This page contains all the information you need to plan for this special season’s offerings, including choral concerts and organ recitals. Our programs feature Fifth Avenue’s phenomenal Chamber Choir, as well as our very own Juilliard-trained organists.

As always, we promise sacred music experiences to open the mind, stir the heart, and nourish the soul. And why not share the joy? Bring a friend or your family along with you. Every time you attend a concert and spread the word about how much the experience meant to you, you help to maintain a valued space in our society for the life-changing power of live music—something I suspect we all appreciate now more than ever. See you there!

Ryan Jackson
William S. Perper Director of Music & Fine Arts Ministries

CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT
The Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir, directed by Ryan Jackson
Patrick Kreeger, organ, Jeanne Lehman, reader
Friday, Dec. 3 & Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021 • 7 pm, Kirkland Chapel
Step away from the bustle of Christmas preparations for an hour of beautiful choral music and congregational carols in the candlelit beauty of Kirkland Chapel. Broadway star Jeanne Lehman reads seasonal poetry as the Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir performs a blend of familiar Christmas music and new treasures that tell the wonder and majesty of Jesus’ birth. Hot cider and cookies are served following the concert.

Buy tickets for Friday, Dec. 3 • Buy Tickets for Saturday, Dec. 4

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FAIRE IS THE HEAVEN: MUSIC FOR DOUBLE CHOIR
The Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir, directed by Ryan Jackson
Patrick Kreeger, organ
Friday, Feb. 11, 2022 • 7 pm, Kirkland Chapel
The Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir takes on a slightly larger formation for this spectacular concert of music for double choir. From Renaissance Italy through modern-day America, composers have been captivated by the greater expressive potential of writing choral music in eight parts rather than the traditional four. The rich harmonies and breathtaking counterpoint of this genre are a feast for the ears and have given rise to some of the most ravishing choral music ever written. This immersive and exciting program features Frank Martin’s transcendent Mass for Double Choir alongside other masterworks from around the world and across the centuries.

Tickets available for purchase soon.

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VERDI REQUIEM
The FAPC Chamber Choir and Soloists, directed by Ryan Jackson
with The Shelest Piano Duo
Thursday, April 7 & Friday, April 8, 2022 • 7 pm, Kirkland Chapel
A dramatic and powerful prayer for deliverance from death and hell, Verdi’s Requiem is a thrilling product of years of experience as the world’s greatest opera composer. The Shelest Piano Duo join us for the world premiere of Ryan Jackson’s thrilling new arrangement of this masterpiece for piano four-hands. Hear Verdi’s superb vocal writing as never before in an electrifying performance that explores all the drama and dynamics of the score with the incisive diction and vibrant sound that has come to define the Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir. These performances are dedicated to the memory of Antoine Hodge, beloved choir member who passed away from complications due to COVID-19 in February 2021. Sung in Latin with English subtitles.

Tickets available for purchase soon.

Our Sunday afternoon organ recitals showcase our music director, Ryan Jackson, and associate organist, Patrick Kreeger, on the Sanctuary’s impressive, 7,000-pipe Austin organ. Both of these award-winning organists are Juilliard-trained and travel North America as solo recitalists. Recitals begin at 1 pm and are free of charge.

• Ryan Jackson
  Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 • 1 pm
• Patrick Kreeger
  Sunday, May 22, 2022 • 1 pm

Kirkland Chapel
With its warm, intimate ambience and fine acoustics, the beautiful, Gothic-style Kirkland Chapel is an ideal venue for music and the arts, weddings and other events. Designed by the renowned architect James Gamble Rogers and built in 1925, the Chapel is named for the Rev. Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland, senior pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1962 to 1987. More…

The Sanctuary
The glorious Sanctuary of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church was completed in 1875, when the congregation moved to Fifth Avenue and 55th Street. This 1,800-seat venue is an impressive space for lectures, musical performances, formal ceremonies and, of course, weddings. The 7,000-pipe organ, installed in 1961 by Austin Organs of Hartford, Connecticut, features four keyboards (plus one for the feet), 119 ranks of wood and metal pipes, and a recently installed moveable console, with state-of-the-art electronics and keyboards in a hand-carved oak case. More…

From September through May, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church offers a diverse program of sacred music, theater, classes and workshops, and exhibitions of art, photography and history.

In addition to the full season of musical performances featured here, we present rotating exhibits in the Chesnut Gallery, and Adult Education classes focused on Biblical studies, Christian history, spiritual practice and social justice concerns. Our newest program, the Anita and Antonio Gotto Lecture Series, brings prominent writers, poets and theologians to address contemporary issues of church and society.

All programs are open to the public, and most are free of charge. See fapc.org/events for a complete listing of upcoming programs, and plan to join us!