The Church of the Redeemer, an Episcopal church and parish in Sarasota, FL, will offer half-hour Mid-Day Lenten Organ Recitals each Wednesday throughout Lent, featuring guest organists and musicians from throughout the Sarasota and Manatee areas.

The recitals begin Wednesday, February 29 and continue weekly through April 4. Recitals begin shortly after noon at 12:10, end at 12:40 p.m., and are free and open to the public.

Lenten Organ Recitals Schedule:

29 February — Michael Stuart
7 March — Greg Chestnut
14 March — Linda Petersen
21 March — Cynthia Roberts-Greene
28 March — Matthew Woods
4 April — Nancy Siebecker

The Sarasota-Manatee Bach Festival Presents: “Hearing Bach’s Music Bach’s Way” 7:30 p.m.

The Sarasota-Manatee Bach Festival continues its fourth annual program celebrating baroque music featuring music by Telemann, Bach, and others, played on authentic instruments from the period. The performers will introduce their instruments during pre-concert lectures before each performance, beginning at 6:45 p.m.

The performers selected for these concerts are specialists on Baroque instruments, or on modern copies of authentic, historic instruments. They include David Wilson and Valerie Arsenault, Baroque violins; Colin St-Martin, Baroque flute; and Kim Jones, Baroque cello. Ann Stephenson-Moe and Julane Rodgers will share harpsichord duties.

“We’re calling these concerts ‘Hearing Bach’s Music Bach’s way,’” says Bach Festival co-director, Richard Benedum, “because we wanted to present the unique sounds of 18th-century music played on instruments from the period, and with performance techniques that Bach and his contemporaries would recognize. Instruments, of course, have evolved over time, and continue to evolve, but this concert will open a new window to Sarasota and Bradenton audiences. We also hope to perform future concerts with period instruments, and ultimately have this area become the state’s center for Baroque performance practice.”

Tickets are $15 for adults; $7 for students. Click on the PayPal icon to purchase tickets online, or call the Parish Office at 941.955.4263. Subject to availability, tickets will also be sold at the door the day of the performance.

Ticket Type

Adults $15.00 USD Students $7.00 USD

The Manatee concert of the Festival will take place on February 25, 7:30 p.m., at Christ Church, 4030 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

Church of the Redeemer in downtown Sarasota invites the community to Evensong on Sunday, 19 February at 5:15 p.m.

The Anthem will be Missa in Simplicitate de Jean Langlais, with baritone Daniel Cartlidge.

Service is Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C – C. V. Stanford.

All are welcome. For more information, call 941.955.4263.

Baritone Jason Stearns Brings the Magic of the Metropolitan Opera to Sarasota’s Church of the Redeemer

Celebrated baritone singer Jason Stearns will bring the talent and the magic of the Metropolitan Opera to Sarasota at the Church of the Redeemer on Sunday, February 12 at 5 p.m. The concert will feature Stearns performing many of the same arias he has previously performed at the Met and around the world.

Stearns has recently been selected by Maestro Zubin Mehta, one of the world’s most renowned conductors, to play the primary baritone role (Alverich) in an upcoming production of Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung.

In a Baltimore Sun newspaper performance review, acclaimed soprano Evelyn Lear remarked, “Jason has it all, the superb voice, expressive feeling, versatility and charm beyond any other baritone singing today. No one can touch him.”

Some of the works and roles Stearns has performed with the Met include Barnaba in La Gioconda; Scarpia in Tosca; the title role in Der fliegende Holländer and Stankar in Stiffelio. He has also appeared as Monterone in Rigoletto and covered Donner in Das Rheingold, both at the Met.

“Sarasota music lovers are in for a rare treat when they come to hear Jason,” said Ann Stephenson-Moe, Redeemer’s Choirmaster. “He’ll bring the talent and the magic of the Metropolitan Opera to Sarasota.”

Ticket prices are $25 adults; student tickets $15. Click on the PayPal button below to purchase, or visit or call the Parish Office 941.955.4263. Tickets may also be purchased at the door the day of the event, subject to availability.

Ticket Type

Adult $25.00 USD Student $15.00 USD

The Church of the Redeemer invites the community to attend Solemn Evensong on Sunday, 15 January at 5:15 p.m. The Anthem will be Beatus Vir by Claudio Monteverdi; Service is Pelham Humphrey’s Service in e minor.

On Christmas Eve, beginning at 9:30 p.m., Redeemer’s late-evening “Midnight Mass” is preceded by a joyous musical celebration of organ and brass with Bradenton organist Michael Stuart performing with two festival trumpets — played by world-renowned trumpeter Daniel Mendelow, first trumpet for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; and well-known local trumpeter Andy Kemp. At 10 p.m., the choir of Redeemer will sing anthems and carols for thirty minutes, heralding the High Solemn Mass (Rite I with incense) which begins at 10:30 p.m.

Complimentary parking is available at the M&I Bank Garage on McAnsh on Christmas Eve day beginning at 3 p.m., and ending at 1 a.m.

The entire community is invited to join the Church of the Redeemer on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m., in its annual tradition of the “Messiah Sing-Along” – a joyous singing of Georg Friedrich Handel’s Christmas Messiah – one of the best-known, most-beloved, and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

This festive, family-friendly event features members of the choirs of Redeemer singing along with the congregation, accompanied by a Chamber Orchestra and organist Ann Stephenson-Moe, under the direction of Conductor Daniel Cartlidge.

A $10 goodwill donation for tickets will be gratefully collected, and advance donations may be made via PayPal (see “Add to Cart” button below), or by calling the parish office at 941.955.4263.

Complimentary parking will be available at the M&I Bank Parking Garage on McAnsh Square between 6 and 10 p.m.

The Church of the Redeemer is located at 222 S. Palm Ave., in downtown Sarasota.

A gift for the community!

Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols, Sunday, December 11 at 5:15 p.m.; featuring the Redeemer Children’s, Youth, and Adult choirs.

This special service is a festive event in preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ by recounting history in scripture readings from the Fall of Man, through the prophets, to the Annunciation of the Savior’s birth to Mary, with singing of many well-loved carols of Advent.

Community reception follows in Gillespie Hall (wine, punch, light snacks).
Complimentary parking for this service is available at the M&I Bank Parking Garage on McAnsh Street. For more information, call the Parish Office at 955.4263.

The Church of the Redeemer will present a half-hour Mid-Day Advent Organ Recital on 7 December featuring Guest Organist Margaret Harris Smith. The recital begins shortly after noon at 12:10, end sat 12:40 p.m., and is free and open to the public. For more information, call 941.955.4263.

A concert in celebration of Franz Liszt, presented by the Artist Concerts Series of Sarasota. Redeemer Choirmaster/Organist Ann Stephenson-Moe will perform on organ. Concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

“The world knows what an incredible pianist, Franz Liszt was,” says Stephenson-Moe, “but what many people don’t know is that he was just as fine an organist as he was a pianist. In fact, he wrote some of the world’s finest organ literature.”

Stephenson-Moe, who performed all of the major and minor works of Liszt for her Masters thesis says, “Liszt’s works are fantastically romantic. They range from sweet and beautiful to thundering and heart-pounding, and they all require a large organ with many colorful stops.

Redeemer’s organ has so many variations of color; it’s perfectly suited to the work of Franz Liszt. The powerful Nichols & Simpson organ has a console constructed of oak with a burl eucalyptus interior of burl eucalyptus. The pipe shades draw their inspiration from the chapel’s wrought iron screening.

Suggested Ticket Donation: $25. Click on the PayPal icon below to purchase your tickets online (read the guidelines and restrictions at the top of the Music Program page above). Tickets may also be purchased through the Parish Office (955.4263) or the day of the performance, subject to availability.