The Brick Presbyterian Church Announces Fifth Season of Worship & Arts Concert Series

THE BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ANNOUNCES FIFTH SEASON OF WORSHIP & ARTS CONCERT SERIES
2026-2027 Season features Free Concerts and Services exploring Music, Hope, and Humanity

NEW YORK, NY — Brick Church announces its fifth season of Worship & Arts, a series of free and ticketed musical offerings that brings together extraordinary performers, sacred traditions, and contemporary artistic voices in the beautiful setting of Brick Church’s sanctuary. The 2026–2027 season explores music’s enduring ability to connect people heart to heart, offering moments of beauty, reflection, community, hope, and healing. The season features major works by Brahms, Bach, Messiaen, Stainer, Rheinberger, Caroline Shaw, and others, alongside collaborations with leading New York-area choirs and artists.

“Great music, performed live, has a special ability to speak from heart to heart, in a way that no technology can replace,” said Raymond Nagem, Minister of Music at Brick Church. “Whether you are seeking a sense of community, in need of healing, or simply searching for a moment of beauty, our Worship & Arts season has something for you.”Time-honored traditions such as the beloved Lessons & Carols service in December and the 102nd Good Friday presentation of John Stainer’s The Crucifixion will also return. With performances by the renowned Chancel Choir, Youth Choirs, and distinguished guest artists, Brick Church continues its legacy as a cultural cornerstone and spiritual home where music and worship meet. For full event listings and details, visit https://www.brickchurch.org/worship-arts.

2026-2027 FEATURED CONCERTS

Brahms, Ein Deutsches Requiem
Sunday, November 8th at 4PM
Brick Church opens the season with Johannes Brahms’ radiant Ein Deutsches Requiem, performed as a free concert by renowned soloists Liz Lang, soprano, and Lester Lynch, baritone, with the Chancel Choir and Orchestra. Created by Brahms as a work of comfort and consolation to the living, the Requiem offers a message of solace to those seeking hope and healing. The performance will premiere a new orchestration by Abraham Wayman, adapting the massive forces of Brahms’ original version to the intimate setting of Brick Church.

The Chancel Choir: My Heart’s Joy
Sunday, March 5th at 7PM
The Brick Church Chancel Choir explores the many dimensions of musical joy in a program featuring J. S. Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227, Josef Gabriel Rheinberger’s magnificent Mass in E-flat, Op. 109, Charles Theodore Pachelbel’s Magnificat, and Caroline Shaw’s and the swallow. From Bach’s heartfelt motet to Rheinberger’s exuberant double-choir masterpiece and Shaw’s jewel-like setting of Psalm 84, the concert offers an opportunity to discover joy amid the stress and uncertainty of daily life.

Les corps glorieux
Tuesday, May 4th at 7PM
Messiaen imagined the life of the resurrected in heaven as a cosmic dance blazing across the sky. In this unique performance, Minister of Music Raymond Nagem will play Messiaen’s kaleidoscopic music while a dance ensemble, led by Mio Ishikawa, will evoke the strength, speed, joy, and wonder of the glorified bodies in heaven. Completing the program are Bach’s monumental Passacaglia in C minor, and the infectious samba rhythms of Ad Wammes’ Miroir.

2026-2027 SPECIAL WORSHIP SERVICES
All worship services are free of charge, and people of all faiths are warmly welcome.

Sunday, October 25th at 11AM - Festival of Hymnody: Our Refuge and Strength
The Chancel Choir celebrates Reformation Day with the unshakeable melodies of the Lutheran chorale.

Sunday, November 22nd at 11AM - Cantata Sunday: J. S. Bach, Cantata 140, Wachet auf!
The Chancel Choir is joined by acclaimed early-music ensemble The Sebastians to present Bach’s work of extraordinary emotion, imagination, and spirituality

Sunday, December 13th at 4 PM- Lessons & Carols
A candlelit Christmas tradition, with a world premiere by Nahre Sol

Sunday, January 31st at 5 PM- Joint Evensong with Trinity Princeton
The choirs will join forces for a service of Choral Evensong, featuring spectacular pieces from the English cathedral tradition as well as American choral music

Sunday, March 14th at 11AM - Cantata Sunday: Hear My Prayer
Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer is a miniature drama for soprano solo and chorus, inspired by the Psalms of David

Friday, March 26th at 12:15 PM - John Stainer’s The Crucifixion
A moving Good Friday tradition now in its 103rd year
Featuring soloists Ryan Chavis and Nathaniel Sullivan, with the Chancel Choir

ABOUT WORSHIP & ARTS
Brick Church’s concert series, Worship & Arts, welcomes all to experience the joyous,
uplifting power of the performing arts. Worship & Arts offers concerts and special worship
services throughout the year, featuring Brick’s superb Chancel Choir, recitals on the church’s
magnificent Casavant organ, as well as performances by extraordinary guest artists and
ensembles from New York City’s vibrant artistic scene. Now in its second season, the program
has grown to become an important part of the Brick congregation’s offerings, and a valued part
of the New York City arts community.

At Brick Church, we believe that music, dance, and drama can comfort, inspire,
challenge, and bring us closer to the divine, showing us God’s glory reflected in all beautiful
things. Join us and share in the warmth, excellence, and energy of the performing arts at Brick!

ABOUT THE BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The Brick Presbyterian Church is a lively, growing congregation that has been serving
New York City since 1767. We worship every Sunday at 11 a.m. in our Sanctuary. Sunday
Church School is offered for children from age two to seventh grade. We welcome all to come,
visit, worship and see what Brick Church is all about.

The Brick Church is a member congregation of the Presbytery of New York City. The
session appoints elders to serve as commissioners to meetings of the Presbytery. In addition,
elders serve on various committees when elected or appointed. The Brick Church also supports
the work of the Presbytery financially thorough assessments and apportionments and general
mission giving. In addition to supporting the Presbytery’s mission, the church has traditionally
supported a wide range of mission outreach efforts in New York City. Involvement on the
national level of the Presbyterian denomination has been strong and supportive over the 250-year
history of the congregation. Several ministers of The Brick Church have served as moderators of
the General Assembly, the national body of our church. In fact, the Rev. John Rogers, the first
minister of the Brick Church, was elected as Moderator of the First General Assembly in 1789.