More than thirty years ago, the now 5,000 member 119-year-old First United Methodist Church of Lubbock created the Vesper Concert Series—a series that annually includes world class performing arts ensembles presented free to the public.
The reputation of the Vesper Concert Series has reached global proportions. The West Texas hospitality offered to visiting ensembles, coupled with the historic quality of the series, is apparent as inquiries to appear in concert in Lubbock are ever increasing. In just the last three years, ensemble booking management firms from England, Austria, the Ukraine, and New Zealand have contacted the Vesper Concert Series to inquire about appearing in concert.
Past ensembles appearing on the Vesper Concert Series include:
• The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
• Chanticleer
• Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
• The Kings Singers
• St. Thomas Choir, NYC
• New Zealand National Youth Choir
It was recently announced that the 2011-2012 Vesper Concert Series will include The Tallis Scholars, widely recognized as the finest Renaissance vocal ensemble in the world, and The Vienna Boys Choir.
The 1,000 seat Gothic sanctuary at First United Methodist Church of Lubbock, sometimes referred to as the “Cathedral of the West” with its superior acoustics, lends itself well to the classical and sacred genres of the ensembles appearing.
A concert series of this caliber offered to the community at no cost is indeed unique. The 2010-2011 season of six performances distributed $87,000 in free seating to the community. Using today’s dollars, the Vesper Concert Series will have given away more than $2.7 million dollars in seating since its inception. This means that thousands from across the region have been exposed to world-class music at no cost to them.
Christopher Betts, M.A., F.R.C.O., Director of Music at First United Methodist Church of Lubbock, is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Vesper Concert Series.
http://www.fumc.com/music/
http://www.fumc.com/music/concerts/_concerts.htm
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