Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist, plays the Massey Memorial Organ during the Sacred Song Service last Sunday in the Amphitheater.
For many Chautauquans, the Sunday night Sacred Song Service provides an oasis after a busy day and restfilled start to a busy Chautauqua week. This can be especially true when the service features words and music from Taizé, the spiritual community in France.
“Come Drink of Living Waters,” is the theme for the evening. The service, at 8 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater, was developed by Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist. The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, senior pastor of Chautauqua, will preside. The Chautauqua Choir will sing under the direction of Stafford, and Rees Taylor Roberts, 2024 organ scholar, will provide accompaniment on the Massey Memorial Organ.
Pope John Paul II said of Taizé, “One passes through Taizé as one passes close to a spring of water.” One of the readings for the evening will be from his reflection on his visit to Taizé. The other readings will be from Exodus 17: 1-7, God giving water in the wilderness to the Israelites, and John 4: 5-14, Jesus and the Woman at the well.
The Chautauqua Choir will sing “Like as the hart,” music by Herbert Howells and text from Psalm 42:1-3. They will also sing “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” music by Sondra K. Tucker after Thomas Tallis and text by Horatius Bonar.
