Praise God with Flute and Harp! (or Violin, Voice, and Piano)

Reflections by Brother Luke

As we approach our 50th anniversary year of 2016, I am reminded of the celebration of our 40th anniversary in 2006. Back then we contemplated a variety of activities: a pilgrimage, a gathering of all our members at a nearby retreat center to celebrate memorable moments in our individual and collective lives, publishing a retrospective issue of our journal Gleanings, a renovation of the entrance to our Holy Wisdom Temple by adding a new ramp and a meditation garden, and possibly a benefit concert.

Brother Marc had visited Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina and discovered that their abbot, a very accomplished organist, had inaugurated a concert series in their monastery. It proved to be very successful and popular with their neighbors. This opening to their surrounding community was something that we also wanted to encourage. How could we do this, and whom could we approach about such a project?  We had a foretaste of such an event with the local Battenkill Chorale. Some of our members sang with the Chorale, and during the summer for a few years we scheduled a summer sing at New Skete with the Chorale and our monastic community.  It wasn’t a concert per se, but it was a musical event and it gave us an idea of what might be possible.

As this idea of a concert percolated, the name of a good friend of the community, a professional musician, kept coming to mind. So we decided to broach the idea with him. Fortunately, his response was positive, and he offered to give a solo concert as a benefit for New Skete. He had been preparing the six Bach solo violin sonatas, and he thought a recital of the first three of those solo violin sonatas would work well in our space. We were thrilled, and so with Kevin Lawrence’s performance on April 30, 2006, we inaugurated concerts at New Skete. In addition to that concert, Kevin has paid frequent visits to New Skete to work with our monastic choir.  So on top of his teaching responsibilities in North Carolina and his concert engagements, and his service as a choir director in Orthodox churches, and raising his family with his wife, Barbara, he has spent long hours setting many of our liturgical texts to music for use at New Skete. His concert as an opening to our local community blossomed into a deeper relationship with him.

A few years later, we were approached by the Konevets Quartet, a men’s vocal quartet out of St Petersburg, Russia, about offering a concert of Russian liturgical and folk music at New Skete. Since we had already had the experience of hosting Kevin’s performance, it was easier to accept this proposal. Our major concern was whether would we disappoint them with a small turnout, since we are, to say the least, off the beaten path of concertgoers. They were not worried about our remote location, so we went ahead and made plans for their concert, scheduled for May 17, 2010. As it turned out, we had a good crowd, and the quartet was pleased. And what a special joy it was for us to hear Russian and Georgian liturgical hymns fill our worship space! Their stay with us included the inevitable visit to our puppy kennel, where they were able to play with some of our German Shepherd puppies. They took photos, and we printed some of them in our newsletter. I suspect that was the highlight of their visit! Our fears about the success of the concert were, as usual, unfounded, and indeed we have been fortunate to host the Konevets Quartet on two further occasions: in May 2011 and November 2013. Luckily we also had puppies in the kennel both times!

One never knows what might emerge from a retreatant’s visit, but in one case, the visitor was the manager of a professional pianist’s schedule. The visitor was so taken by the quiet of our monastic environment and the beauty of our church that he recommended to his client that he seriously consider coming here for a retreat. Well, the retreat idea grew into another offer to give a benefit concert for the communities, so a second concert in 2013 was arranged. The concert this time would be a piano recital by Haskell Small. He was putting together a concert tour on the theme “Journeys in Silence.” A monastic setting was ideal for it. The music: Frederico Mompou’s Musica Callada.

Since Haskell Small would be visiting us for the first time, we were concerned about all the details—not just his stay here with his wife, but also the logistics of moving the piano from our residence into the church and then out again, not to mention getting it tuned for him and prepared for the event.  We were doubly fortunate that Evan Tublitz, a member of our Chapel Community, is a professional piano dealer and tuner. He managed all the logistical arrangements flawlessly, and Haskell Small was very pleased and impressed, as were we.

The performance on October 19, 2013, was stunning. The music and the composer are not well known, so the crowd was small but very appreciative.  Mr. Small had asked that selections from the writings of John of the Cross be read at the intermission, which Brother David agreed to do. It was an amazing night: a grace for all who attended and a gift not only to us but also to the God we serve.