Music at St. Francis

Our faithful volunteer Choir members are, and always have been, the backbone of the music program at St. Francis in the Valley. The Choir meets to rehearse every Thursday afternoon at 2 PM and returns for a short rehearsal before singing the Sunday service.

Extra services are required at Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week and Easter, and the Choir sings a Stations of the Cross service during Lent. The style of music is traditional with repertoire drawn from sources both ancient and modern.

In addition to Sunday morning music we continue to offer Evensong sung three or four times a year by members of True Concord Voices and Orchestra with Michael Case at the organ. Evensong is sung according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with choral repertoire drawn from traditional sources.​​​

Our organist, Michael Case provides great organ literature for all our services (with an occasional outing on the organ bench from the Director of Music). Michael has a degree in organ performance from Indiana University and over 25 years’ experience as a music typesetter.

Director of Music Gerald Near is well known as a composer of liturgical music. The present Hymnal of the Episcopal Church includes both hymns and service music from his considerable output. Gerald holds degrees in music from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with advanced work in conducting from the University of Minnesota.