A Bel Canto Soirée

Jun 9, 2024
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

First Parish in Lexington presents

A Bel Canto Soirée:
Songs, duets and instrumental compositions by Maria Malibran and 

Pauline Viardot, sisters-extraordinaires of the Romantic Era. 

Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 7:00 PM

7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA 02421

This June, you are invited for an elegant soirée where you will be able to experience first hand some of the most admired compositions by the ingenious sisters Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot as performed by Julia Jaffe (mezzo) and Yunona Tabala (soprano), in collaboration with Rip Jackson (piano) and John Rogler (cello). Dashing vocal performers, brilliant composers, elegant socialites, intellectuals, friends of Liszt, Chopin, George Sand, Turgenev and Saent-Saens – without these two women, American and European artistic scenes as we know them today would not have been the same. Sisters, and daughters of the imposing Spanish pedagogue Manuel García, Malibran and Viardot each left an indelible mark on nineteenth-century opera with their virtuosic performances. A free-will offering will be received, and public parking is available in the rear of the church. For more information, email music@fplex.org.

Access the livestream here.

An Evening of Sacred Chant: A Millennium of Soaring Mystical Sound

Apr 28, 2024
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

An Evening of Sacred Chant: A Millennium of Soaring Mystical Sound

Directed by Rip Jackson

Sunday, April 28, 2024, at 7:30 PM

First Parish in Lexington

On Sunday, April 28, 2024 the music program at First Parish presented a very special candlelit evening of sacred chant music inviting the large audience to come and center inward, touching their deepest, truest self, as they were enfolded in the peaceful, healing, transcendent mystical music ancient and modern from Western, Eastern, and African traditions—performed by the First Parish Festival Choir and guest soloists, and directed by Rip Jackson. The evening’s program included Gregorian chant, antiphons by Hildegard Von Bingen, Medieval polyphony, Renaissance masterpieces, Russian Orthodox hymns, Hebrew Sephardic chants, Hindu mantras, African sacred music, and modern mystical a capella music.

A Winter Solstice Experience

Dec 22, 2023
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Jams for Justice

Nov 12, 2023
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Jams for Justice

A Concert of Inspirational Music for Voices and Jazz Band

With the First Parish Sanctuary and Youth Choirs and Soloists

Directed by Rip Jackson

Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 3:30 PM

First Parish in Lexington
7 Harrington Rd. Lexington, MA

Free will offering to benefit the Hamilton-Garrett Center for Music and Arts

First Parish in Lexington presented a concert of Gospel, Broadway, Jazz and inspirational music on Sunday, November 12, at 3:30 PM. The concert, directed by Rip Jackson, featured the First Parish sanctuary and youth choirs, vocal soloists, and an 11-piece Jazz band (piano, drums, electric guitar, electric bass, saxophones, woodwinds and brass) performing inspirational solo and choral Gospel and Jazz music and selections from Broadway including Godspell, Miss Saigon, Wicked and The Lion King.  The concert took a free will offering with 100% of the proceeds to benefit the Hamilton-Garrett Center for Music and Arts, a Boston-based non-profit, committed to the development of Boston’s next generation of innovative artists through the celebration and preservation of Black music. This vital arts organization provides high-caliber formal music instruction to youth throughout Greater Boston, preparing them for a future in music that challenges inner-city youth to see themselves as positive producers of culture, music, and the arts as a whole, rather than merely consumers of it.

Rutter's Requiem and Orchestral Works

Nov 6, 2022
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

First Parish in Lexington 

presents 

Rutter’s Requiem 

and

Orchestral Works by Wagner, Vaughan Williams and Beethoven

Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 7 PM

On Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 7 PM, the 40-member First Parish Festival Choir, soloists and a 25-member chamber orchestra, under the direction of Rip Jackson, will perform John Rutter’s deeply inspiring choral work “Requiem.” Richard Wagner’s beautiful “Siegfried Idyll,” Ralph Vaughan Williams’s ethereal “Fantasia on Greensleeves” and Beethoven’s powerful “Benedictus.” (from the Mass in C) will also be on the program. Suggested donation of $20.

Ukrainian Relief Concert

Jun 5, 2022
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

First Parish Ukrainian Relief Concert

Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 3:30 PM

Free Will offering to support the Global Disaster Relief Team

Our sanctuary choir, children’s choir, and soloists, directed by Rip Jackson, will present their first concert in more than 2 and 1/2 years on Sunday, June 5 at 3:30 PM. They will perform heart-centered choral music, solos, duets and trios from diverse genres of music including classical, contemporary, gospel and even disco! They will be accompanied by a pit band consisting of piano, bass, guitar and drums. A free will offering will be taken to support medical relief for the Ukrainian crisis through the Global Disaster Relief Team (GDRT).

Global Disaster Relief Team, Inc. (“GDRT”), located in Medway, MA, is a non-profit organization that provides emergency response to crisis and disasters domestically and internationally. Formed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early March 2022, GDRT has helped hundreds of thousands of refugees at the Poland-Ukraine border. Currently their mission is to help Ukrainian refugees gain access to medicine and basic medical care, evacuate crisis areas, and provide critical medical supplies to hospitals in Ukraine. To Learn more about them, please visit: www.gdrt.org.

Village Harmony World Music Concert

Jan 10, 2020
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

The Village Harmony Alumni Ensemble, a world music choir of 16 voices, led by Larry Gordon and Carl Linich, presents traditional harmony singing from throughout the world as well as a set of Spanish Renaissance works. The repertoire includes songs from Caucasus Georgia, Bulgaria, Corsica, and South Africa, contemporary and traditional American shape-note tunes and villancicos by Francisco Guerrero. Village Harmony is an organization dedicated to the study, teaching, and performance of harmony singing traditions from across the world, and sponsors an extensive program of traveling singing camps both in New England and abroad. The young alumni singers, ages 19-26, are all veterans of many years of these Village Harmony programs, including overseas tours in South Africa, Macedonia and Georgia. A free will offering will be taken.

Winter Solstice Experience

Dec 20, 2019
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

On Friday, December 20, 2019, First Parish in Lexington will present a Winter Solstice Experience at 7:00 pm.  With music, ritual, candles, dancing, and darkness, we will experience the quiet of the longest night, and welcome the sun as we wait for her return. Led by Rev. Anne Mason and Music Director Rip Jackson, this will be a worship service exploring earth-centered imagery, with an invitation to cherish the darkness. You are invited to set aside your frenetic everyday concerns and take this hour for your own inward journey.  The Solstice is honored by indigenous religions around the world and we will have music, dance and poetry which honor many traditions.  A diverse group of musicians will provide beautiful Solstice-themed music including soprano sax, vocal soloist Natalie Brierre, string bass, piano, organ, synthesizer, rain stick, gong, Tibetan singing bowl, and other atmospheric musical instruments. We will present music from diverse genres including music by Hildegard Von Bingen, Paul Winter, and Loreena McKennitt, and original music by Rip Jackson. Also participating will be Lisa Maria Steinberg, Director of Religious Education and Family Ministry, with other youth and adult volunteers. Free and open to the public. Parking is in the rear of the church.  For more information call 781-862-8200 or visit www.fplex.org.

I Go On Singing: Paul Robeson's Life in Word and Song

Dec 7, 2019
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway Cabaret

Nov 10, 2019
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

First Parish in Lexington presents
A Broadway Concert celebrating the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Rip Jackson
with the First Parish Festival and Children’s Choirs, Soloists and Pit Band

Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 3:30 PM – Free Will Offering

First Parish in Lexington proudly presents an inspirational concert of Broadway music by Andrew Lloyd Webber on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 3:30 PM. Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most celebrated Broadway music composers of all time. This concert, with music from Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Phantom of the Opera, Requiem, and Sunset Boulevard, will feature the First Parish festival and children’s choirs, soloists, and a full pit band consisting of brass, woodwinds, keyboards, drums, guitar, and electric bass.  A free will offering will be accepted. For more information call the church at 781-862-8200 or visit http://bit.ly/fp-webber.

Mezzo Soprano Julia Jaffe in Concert

Oct 6, 2019
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

On Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 3:30, First Parish in Lexington will present Belarus native mezzo soprano Julia Jaffe in a concert of Baroque arias, Russian Folk songs, spirituals, Broadway ballads, 19^th-century art songs and instrumental trio sonatas. Ms. Jaffe will be joined by Rip Jackson on piano and harpsichord with baroque violinists Asako Takeuchi and Emily Hale and baroque cellist Jennifer Morsches. Some of the featured works include “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen, “Erbarme Dich” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion” and Handel’s Trio Sonata in G Major.” A free will offering will be taken.

Julia Jaffe was born in Minsk, Belarus where she attended a specialized music school. She immigrated to the USA as a teenager and studied voice and literature at the University of Utah. In Boston, Julia had a career as a linguist and pursued post graduate studies in voice at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has performed as a soloist with the Lowell House Opera and Commonwealth Lyric Theatre as well as an ensemble member of Utah Opera, Opera Tampa, and the Odyssey opera. Julia experiences singing as direct conduit between the spiritual and corporeal realms. She feels blessed to sing at the First Parish UU in Lexington where she has had opportunities to sing music of dizzying variety under the leadership of Rip Jackson. Julia has found her niche in creating original thematically organized programs. She performs as a guest soloist throughout the USA and was a featured artist at the 2019 Assisi Music Festival in Italy.

Natural Rhythms Concert

Sep 7, 2019
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Natural Rhythms

With Elise Witt, Terry Garthwaite and Becky Reardon

Saturday, September 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM

Free Will Offering

Imagine Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Annie Ross and Edith Piaf taking a turn from Barbara Kingsolver and Dr. Seuss and you’ll have some idea of these mad and moving musical adventures! Whether it’s a plaintive cry for families at the border, a polyrhythmic improvisation on the physics of sound, an anthem to the preservation of wild rivers and oceans, or a musical ride on the love train, Terry, Becky & Elise cook from the minute they hit the stage. Bringing three radically different voices to the blend, their voices find each other in that mysterious world of harmony in diversity. The trio’s concerts are also famous for getting the audience singing, and even self-professed “non-singers” find themselves part of an Impromptu Glorious Chorus. Elise Witt, who has sung with Bobby McFerrin, along with Terry Garthwaite and Becky Reardon, will also collaborate with Rip Jackson and the First Parish sanctuary choir during part of the concert. A free will offering will be taken to defray concert costs. For more information call the church at 781-862-8200 or visit www.fplex.org.

The amazing vocal trio Natural Rhythms consists of 3 dynamic singer/instrumentalists. Becky Reardon’s voice is familiar to the millions of people who heard her sing on the Charlie Brown TV specials (Charles Schultz called her his favorite singer!). Becky’s songs and rounds are treasured for their ability to move singers and listeners to ancient places of pleasure and healing. Terry Garthwaite is an internationally known singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and teacher and has shared the stage with BB King, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, The Band, Allen Ginsberg, Santana, Rosalie Sorrels, and many others. Elise Witt is a singer, composer, musical ambassador, and community activist and has sung with Bobby McFerrin. She has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, Italy, Nicaragua, Switzerland, China, and Bosnia.