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.
The Christ Church Choir is a semi-professional ensemble of parishioners and community members that sings for the annual Lessons and Carols service.
For special services, music is provided by our talented local instrumentalists and vocalists.
The summer is an especially active and musical time at Christ Church. Young musicians from the Aspen Music Festival and School offer special music weekly at the 8am and 10am services.
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.
www.amandagessler.com
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.
For more information and a current schedule, please visit www.musicinthewestend.com.
Musical instruments at christ church
In the new sanctuary, Christ Church has a Steinway grand piano, Model L, that was acquired in 2005. In June 2009, Christ Church installed a pipe organ in the sanctuary of its recently renovated building. After two years of searching, Christ Church commissioned Zimmer and Sons to build a 15-rank, electro-pneumatic pipe organ for the sanctuary. This versatile instrument has 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.
Christ Episcopal Church Aspen 536 West North Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611-1253, (970) 925-3278
