St. Stephen’s Streams a Hymn Sing: Opening Piece Honors the Class of 2020

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will stream an interactive hymn sing for the entire Ridgefield community on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, at 4 p.m. In the words of the Rev. Whitney Altopp, rector of St. Stephen’s, “We can’t sing together in the church, but we can sing together wherever we are.” To participate, go to www.ststephensridgefield.org for the live streaming link. Words to the hymns will be scrolled on the screen.

To honor members of the class of 2020, Alcee Chriss, St. Stephen’s minister of music, will open the event with an organ voluntary, Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstances March No. 1, a mainstay of commencement ceremonies. In addition to Dr. Chriss, the hymn sing will feature the St. Stephen’s Virtual Choir, St. Stephen’s Choristers, and Rev. Altopp. The Virtual Choir and small ensembles will sing familiar hymns and anthems, and the young Choristers will sing the lively spiritual “This Little Light of Mine.” The closing piece will be an organ voluntary by Marcel Dupre, “Resurrection” from Symphonie Passion.

A hymn sing may be especially meaningful in today’s environment. “Music instructs and inspires us simultaneously,” said Rev. Altopp. “A piece can voice our deepest feelings when we choose it to do so. It can also attend to our deepest feelings when it wells up inside us subconsciously. The need to keep singing is essential for our physical and emotional health.”

Caption: The Rev. Whitney Altopp, who will sing two duets with Thomas Carr, bass, at the May 31 hymn sing.