Our Music Program
Music at Christ Church
The music program at Christ Church enhances the worship experience through congregational participation in hymn singing and liturgy as well as by providing music for reflection and inspiration. Organ and piano music are a part of the 8:00 am Rite One Eucharist and are supplemented by hymns and traditional liturgical music at the 10:00 am Rite Two Eucharist.
Special music at christ church
Christ Church regularly has special music provided by ensembles and soloists, especially over the holidays. During the summer months we are often blessed to be able to welcome talented musicians from the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School who perform at both the 8am and 10am services.
The Music in the West End concert series
Christ Church supports a community concert series, Music in the West End, founded in 2004. Music in the West End combines music and outreach ministries by providing free concerts of exceptional quality for Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. Local and non-local musicians are featured, offering a variety of musical genres. The concert series is intended to raise the profile of the church as a caring neighbor as well as a community focused on spiritual growth.
Music in the West End is funded through your generous donations and the support of Bob and Cynthia Chapman.
2024/25 Music in the West End Calendar Just Announced!
Performances begin at either 5:30 or 6:30 as noted.
Sept. 27
6:30pm
Check our new website later for more program details.
Minister of Music
Mandy Gessler has served as worship service pianist and organist at the Aspen/Snowmass Christian Science Society, Advent Lutheran Church in Winchester, VA, the United Methodist Church in Appleton, WI and Mitchell Presbyterian Church in Mitchell, IN.
As a classical pianist, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014 and has performed widely throughout the US and Europe. Her performances have been broadcast on Colorado Public Radio and Irish National Television. Her teachers include legendary pianists, Menahem Pressler, John O’Conor and Richard Goode. She holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Lawrence University, a Master of Music from Indiana University and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Mandy first came to Aspen as an Aspen Music Festival Student in 2005 and immediately fell in love with the valley. She takes full advantage of living in these beautiful mountains; she particularly enjoys trail running in the summer and AT skiing in the winter. She has performed with us at Christ Church for “Music in the West End” and Christmas performances.
Musical Instruments at Christ Church
In the sanctuary, Christ Church has a Steinway grand piano, Model L, that was acquired in 2005.
In addition, behind the altar sits an exclusively commissioned Zimmer and Sons 15-rank, electro-pneumatic pipe organ for the sanctuary. It took two years after the renovations in 2007 for this beautiful and versatile instrument to be built and installed. It is operated through a movable console, and the roughly 1,000 pipes are housed in a case in the front of the sanctuary. The casework of the organ was designed to compliment the new sanctuary and enhance the new stained glass window above the altar in June 2009.
Christ Episcopal Church Aspen 536 West North Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611-1253, (970) 925-3278
