Music
Plymouth Congregational Church enjoys a vibrant music program, with a history of inspiring music directors. All members and friends are warmly invited to take part in our music offerings. We are a singing congregation and we welcome a diversity of song. In our pews you will find our primary hymnal, Hymns of Truth and Light. We also use a wide variety of hymn inserts, ranging from traditional and gospel hymns to contemporary songs.
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The Plymouth Church Choir
“O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.” - Psalm 96:1
Music is an important part of our worship at Plymouth; there are places in the soul that only music can touch. The music in our services represents the wealth of sacred music history, from ancient hymns, classics, and spirituals to jazz and contemporary pieces.
Our music director and organist, Hugh Hinton, holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the New England Conservatory. In addition to his work with Plymouth, he teaches piano at Longy School of Music and directs choral and liturgical music at Merrimack College.
The Plymouth Congregational Church choir, led by Hugh, is made of members and friends who love singing. The choir sings in the Sunday worship services during the school year and in some special services. Anthems are from a wide variety of composers, from Mozart to Alice Parker and Dan Forrest.
The choir welcomes new singers, from high school age on up. All who enjoy singing– veteran choral singers, former high school or kids’ choir singers, and newbies who like to sing and want to learn more–are welcome to come sing with the choir. Rehearsals are on Thursday nights from 7:45 - 9:00 p.m. and Sunday mornings a 9:45 a.m.
Children’s Choir
As part of Christian Education, the congregation’s children learn to sing together, and the children sing in the service on special Sundays throughout the year. Dedicated adult choir members lead the children in singing.
Special Musical Offerings
For the past few years, Hugh has offered an annual organ concert, playing outstanding pieces by a wide range of composers. These concerts take place on a Sunday afternoon, and they are a joy to hear. Voluntary offerings go towards the maintenance of the church organ.
The Music Committee also hosts hymn sings several times a year after services, during the coffee hour. Anyone can recommend their favorite hymns for singing, and all are blessed by the additional chance to sing together.
Our Sanctuary Instruments
The sanctuary has a fine 2-manual, 18-stop Wissinger tracker pipe organ built in 1987. Opus #7, this organ was Darron Wissinger’s first 2-manual instrument (click here to learn more) and was completed at his Portsmouth, New Hampshire shop. In addition to the pipe organ, we have a Yamaha grand piano in the sanctuary and both are used in services as well as concerts and recitals.
In Gardner Hall, we also have a fine Steinway grand piano that we use for hymn sings and other musical events.