On the weekend of October 14-16, Christ Church will celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the consecration of its Old Brick Church, Queen Caroline Parish, on October 16, 1811 by the Right Reverend Thomas Claggett, the first Bishop of Maryland and a former Rector of Queen Caroline Parish.
Commissioning The Old Brick Oratorio
Christ Church and the Columbia Pro Cantare have jointly commissioned Thomas Benjamin to compose a musical work entitled The Old Brick Oratorio. The Oratorio will tell the story of Christ Church in words and music. In addition to the 100+ voice Columbia Pro Cantare, the work will feature the Lexington Brass Quintet and guest soloists, including soprano, Allison Matuskey , bass-baritone Robert Cantrell, violinist Ronald Mutchnik, pianist Erik Apland, and organist Thomas Fries. The Oratorio will be narrated by Christ Church parishioners, Joan Harvey and Patrick Frith.
The Right Reverend Eugene T. Sutton, Bishop of Maryland, and Mrs. Sonya Sutton are serving as the Honorary Patrons of the Oratorio and will be in attendance. The performance is underwritten, in part, by a generous grant from the Jim and Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation. Please contact us with questions about the Oratorio.
Private Premiere of The Old Brick Oratorio
The private premiere of this work will be performed on Friday, October 14 at 8:00 PM in New Brick for members of the Christ Church community and invited guests. Tickets for the private premiere are $30 and include a post-performance champagne reception. Members of the Christ Church community will receive information about ordering tickets for the private premiere from the Church Office.
Public Premiere of The Old Brick Oratorio
On Saturday, October 15, the Columbia Pro Cantare will open its 35th Anniversary Season with the public premiere of The Old Brick Oratorio at 8:00PM in New Brick. To order tickets for this performance, please visit the Columbia Pro Cantare website.
Celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Old Brick’s Consecration
On Sunday, October 16 the Christ Church community will celebrate the anniversary date of Old Brick’s consecration with a special service. The service will begin in front of Old Brick with a reenactment of its consecration by Bishop Claggett using the words of that consecration from the 1811 records of Christ Church. Bishop Sutton will lead that reenactment and will bless the newly renovated Old Brick Church and its new courtyard.
The juxtaposition of these two bishops is especially significant because Bishop Claggett was a slaveholder and Bishop Sutton is the first African-American bishop of Maryland. After the blessing there will be a grand procession into New Brick where Bishop Sutton will celebrate a Festival Eucharist. The service will be followed by a reception and tours of Old Brick. All are welcome to attend the service. For questions, please e-mail the 200th Celebration Committee.
From central Virginia, and the Manakin Episcopal Church, established in 1700, in Richmond, we send our greetings and best wishes to Christ Church on this important celebration. And yes, Bonnie and I both sing in the Manakin Choir.