FROM ROB GASTON
ST MARK’S COMMUNICATION
St Mark’s Church in Prattville hosted the 2020 version of its annual Musical Offering on Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 PM in the church sanctuary. The performance of both instrumental and vocal music was open to the public free of charge and was attended by almost a full house. This is the 5th year of the Offering that featured 12 different musicians from around the area. Among the musicians this year were recording artists Beth and Johnny Veres who have toured the east and west coast as part of Electric Blue Yonder and released their first album earlier this year. The Veres husband-and-wife team performed a couple of their own songs, Bluster and Colors of the Rainbow.
Also featured were Carolyn O’Bryan-Miller, Music Director at St Mark’s and Yuliya Childers, former director of the Prattville Community Chorus and an alumni of the Odessa Conservatory of Music in the Ukraine. Audience members got to experience 17 pieces of music that appealed to a variety of tastes, from classical to jazz to folk, rock, and show tunes to popular music. Some samples included Minstrel Man, performed by Ms. Jakia Gadson, with lyrics by Langston Hughes and music by Margaret Binds; and The Holy City, performed by Jeremy Pyles (Director of Music Ministries at First United Methodist Church, Prattville) and accompanied Cynthia Summers (Principal Pianist of FUMC); so just about everyone found something they like.
The first St Mark’s Musical Offering was in 2016 and began originally as a way to feature the church’s genuine Steinway Piano that was built in New York in 1905. A couple from Dothan had traveled to New York to purchase the piano, and it remained in their family for over 100 years. In 2016, St Mark’s received a very generous memorial donation from church members that enabled them to purchase the piano which had recently been completely refurbished. And several of the Offering’s musicians definitely put this wonderful instrument through its paces. Most notable of these, and the event’s grand finale were a pair of four-handed pieces by Ms. Childers and Christy Henson (Organist and Pianist at First Presbyterian Church), Sabre Dance from Gayaneh Ballet by Aram Khachaturian and Malaguena from Suite Andalusia by Ernesto Lecuona.
Interestingly, the piano is 5 years older than the St Mark’s sanctuary that now houses it.
The initial 2016 Offering proved highly popular and has been continued every year since. Over the years, the types of music offered and the musicians performing it have been varied and greatly appreciated by the Prattville and area communities.
In the words of Carolyn O’Bryan-Miller, St Mark’s Music Director and coordinator of the event, the Offering has become “One of the most-anticipated events of any kind in Prattville” and is always packed; this year’s Offering definitely continued that tradition.
Afterwards, the church hosted a reception in the Ray Fellowship Hall with light refreshments where audience members had the opportunity to get to know some of the very-talented musicians.
