Black Church concert well received in cathedral and online

IMG_0116 Looking Past Lou down into the Church, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured above: The chorus sang in three groupings high above the main floor in the magnificent Black Church.

By Denny Nutter
Received Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 12:21 p.m. Pacific

Wednesday, April 22

This morning we left the Apollo Hotel in Targu Mures and pointed the buses toward Brasov where our evening concert was to be held. With a short drive time, we were privileged to stop along the way at the historical town of Sighisoara, which dates back over 800 years ago. Some of us immediately took the trail up Citadel Hill. Our final steps to the top took us through the tunnel or covered walk way (174 wooden steps) to the School on the Hill (operating today as the Joseph Haltrich High School).

Just above the school is the Church on the Hill. It was built in gothic style in the 13th century on top of the walls of a former chapel and then renovated in the 15th century to its current form. Some of us had the unique privilege of hearing a short concert by Virginia Oliver on the organ built in 1858 by Karl Schneider.

Others spent most of their time in the town below the Hill. There was plenty to see and absorb as we wandered through streets with towers and buildings dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries.

After a fascinating time there, we made our way to the Conference Retreat Center (the former Romanian Theological Seminary) for lunch. Once we found our assigned rooms in the dorms we quickly changed into our performance attire and boarded the buses again for Brasov’s Black Church , so named for a fire that destroyed the spire years ago. The Black Church is a very large cathedral with excellent acoustics.

The Chorus made its way up a very narrow spiral staircase to the three sectioned choir loft in front of and either side of the majestic pipe organ. The pipe organ and the trumpet were our only accompaniment tonight. The audience sat on the ground level approximately 40 feet below us and joined in on two hymns – “Nearer, Still Nearer” and “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The cathedral’s center section was packed (800 plus, some estimates over 1000), which was a very special surprise. Due to the sacredness of the location no applause or flash photography was allowed.

Reports from those watching at home back in the States indicated having goose bumps and tears developing at the same time. Some of our support group seated downstairs reported that the concert was indescribably awesome and magnificent, another milestone in an incredible experience for the men of OAMC.