Music for Contemplation: Good Friday

The mighty vintage 1958 analog Allen organ at First Reformed Church, 40 East Orange Street, Lancaster will be highlighted in a program of contemplative music on Good Friday, April 7 at 8 PM. Resident organist Larry Hershey’s 30 minute program will feature Virgil Fox’s arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Come Sweetest Death, Come Blessed Rest”. The late Mr. Fox, a virtuoso recitalist, played the dedicatory recital for this Allen organ exactly 64 years earlier, on April 7, 1959. Pianist Debbie Botham will join Mr. Hershey for organ/piano duets including John Stainer’s “God So Loved the World”, and “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” arranged by Mark Hayes and Marvin Gaspard. The concert will conclude with Joel Rainey’s arrangement of “Lift High The Cross”.

This series of free First Friday concerts is a gift to the community from First Reformed Church, a center city congregation of the United Church of Christ. Only 30 minutes in length, the free concerts begin at 8 PM each First Friday for the convenience of those who wish to spend the early evening visiting downtown galleries before the concert. Doors open at 7:30 pm. All are welcome to hear 30 minutes of inspiring organ music that will refresh your soul and inspire your spirit.