Music at First is a community of musicians based at First Presbyterian Church which seeks to offer music of the highest quality in services and concerts to glorify God and impact our community.
Music at First
Worship Choir
The backbone of the church’s traditional service music ministry, the worship choir consists of 70 voices who divide up to lead musical worship at the 8:30 and 11 am services. They are considered worship leaders for the congregation, leading the congregational hymns as well as presenting anthems and other service music. During weekly Wednesday evening practice (6:45- 8:30 pm), the choir prepares familiar hymn arrangements, spirituals, and great choral classics to be sung in worship. This group is non-auditioned. Musical skills beyond the ability to “carry a tune” are desirable, but not required.
Praise Band
This ensemble serves as the backbone of the church’s contemporary service music ministry. It consists of various instrumentalists (drummers, guitarists, keyboardists, etc) as well as a limited number of vocalists who have a passion for praising God through the use of contemporary worship music.
Ringers
Music at First Ringers is a 5-octave handbell choir which performs advanced handbell literature in worship and concert throughout the year. This group focuses on preparing and performing handbell music of the highest possible quality for the Glory of God and the inspiration of the church and community.
Concert Choir
The concert choir is an extension of the worship choir, which prepares two to three annual concerts to be presented to the church and particularly the community at large. The choir’s repertoire ranges from concert arrangements of carols or hymns to the great sacred choral literature of western civilization, often including guest soloists and accompanied by notable guest organists, or even a professional chamber orchestra. This choir is intentionally separate from the worship choir so that singers from inside or outside the church may join for a short-term project without the longer–term commitment to singing weekly in the traditional worship services.
