Songs for Lent at College Street United Church

Last weekend Bill and I went to hear our friend the mezzo-soprano, Lee Ramsay, at the College Street United Church.

She was there with three other singers for Lacrimosa, their program of Lenten songs.

The light coming through the stained glass windows and the wonderful acoustics make this church an intimate gem. I was transfixed by Lee's opening duet with soprano Maria Case. Forgot to pull my camera out. Bill pulled out his camera in time to catch Lee's first solo.

Lee Ramsay singing Pergolesi's "Fac, ut porter Christi mortem"  (May I bear Christ's death).

Ramsay and tenor Keenan Viau singing "Et misericordia" from Bach's Magnificat.

Bass, Domenico Sanfilippo, singing "The people that walked in darkness" from Handel's Messiah. The line "Upon them hath the light shined" was particularly apt in this light-filled space.

Viau and Sanfilippo singing Mendelssohn's "For So Hath the Lord" from St. Paul.

Maria Case, Ramsay, Viau and Sanfilippo concluded with one last song by Mendelssohn, a rousing "O come, every one that thirsteth".

We applauded the fine pianist, Erika Reiman, as the beautiful spring day beckoned. Bill and I reflect on the joy of live music on a Sunday afternoon.