Posted by St. Peter's Morristown Fundraiser
The Columbia University Clefhangers are singing at a fun gala to raise money for a program at St. Peter's Church.
St. Peter's Morristown runs an extensive program for Spanish-speaking children and families including an after school program, musical training, camp and a weekly market with free fresh food.
Great eats will be served, including local Spanish food- epanadas, rice, beans pulled pork, and margaritas.
Come and support the fabulous Columbia Clefhangers as well as a great program for children!
Proceeds will be used to support the afterschool program and help the Clefhangers purchase some much-needed equipment!
Dinner and drinks at 6:30, concert begins at 7:30.
Clefhanger HISTORY - columbiaclefhangers.com
Since those first years, the Clefs have performed hundreds of concerts throughout New York City and across the nation. They've performed at the Rockefeller Tree Lighting Ceremony, the NYC marathon, and have the annual honor of performing at Columbia University's Commencement ceremonies. In 2008, the Clefs placed second at the 2008 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Quarterfinals and won awards for Best Soloist and Best Vocal Percussion, adding to their total of 6 quarter and semifinal top placements and 9 special awards at the competition since 1996.
The Clefs have also recorded five albums - their most recent, On The One, was released in the Spring of 2013.
St. Peter Church History
St. Peter's Church was founded on January 1, 1827, as the Episcopal church for the growing community in Morristown. Its first services were held in the home of George Macculloch –a prominent town member and builder of the Morris Canal whose mansion stands near the church. The parent Anglican and Episcopal congregation had existed in the area and called itself St. Peter's since the 1760s, but with the anti-Church of England sentiments during and following the Revolutionary war, St. Peter's, like other Episcopal congregations, did not recover and become mainstream until well into the 1820s.
In 1840, the Reverend William Staunton introduced the parish to a movement that emphasized the Episcopal Church's catholic origins and apostolic succession as the ties to the Apostolic community and its Eucharistic worship. The current building was designed to include the styles and art of early and medieval Christian liturgy to engage modern worshipers in the Eucharist in this same way.
By 1887, the large congregation, and growing men and boys’ choirs, justified the erection of the current, massive edifice. The architect of this structure was Charles McKim of the firm McKim, Mead and White that built the old Penn Station, New York, as well as Columbia University, and the Rhode Island State House.
Over 24 years of construction, McKim and the congregation built one of the finest examples of neo-gothic architecture in the United States. St. Peter's is modeled on classic English-medieval parish churches. It also incorporates elements from other Christian periods including chancel mosaics, a baptistry, and the Siena-marble altar each in the Byzantine style, and a Spanish-baroque rood screen. The Norman-style bell tower has 119 steps, and a carillon with 49 bells–one of the largest in the country. The entire parish complex is made up of a cemetery, rectory, great hall and parish house, in addition to the Church, and is known to have at least two secret passageways still in use, concealed behind bookcases and in cloisters connecting the various parts of the property. It was consecrated on November 2, 1911, by the Rt. Rev. Edwin S. Lines, Bishop of Newark, after a parish breakfast that hosted over 500 people.