Music

Music is an integral part of worship at First Church. Led by our Director of Music and Organist, Bernadette Hoke, First Church's choir draws on the rich tradition of Anglican music to enhance the worship experience for all.

The choir leads the congregation during the Sunday services with a wide variety of hymns and anthems that celebrate our love of God and each other.  Our hymns are drawn from traditional Anglican hymnals, including The English Hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern, The Hymnal (1940), and are supplemented by hymns from other Christian traditions.

The Sunday music program is frequently enhanced with innovative musical works, many of which are composed by our music director, and other modern composers.  As a result, the average Sunday service may include very traditional hymns by great English composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, C.H.H. Parry, and Thomas Tallis, as well as works by twentieth-century composers including John Rutter, William Mathias, Healey Willan and Bernadette Hoke.

The great feasts of the Church year are marked by special musical presentations and may include instrumental works for brass, strings and woodwinds.

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The Organ

In 1993,  the congregation installed a new pipe organ built by the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio. The organ is installed in chambers across the front of the chancel and speaks through three tone openings; the façade pipes are from the Great 8' Principal. Schantz provided a three-manual drawknob console that is located with the choir seating on the left side of the chancel.

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Bernadette Hoke
Director of Music and Organist

Bernadette Hoke is the Music Director and Organist of the First Reformed Episcopal Church where she directs a professional choir. During her tenure, she has overseen the installation of a new Schantz organ and conducted performances of the Requiems by Rutter and Duruflé, Handel’s Messiah--Part 1, and the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes. She also organized and performs on the concert series “Music at First Church”. Ms. Hoke is the pianist and organist for the Collegiate Singers and the Dalton Chorale and teaches piano and chamber music at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. She appears annually as an accompanist and chamber player in various concert venues in and around New York City. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and is a Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO).

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Palm Sunday
April 9, 2017
Music by the Saint Albans Schola and Choir

Hosanna to the Son of David
G.P. Telemann

Drop, Drop Slow Tears
Orlando Gibbons

Venite
Bernadette Hoke

Concerts and Other Performances​

First Church is a vibrant musical community providing opportunities for the performance of music in a variety of settings outside the worship context.  The music programme presents a number of concerts during the year, including chamber ensembles, opera nights, and  an annual performance of Handel's Messiah (Christmas Portion). 

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Past Performances

 The organist and choir present a varied repetoire of both sacred and secular works.  Some representative performances of both the First Church choir and the Beekman Hill Ensemble are available below.  Just click on any of the icons to hear our music programme in action.

Selections from Messiah by G.F. Handel

The Beekman Hill Chorus and Ensemble
Bernadette Hoke, Conductor
December 12, 2010

For Unto Us a Child is Born

Halleluia

His Yoke is Easy

Berceuse op. 57  by Frederic Chopin

Bernadette Hoke, piano
October 15, 2010

Largo from the Sonata in g minor, op 65 for cello and piano by Frederic Chopin

Laura Bontrager, cello, and Bernadette Hoke, piano
October 15, 2010

"The Lord is My Shepherd" from REQUIEM by John Rutter
The Choir of the First Reformed Episcopal Church, Bernadette Hoke, Conductor
March 28, 2004

"Introit" from REQUIEM by Maurice Durufle

The Choir of The First Reformed Episcopal Church, Bernadette Hoke, Director
March 20, 2005

"Notre Père" by Murice Duruflé

The Choir of The First Reformed Episcopal Church, Bernadette Hoke, Director
March 20, 2005

Baroque in Rhythm, Claude Bolling

Jazz at First Church: Bernadette Hoke, piano, Laura Bontrager, cello, Mary Ann McSweeny, bass, and
Bill Hayes, drums
March 4, 2011