History of Music at Grace

Music has been an important part of the Grace Church community since  soon after its founding. It is clear that music was seen as vital as early as 1845, given that Richard Upjohn’s design of the present church provided for an organ. In 1855, the Rev. Thomas March Clark was appointed rector and brought with him his organist, Lewis T. Downes, to organize the first choir at Grace Church. The Grace Church Choir has played an active and important role in the parish ever since.

Over the years the structure and makeup of the choir has varied widely and changed often from a quartet of soloists to a choir of adults, to a choir of men and boys, and as early as the 1920s, to the first incarnation of a multigenerational choir incorporating boys and girls as well as men and women. While adapting to the needs of the times, it has remained an important presence in the parish since its inception.