Thursdays @ Noon Concert Series
Every Thursday at 12 Noon from September through May (excluding 
Thanksgiving, the month of January, and the Thursday during Holy Week), Grace Church offers a series of short, 30 minute concerts for the benefit of the downtown Providence community and any visitors that stop by. These programs are informal and feature organ, vocal, or instrumental music by our resident musicians as well as guests from around the country. There is a free-will offering to help defray the costs of the series. Feel free to stay for a portion or the entire concert as your schedule allows. Upcoming concerts are posted in the church calendar at the bottom of the website as well as on the Grace Church Facebook page.
Scroll down to see the line-up of performers for the 2022-2023 Concert Season!
The Grace Church Organ Project
In October 2021, the Vestry of Grace Church formally announced the public launch of The Organ Project – A Plan for Restoration, Renovation, and Expansion of the organs at Grace Church. To learn more about this exciting endeavor, please click here or use the navigation tabs above under “Music”.
Subscribe your email to the Music Mailing List to keep up with the Thursdays @ Noon Concert series and all of our musical events at Grace Church, please contact Vince Edwards at vedwards@gracechurchprovidence.org
2022-2023 Concert Season
February 2: Nathan Peace, Organ
A current graduate student at Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music, Nathan recently completed a Master of Sacred Music in Organ Performance at Boston University as a student of Peter Sykes. While in Boston, he was Organ Scholar at Trinity Church, Copley Square. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was a student of Fred Teardo.
February 9: Andrew Sheranian, Organ
Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Parish Church of All Saints, Ashmont outside of Boston, Andrew Sheranian has an active musical career in the New England area and beyond. He is the founding director of The Bach Project, a baroque ensemble of instrumentalists and singers aiming to perform the full spectrum of Bach’s music in performances at All Saints’ Ashmont. Andrew is a graduate of New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music.
February 16: Manuel Piazza, Organ
Winner of the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ National Competition, Manuel Piazza currently serves as Interim Associate Organist at Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston. He completed graduate studies in organ at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and was organ scholar at Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven, CT. In the 2019-20 academic year, he was organ scholar at Truro Cathedral.
February 23: Nico Tjoelker, Organ
Australian native, Nico Tjolker is currently a graduate student in organ performance at Yale University and Co-Director of Music at Berkeley Divinity School. He won First Prize in the Sydney Organ Competition and completed undergraduate studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Nico has participated in the Haarlem International Organ Festival in the Netherlands and the Lucerne Organ Masterclass in Switzerland.
March 2: Frederick Jodry, Organ
One of New England’s most expressive and wide–ranging musicians, Fred Jodry is equally at home on stage as conductor, singer, or keyboard artist. He is among the leaders of the Early Music community in Boston and Providence and has conducted the Brown University Choir for the past 30 years, having led this acclaimed group in concert on five continents. He also serves as Co-Music Director at the historic Trinity Church in Newport, RI.
March 9: Kevin Neel, Organ
Kevin Neel is Director of Music and Organist at All Saints Episcopal Church in Worcester, where he directs the All Saints Choir (choristers and adults), manages the Music Series, oversees music education programs, plays the Rice Memorial Organ, and collaborates with Worcester-area music and arts organizations. He previously served as Organist and Chapel Choir Director at Emmanuel Church in Boston from 2015-2021 and holds degrees in Choral Conducting and Organ Performance from Boston and Indiana Universities.
March 16: Sarah Simko, Organ
Dr. Sarah Simko is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan where she studied with James Kibbie and Kola Owolabi. She is the Associate Organist of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, as well as Adjunct Faculty Instructor of Organ at Madonna University. She received her Bachelors degree from the Eastman School of Music, and is the recipient of a Graduate Award from the Presser Foundation, to be used to create a comprehensive set of recordings of organ music by living American female composers.
March 23: Jess Huetteman, Soprano
A classical soprano and voice teacher based in Providence, Jess Huetteman enjoys a career singing with professional choirs throughout the US and teaching voice. She was a VOCES8 Scholar during the 2021/22 season and has performed under the batons of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Pablo Heras-Casado, and Simon Carrington. She holds degrees in Voice & Pedagogy and Music & Psychology from Westminster Choir College and University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
March 30: Alexander Hardan, Violin
& Dasha Bukhartseva, Piano
Doctoral Candidates in Music at Brown and Stony Brook Universities, Alex and Dasha will perform the Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100 for Violin and Piano by Johannes Brahms.
April 20: Steven Young, Organ
A professor of music at Bridgewater State University, Dr. Steven Young holds degrees in organ performance from Barrington College, New England Conservatory, and Boston University. As a performer, he has played throughout the United State and in Europe. His scholarly research has focused on early 20th century French organists and composers and his articles have appeared in The Diapason and The Choral Journal.
April 27: Ilona Kudiņa, Flute
Hailed by the Boston Phoenix as “a formidable flutist”, Boston-based, Latvian flautist Ilona Kudiņa is a versatile musician, equally at home in the classical and jazz music spheres. Educated at Berklee College of Music and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, she received the American Latvian Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for success in the music field and for promoting Latvian music and culture in the USA.
May 4: Jeremy David Tarrant, Organ
Jeremy Tarrant is increasingly recognized for performances hailed as “thrilling and moving” (Fanfare), “musical, virtuosic, and committed” (American Record Guide), “compelling” (The Diapason), and “powerfully artistic” (Kalamazoo Bach Festival). Since 2000, he has served as Organist and Choirmaster of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit. Mr. Tarrant is the founding director of the Cathedral Choir School of Metropolitan Detroit and currently is on the organ faculty at the University of Michigan.
May 11: Rees Taylor Roberts, Organ
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Rees Taylor Roberts is currently a student at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, studying organ performance with Janette Fishell. He earned his Bachelors from Arizona State University, where he studied with Kimberly Marshall. Previously, he served as Organist-Choirmaster at St. Luke’s Church (North Little Rock, AR), and interned as organ scholar at both St. Paul’s K Street (Washington, DC) and the Church of the Advent (Boston).
May 18: Sandro Russo, Organ & Piano
Italian-born keyboardist, Sandro Russo has been described as “an artist to his fingertips…musical, intuitive, and a master of the instrument.” After entering the V. Bellini Conservatory, from where he graduated summa cum laude, he went on to earn the Pianoforte Performing Diploma from the Royal College of Music in London, with honors. Sandro will perform a double-bill program of music by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, featuring works for piano and for organ.
May 25: Vince Edwards, Organ
& David Heinze, Organ
Resident organists of Grace Church in Providence, Vince Edwards, Director of Music, and David Heinze, Associate Director of Music, will perform a program to close out the 2022-2023 Season of Thursdays @ Noon Concerts.
