Music at First
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
Lettered over the chancel arch since 1912. An anthem or solo is offered every Sunday except in July and August, sung by the First Presbyterian Choir and rung by the Handbell Choir.
Join us
Hear and sing with our 1909 Casavant
Restored in 2007, as well as with our grand pianos. Vocal and instrumental solos are also frequent parts of worship at First Presbyterian Church.
We welcome new members and encourage anyone interested to contact one of our music directors.
The First Presbyterian Choir leads the musical portions of worship weekly. We sing a broad variety of sacred music, from historic to gospel and contemporary, with organ, piano and other instruments as well as a cappella. We work hard, and our rehearsals are a great deal of fun.
The First Presbyterian Handbell Choir meets weekly under the direction of Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht and Assistant Music Director Graham Fast. We ring a variety of music, primarily based on hymns and liturgical themes.
Concerts
Regular concert activities
Most of the hymns we sing come from the Book of Praise, the hymnbook of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. We supplement the organ and piano with brass, woodwinds, strings and bells.
Our music directors
Joint directors since November 2003
Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht and Dr. Joachim Segger are the keyboard duo Duo Majoya, inducted into the Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame in June 2014 and made Honorary Fellows of the Royal Canadian College of Organists in July 2015.
Four of Duo Majoya’s CDs are now streaming on the Centrediscs label. Listen to Duo Majoya (opens in a new tab)
Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht
Performs as organ soloist and collaborative artist on organ, piano and harpsichord. Professor Emerita at the University of Alberta and Adjunct Professor of Music at The King's University, Edmonton.
info@marniegiesbrecht.com Full profile of Dr. Marnie GiesbrechtDr. Joachim Segger
A versatile musician who performs extensively as piano soloist and collaborative artist on piano, organ and harpsichord. Professor Emeritus (Piano) and former Chair of the Music Department at The King's University, Edmonton.
info@joachimsegger.com Full profile of Dr. Joachim SeggerGraham Fast
Assistant Conductor and Handbell Coordinator with the First Presbyterian Church Choir and Bell Choir, as well as bass vocal coach for the Richard Eaton Singers under Leonard Ratzlaff.
gpfast@ualberta.caThe room
A sanctuary that seats 1,280
Performing groups across the city ask to use this room, and the rebuilt organ is part of the reason.
The Casavant, Opus 371, was built in 1909 and has been played here since 1912: three manuals and pedal, 35 stops, 44 ranks, 2,332 pipes. Its $300,000 rebuild was completed in the summer of 2007 under the direction of Stephen Miller of Casavant.
