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“Be filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan’s beautiful midcentury modern Sanctuary boasts exceptional acoustics for music making! In addition to our distinguished weekly Music Ministry offerings, FPCNC offers a robust schedule of special concerts and guest performers for the enjoyment of all.
The Sunday morning Ministry of Music seeks to proclaim the Word of God through hymns, anthems, and spirituals, through vocal and instrumental solos, and handbell music. Our Director of Music and Fine Arts is Terence J. Flanagan. If you are interested in participating in the music ministry, or have questions, please contact him at your convenience.
Rehearsals: Thursdays 7:00-8:00pm, Sundays 9:00am
Rehearsals: Wednesdays 4:30-5:30pm
Our English Handbell Choir meets weekly to prepare pieces to ring, generally once a month, during Worship. Members of the handbell choir have basic through advanced music reading skills. If you are curious, come give us a try. Learn how to hold and ring bells as well as well as different bell-ringing techniques. A requirement for being a member is being able to laugh! This group has lots of fun in addition to ringing handbells! Contact Terry Flanagan at 203-408-2861 or via email at terry@fpcnc.org for more information.
History of our Whitechapel Handbells
First Presbyterian’s 37 Whitechapel Handbells were ordered in April of 1977. At this time, orders were many and the manufacturing time long. The bells were dispatched via Jones Dooley shippers complete in three carrying boxes. The vessel was called the Atlantic Causeway and the expected delivery time was six weeks from sailing out of Southampton, plus customs clearance, etc.
Today the value of the bells and three cases are worth 15 times more than what they were originally purchased for.
The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan’s beautiful midcentury modern Sanctuary and exceptional acoustics make it a venue that is sought after for music making. Throughout the season, there are regular musical offerings from our local community to outside professional groups. We are proud to have showcased in the recent past Charis Chamber Voices, New Canaan Chamber Music, the New Canaan High School Choirs, Orchestra Lumos, the St. Luke’s School Choir, the Yale Whiffenpoofs, the New Baroque Soloists and Relic.
If you are interested in using our space for a musical event, please contact our Director of Music and Fine Arts, Terence J. Flanagan at 203-408-2861 or via email at terry@fpcnc.org.
The First Presbyterian Church’s Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ is ideally situated in a sanctuary with excellent acoustics. In 2002 Goulding & Wood undertook a renovation of the instrument. The basic design of the instrument was appropriate, but the execution of the tonal scheme was thought to have produced and overly loud and bright sounds for the particular environment, and, after some thirty years of use, cracks had appeared in some pipes and one windchest.
While some mechanical improvements had been initiated, the work was incomplete. The purpose of the renovation was two-fold. First was to put the mechanical systems of the organ in top condition using the latest in solid-state control systems. The second was to address the tonal scheme based on earlier models used by the Skinner firm that were compatible with the existing design. This primarily involved restoring original wind pressures, revoicing most of the existing pipework, supplying new principal chorus structures, and adding some new voices including a 4′ Clarion and an 8′ Harmonic Flute stops that were a hallmark of traditional Aeolian-Skinner organs.
Click here to view stop list.
In 2022, it was found that the leather and felt used on the organ’s flute pipes had greatly deteriorated. Due to this fact and the resulting difficulty it created in keeping these pipes in tune, a project to restore the pipes took place. On Monday morning, October 10, 2022, a group of five individuals formed an assembly line and passed down roughly 244 of our pipe organ’s flute pipes. They were taken to the Austin Organ Inc. factory in Hartford, CT, where they were refurbished and returned as if new.
The arts are alive and well at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan!
The church also supports the spiritual formation of our congregation by periodically exhibiting relevant contemporary objects of art. Recent works on display at FPCNC were crafted by highly-regarded area artists Gigi Guthrie, Virginia Isbell, Marissa Mead and Rebecca Purdum.
Celebrate the spirit of the season with Charis Chamber Voices as we present a stunning
Winter Concert “Unbroken” Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00pm
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
