First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville celebrates Palm Sunday with an afternoon concert

Regardless of race or religion, music always seems to succeed at uniting people. One of my favorite quotes about music says, "Through music we are no longer separate and alone. Through music we are one and we are whole." Today, the First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville took this approach with music in an afternoon concert in honor of the religious holiday Palm Sunday.

The First Presbyterian choir in rehearsal for their Palm
Sunday performance. 

I was asked to perform in the orchestra for this concert and with my hectic end-of-the-semester schedule, I was hesitant to say yes at first but in the end, I am glad I did. Under the direction of the talented music minister at First Presbyterian Church, Mark Coffey, we performed Samuel Barber's heartbreaking Adagio for Strings and Maurice Durufle's Requiem, a polyphonic setting of nine parts of the traditional mass. The choir was a mix singers from the church and other nearby ministries, and the orchestra was a jumble of musicians from around Gainesville, some of whom also perform with the Gainesville Orchestra.

Now, the concert was an absolute success. Everyone was so responsive and attentive to the music, which nearly sang itself. I know that is an awful thing to say because I know the singers and other musicians in the orchestra were working very hard to convey their parts properly, but it was almost like the broad acoustics in the church carried the music to every corner in the facility. No person in the audience had to strain to hear any voice, however soft they may have been.

For me, it was a fun experience that I was happy to partake in. The talent in arts and culture scene is Gainesville is sometimes overlooked, but today, I felt that the singers and musicians at First Presbyterian Church proved to the community yet again the importance of music.