Major Events Planned for 2012  

• Musical Americana: 300 Years of Music in under 60 Minutes  -  Saturday, March 3^rd at 5:00 p.m., organist Scott Baker and guest instrumentalists Cortney Baker, Amy Holt, James Linn and Aaron Payne will perform a recital featuring original music by American masters spanning three centuries.  Highlights will include concert pieces by the great luminaries of our nation's musical heritage, including Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, and Fats Waller.  Free-will donations gratefully accepted for the benefit of Appalachia Service Project.   
  

• Alice Parker at Saint Francis  - Renowned composer/arranger Alice Parker will conduct a choral workshop and lead the music at our Sunday worship services from Friday-Sunday, March 16-18, 2012.  For more information about this extraordinary opportunity, click here.

• Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. - St. Francis Choir and instrumentalists perform at both Sunday services.

• Children's Spring Musical - Sunday, April 29, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. during the 2nd service.

Major Events of 2011

• Brass Band Christmas Mini-concert - The St. Francis Brass Band  presented a mini-concert of seasonal music following the 11:00 am service on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011

• Christmas Cantata - Saint Francis Choir and instrumentalists presented a Christmas Cantata during both worship services on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011.  To see a bulletin from this special event, click here.

•  Children's Christmas Musical - The Saint Francis Children's Choirs presented their Christmas musical during the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011.  To see a bulletin from this special event, click here 

• Brass Band Benefit Concert - The St. Francis Brass Band presented a concert  on October 1, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.  The concert benefitted the Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network.  To view the program from this concert, click here.

• World Premiere of the commissioned anthem, Speak Peace, by Alice Parker - Sunday, May 22, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. during the 2nd service.  To see a program from the World Premiere, click here.  For more information about the commissioning of this anthem, click here.
  

• Handbell concert - Sunday, May 15, 2011at 4:30 p.m.  The handbell choirs of St. Francis United Methodist Church presented an informal concert featuring original works for handbells and percussion, as well as settings of treasured sacred songs.  Popular highlights included timeless works by Henry Mancini, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Leroy Anderson.  Free-will donations were gratefully accepted for the benefit of The Women's Center of Raleigh.  To see a program from this concert, click here.

• Children's Choirs Spring Musical - Sunday, May 8, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. during the 2nd service.  To see a program from this performance, click here.

• Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. - St. Francis Choir and Orchestra perform at both Sunday services.  Musical selections include Kyrie from Maurice Durufle's Requiem and Handel's Hallelujah.  To see the Bulletin from this service, click here.
  

• Coffeehouse - presented by the Music Ministry.  Children, youth, and adult performers presented a varied selection of vocal, instrumental, and dramatic/comedic entertainment on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 6:30 pm.  The audience enjoyed coffee and delicious homemade desserts while watching 17 different acts perform.  The Coffeehouse benefitted Prison Match.  

• "Musical Methodism - The Concert Works of the Wesleys"  - Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
  Organist Scott Baker and guest ensembles performed a program of concert repertoire composed by members of the founding-family of our denomination.  Charles, Samuel, and Samuel Sebastian Wesley were among the most accomplished and acclaimed English composers of their generations, establishing  styles and forms which eventually established the national standard for English sacred music still evident today.  The concert featured rarely heard masterpieces for organ, choir and string quartet.  Musical Methodism was presented for the benefit of Central Conference Pension Initiative, a fund which assists United Methodist clergy in distant mission fields who are not pensioned and are facing retirement with much need of support.  Click Play button  below to hear a selection from this recital.   To hear more selections and to see a program from this concert click here .

• "Children Singing God's Praise"!  Children's Choir Festival  - Hosted by Saint Francis on Saturday February 19th, 2011, from 9:00-2:00, this festival was for second through sixth graders.  Heather Potter was the guest clinician.  Heather is the associate conductor of the Charlotte's Children Choir and conductor of its Lyric Choir.  She serves as director of Youth and Children's Music at First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, NC.  She is also on the board of the Choristers Guild.  Heather worked with the children on selected pieces during the morning workshop and then the children shared their music and gifts during a 1:00 concert in the church sanctuary.  Seventy-six children representing 6 different churches from Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Fayetteville participated in this special day.  To see a program and pictures from this event, click here. 

Major Events of 2010

• Christmas Cantata - Saint Francis Choir and Orchestra presented a Christmas Cantata during both worship services on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010.  To see a program from the Cantata, click here.  The Christmas Cantata this year was also a special celebration in honor of our Director of Music Ministries, Jim White.  To see more information and hear audio from this celebration, click here .

• Children's Christmas Musical - The Saint Francis Children's Choirs presented their Christmas musical,  Celebrate the Gift, during the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, Dec. 5.  To see a program, click here.

• A Movie Classic ~ Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925) accompanied by organ virtuoso Walt Strony on October 29, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary.   Long before there was surround-sound there were theatre organs.  Attendees experienced a night out at "the picture show" the way their grandparents did.  This family-friendly fall event was presented by the St. Francis Music Ministry for the benefit of the Appalachia Service Project (ASP).   World-renowned organist Walt Strony improvised an original score to this classic silent film from the first Golden Age of Hollywood.   Audience costumes were encouraged.  A concession-stand reception to greet the artist was held in the after the show.  To see a program from this concert, click here.

• Brass Band Benefit Concert - The St. Francis Brass Band presented a concert  on September 25, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.  The concert was for the benefit of the Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network and featured Scott and Cortney Baker on piano and violin, Fiddler Time by the Suzuki Fiddlers, a sing-along to The Music Man, and The Pink Panther during the offertory.  To see a program from this concert, click here.   

• Informal Concert - St. Francis Choir presented an informal concert at Duke Chapel on Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

• Cinco de Mayo Celebration  - Miguel Cortes and his family presented Mexican Folk Dances, complete with costumes, on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room.  There was also a mariachi band.
   
• Choral Concert for Haiti - All vocal choirs (Saint Francis Choir, Cantamos, Saintly Singers, Choir Partners, Women's Ensemble, and Men's Ensemble) presented a special concert on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.  Donations were accepted for the benefit of UMCOR's Haiti relief fund.  To see a program from this perfomance,  click here.

• Discovering Christ.... Serving Others
  St. Francis Children's Choirs presented their spring musical, Discovering Christ.... Serving Others, during the 11:00 am worship service on Sunday, April 11, 2010.  To see the Bulletin from this service, click here. 
  

• The Art of Transcription  - or - "Totally Inappropriate Music (for the organ)"
  Scott Baker presented this organ recital on Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 5:00 pm.  The concert featured original transcriptions of works from genres outside the realm of the keyboard.  Highlights included Symphonic Works,Opera Overtures, Sousa Marches, and Film Music by John Williams—including excerpts from Harry Potter, Jaws, and Star Wars.  Free-will donations were accepted for the benefit of ZOE (Zimbabwe Orphan Endeavour).  To see a program from this performance, click here.  Click the Play button below to hear a selection from this recital.

    Prelude and "Toreador Song" from Carmen
  Bizet/Baker
  
  

  To hear more from this recital, click here.

• Amahl and the Night Visitors
  St. Francis Choir presented a fully-staged production with orchestra, soloists, and dancers of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 7:00 pm and on Saturday, December 12, at 6:00 pm.  The performance also featured some a cappella  music by St. Francis Choir.  The concert benefitted Appalachian Service Project.  To see a program from this performance, click here. 
  
  
• Radio J-O-Y!
  St. Francis Children's Choirs presented their Christmas musical, Radio J-0-Y!, during the 11:00 am worship service on Sunday, December 6, 2009.  To see the Bulletin from this service, click here.  To see the list of cast members, click here.
  
  
• Brass Band Benefit Concert
  This concert on October 24, 2009 benefitted the Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network.  The concert featured several guest soloists and a sing-along to My Fair Lady.  To see a program from this concert, click here.  Click the Play button below to hear a selection from this concert.

• Handbell Concert
  All SFUMC handchime and handbell choirs performed a benefit concert for the Interfaith Food Shuttle on Sunday, May 3, 2009.  Selections included classic 1950's rock, jazz standards, fold tunes, spirituals, and film music.  To see a program from this concert, click here.

• Stringed Instruments and Organ: A Musical Celebration of Psalm 150
  Scott Baker, featured on organ and piano, with various instrumentalists and vocalists joining him performed a musical repertoire inspired by Psalm 150 on Saturday, April 4, 2009.  This concert benefited The Carying Place.  To see a program from this concert, click here.  Click the Play buttons below to hear selections from this concert.

• Choral Festival Concert
  This concert on Saturday, March 21, 2009 was the culmination of a weekend-long Choral Workshop conducted by Donald Nally, Chorus Master of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  More than 100 area singers representing 7 different churches/choral organization participated in the Workshop and Festival Concert.  To see a program from this concert, click here .  Click the Play buttons below to hear  selections from this concert. 

Kyrie from Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd.

A German Requiem, Movement 2 by Johannes Brahms
Accompanied by Scott Baker on piano