Sunday, August 6, 2023 – The Transfiguration

Through the several weeks of mid-summer, we feature one of our many talented singers at the Offertory while the full choir is on summer break. Today, we welcome bass-baritone Joeavian Rivera who has been a member of the SJD Chorale since 2021. He completed his Master of Music degree at the University of Houston Moores School of Music this past spring and will be returning this fall in pursuit of a Certificate of Music Performance. Joeavian has been featured with the Moores Opera Center in roles such as Achilla in Giulio Cesare and Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music.  

A composer of great faith, Johann Sebastian Bach is considered to have been the greatest composer in the history of Western music. In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of the Thomasschule at Thomaskirche in Leipzig, and Director of Music in the principal churches in the town, namely the Nikolaikirche and the Paulinerkirche, the church of the University of Leipzig.  One of his duties was to present a cantata during the service each Sunday and on all Feast Days. He usually performed his own cantatas, most of which were written during his first three years in Leipzig. Today, we hear the bass aria “Mache dich” (Purify yourself, my heart) from his St. Matthew Passion written for use on Good Friday, 1727. This aria comes toward the end of the passion – Joseph of Arimathea has just recovered Jesus’ body from Pilate and is about to lay it in the tomb – and is meant to reflect the personalized experience of the individual believer. 

Sunday, July 30, 2023 – 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Through the several weeks of mid-summer, we feature one of our many talented singers at the Offertory while the full choir is on summer break. Today, we welcome soprano Dawn Monachino who has been a member of the SJD Chorale since 2015. She joined the SJD staff team last summer as our receptionist and greets everyone that comes onto our campus during the week. She has lived and performed in the Middle East and England and, despite any barriers or obstacles, “music has always been the common language wherever you go.” At the Offertory, Dawn sings an upbeat song of praise and thanksgiving by American choral conductor and composer Donald Moore.
The sacred music of Herbert Howells is among the most significant and enduring Anglican church music of the 20th century. The tragic death of his nine-year-old son Michael from polio deeply affected him and his compositions throughout his life. His Requiem and hymn “All My Hope on God Is Founded” (Hymn 665) are especially commemorative among others; he even named the tune for his hymn “Michael” after his son. Robert Bridge’s text (a loose paraphrase of a 17th century German hymn by Joachim Neander) speaks of and affirms the great strength and confidence that is ours through our trust in God. We sing this great hymn at the conclusion of our worship. Please lift your voices in song with great enthusiasm and strength.

Sunday, July 23, 2023 – 8th Sunday after Pentecost

Through the several weeks of mid-summer, we feature one of our many talented singers at the Offertory while the full choir is on summer break. Today, we welcome Imogen Bori. Born in Oxford, England, Imogen moved to Houston as a teenager. She has been singing with SJD Chorale since January of 2017. Imogen graduated with her undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in vocal performance and chose to pursue teaching as a career. For the last five years, she has been teaching music at the elementary level.

At the Offertory, Imogen sings Moses Hogan’s arrangement of the spiritual “Give Me Jesus,” a reflective song of prayer and supplication. A native of New Orleans, Moses Hogan enjoyed an inspired career as a pianist, conductor, and arranger. Building on the early 20th-century efforts of William Dawson, he reintroduced the African-American spiritual in professional choral settings, revitalizing the tradition and becoming one of the most renowned proponents and advocates of American gospel music in the world. He is especially known for his settings of African-American Spirituals as well as his two choral groups: the Moses Hogan Chorale and the Moses Hogan Singers which enjoyed world-wide notoriety.

Sunday, July 16, 2023 – 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Through the several weeks of mid-summer, we feature one of our many talented singers at the Offertory while the full choir is on summer break. Today, we welcome Sean Saunders. A resident of Houston, Sean is a music educator in the public school system where he has taught and directed choirs for 17 years. He also has either sung in or directed a church choir since 2004. He has sung with the professional choir Cantare Houston and has sung with the SJD Chorale since March 2021.This morning, Sean sings a fresh arrangement of the folk hymn “Come, thou Fount of every blessing” by contemporary British composer Richard Walters. With a melody from the early 19^th century American folk hymn tradition and a text by British Baptist Minister Robert Robinson, the hymn is a favorite and sung by Christian congregations around the globe.

The hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory,” which we sing at the conclusion of the liturgy, is arguably one of the most popular hymns of the 20th century. Penned by Harry Emerson Fosdick, a preacher of international acclaim, the hymn was sung at the opening of the famed Riverside Church in 1930 where Fosdick was called to be pastor upon its founding. Interestingly, it was his intent for the text to be sung to REGENT SQUARE, the tune we sing with “Angels we have heard on High.”