World-renowned organist David Briggs
returns to Christ’s Church Rye on November 20

We are excited to welcome back the internationally celebrated organist David Briggs on November 20, to accompany the adult choir and choristers at the 10 a.m. service of Morning Prayer and perform an organ concert at 5 p.m.

In the morning, the choirs will sing together the Magnificat from Herbert Howells’s Collegium Regale setting of the canticles as well as Briggs’s own 2008 setting of George Herbert’s poem Let All the World in Every Corner Sing. At the offertory, the choristers will sing the anthem O Lord, Our God, We Thank You by Vicki Hancock Wright.

The afternoon concert will feature music by Franz Liszt and Maurice Duruflé, as well as Briggs’s own transcriptions of orchestral works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice Ravel and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and an improvisation on a chosen theme. Dancers from the Rye Ballet Conservatory will join Briggs to perform movements from The Nutcracker.

Born in England, Briggs has been artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City since 2017. Hailed for his unbridled virtuosity and passion for making organ music vibrant and accessible to a wide and diverse audience, he is one of the most sought-after concert organists of his generation, known across the globe for his brilliant organ transcriptions of symphonic music by composers such as Gustav Mahler, Franz Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Briggs was last with us for a concert in November 2021, when he remarked: “The organ is tremendous – I very much enjoyed exploring its rich tonal palette. And having the screens really adds so much to the total experience”.

This year’s concert will be combined with the annual gathering of the Rye Women’s Interfaith Committee, whose members will host a reception in the parish hall afterwards. Please bring any non-perishable food items for the Committee’s Thanksgiving collection.

The concert is open to the public, and a suggested donation of $20 to the Christ’s Church music program will be accepted online or at the door. A link to the livestream is also available below.

For any questions, please contact Jonathan Spurrell at musicprogram@ccrye.org.