orchestral transcriptions for which he is rightly noted. This special recital will be in continuing celebration of our new 2005 Patrick J. Murphy Organ, and a donation of $10 will be requested to support the St. Cecilia Society.

Sunday, April 19 at 2:00 pm – James Harp, Cantor of St. Mark’s Church, will accompany the 1926 classic silent film “Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ,” based on the Lew Wallace novel. Starring Ramon Novarro in the title role and Baltimore native Francis X. Bushman as the Roman centurion Massala, the movie was one of the costliest productions ever filmed. This presentation will be in our continuing tradition of presenting a silent film of a spiritual nature during the Lenten/Easter season.

Sunday, 10 May 2009, at 5:00 pm - The Choir of St. Mark’s Church, accompanied by organ and chamber orchestra, will present Georg Frideric Handel’s Laudate Pueri Dominum from the 1707 Carmelite Vespers. This beautiful and grand setting of Psalm 113, featuring the soloists in the choir, will be included in the Lutheran Choral Service of Evening Prayer.


Please note that the Sunday afternoon concerts are free but donations are accepted at the door to defray expenses. Free parking in the church parking lot on the corner of St. Paul and 20th Street. Directions to St. Mark's

• 21 October 2007 --
Martin Rein, Organist at St. John the Evangelist Church, Notting Hill, London presented a program in the continuing celebration of our Patrick J. Murphy organ. Mr. Rein played works of J.S. Bach, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, as well as improvisions for which he is rightly noted. A native of Berlin, Mr. Rein has held positions at the Stiftkirche St. Johns in Berlin and the Alte Kirch in Essen, and has performed throughout Australia, in Westminster Abbey, and at the (Lutheran) Cathedral of Berlin.


• November 11, 2007 --
CREDO, a four voice a cappella group under the direction of Irina Grinberg, presented a program of sacred choral music. Comprised of musicians from Orthodox churches in St. Petersburg, Russia, each singer professes a deep belief in their music ministry and demonstrates a great understanding of the profundity of the Divine Liturgies. Although the Russian Orthodox musical heritage comprises the heart of CREDO’s repertoire, selections from Russian folksongs and more contemporary composers were featured as well. The Byzantine architecture of St. Mark's was a wonderfully complementary venue to hear these rare works.


• 16 December 2007 --
The Choir of St. Mark's Church, accompanied by organ and chamber orchestra, presented J.S. Bach's Advent cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. This well known work, based on the Lutheran Advent chorale describing the Church awaiting the Bridegroom as represented in Jesus Christ, was included in the Choral Service of Evening Prayer.


• 17 February 2008 --
James Harp, Cantor of St. Mark’s Church, masterfully accompanied the 1923 classic silent horror film "The Hunchbank of Notre Dame" starring the "Man of a Thousand Faces" Lon Chaney as the hapless bell ringer Quasimodo. Also starring lissome Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmarelda and handsome Norman Kerry as Captain Phoebus, this Universal Studios release cost well over one millions dollars to make, and was considered a great risk -– never before had so much money been spent on a subject so grotesque. Chaney's horrific cries for "Sanctuary!" were accompanied by our lushly Romantic "Mighty Murphy" organ!


• 16 March 2008, Palm Sunday --
James Harp, Cantor of St. Mark’s Church, accompanied the 1923 classic silent film "The Ten Commandments." Directed by the incomparable Cecil B. DeMille working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, this film is considered superior to his later sound remake of the film. One of the grandest silent films ever made, the Exodus scene was filmed in an early version of Technicolor. The first half of the film concerns the biblical story, while the second part of the film takes place in modern times and concerns two brothers who each have differing views on how to live a life keeping the Ten Commandments. Our Palm Sunday experience was heightened by this moving tale of error and redemption.


• 20 April 2008 --
Vikki Jones offered an afternoon of art song and opera. A soprano soloist in the St. Mark's Choir, Miss Jones has won the Leontyne Price Competition and appeared all over North America as soloist with the National Spiritual Ensemble. Her performances with the Baltimore Opera Company have included the title role in "She Never Lost a Passenger" about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, featured at Artscape 2007.

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