Music At Eden

Professional Staff
Eden’s music programs are directed by our Music Director, Lee Steward, who with our organist, Loris Coburn, brings a level of musicianship and magnanimity to the ministry of music that is without peer for a church of our size.

Vocal Music
Sunday worship features choral and congregational singing performed and supported by our Intergenerational Choir (high school through adult). Musical selections vary in period and style. Rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings from 7:30-9:00 p.m. Newcomers are welcome. Our young people receive music education as part of Church School, and rehearse and perform in Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Pentecost services.

Instrumental Music
Our Swain and Kates pipe organ was designed in Germany and purchased and installed in the Sanctuary in 1965. The organ has a full pedal and three manual keyboards with thirty-three ranks allowing for an enormous variety of instrumental sounds. Piano accompaniment on the Steinway grand piano is a frequent feature of Sunday services. Instruments heard at special services include brass, woodwinds, strings, handbells, Orff keyboards, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, synthesizer, and drums. 

2010 Performing Arts Concert Series

Art for Goodness Sake, a Performing Arts Concert Series at Eden Church, offers superior musical experiences at an affordable price, while lifting spirits and funding organizations that are contributing to the common good. Charities benefiting from the 2010 Performing Arts Series are: Eden Medical Center Foundation, Eden I&R, Girls Incorporated of Alameda County, Oakland East Bay Symphony: Music for Excellence (MUSE), Save the Bay, and the Alameda County Food Bank. The exciting 2010 program includes performers from across the world stage, including Metropolitan Opera soprano Marie Plette and internationally renowned Greek pianist Charis Dimaras.

Next Concert

The next recital in the Performing Arts Series will be held Sunday, September 19, at 3:00 p.m., and will feature soprano Marie Plette, renowned in the major opera houses of North America and Europe for her compelling portrayals from Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly to Love Simpson in Cold Sassy Tree and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro . Her recent performances of Madame Butterfly prompted the New York Times to remark, "The opera did partake of the other unifying factor here: a star turn, by Marie Plette in the title role." Immediately after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1992, Ms. Plette was invited to make her Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte. She has performed frequently with the company since then in roles including Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, and Kristina in the Makropulos Case. Some of her past season highlights included performances in the title role Iphigenia in Tauris with Seattle Opera; Larina in Eugene Onegin with Lyric Opera of Chicago; the title role in Tosca with Sacramento Opera; and Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly with San Francisco Opera, Sacramento Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. Beneficiary: Save the Bay

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For more information on the series, or to discuss group discounts, please contact Lee Steward.

Marie Plette