​Dear Friends,

We are thrilled to announce that over 70 singers – a combination of the Old North Festival Chorus, the Old North Senior Choir, and our professional soloists – are rehearsing for the upcoming Lenten Choral Concert, and we enthusiastically invite your attendance and support!  

Celebrating her 37th season as Director of the Festival Chorus, Maria van Kalken has planned a beautiful choral concert to take place on Sunday, March 29, at 7:30pm, Palm Sunday. Members of the Old North Senior Choir, soloists, singers from the Old North Festival Chorus, and the Old North Festival Orchestra, will present this 60-minute concert in the sanctuary at Old North Church in Marblehead. Featured soloists will include sopranos Anne Burgett and Holly Cameron. The choral centerpiece of the Lenten Concert will be John Rutter’s stunningly beautiful Requiem; excerpts from Pergolesi’s sublime Stabat Mater, the beloved fifth movement from the Brahms Requiem, and seasonal hymns will be performed. 

Our performance marks the beginning of Holy Week and a long-held tradition at Old North to offer members of the Marblehead community a program of musical reflection by candlelight.  Our concert is free and open to the public, though a free-will offering will be gratefully accepted.

This very special performance is supported, in part, by a combination of the Music Patrons and Festival Chorus Funds at Old North Church as well as voluntary contributions collected at the door. Concert and production expenses – including artist fees for our singers and the Old North Festival Orchestra – are estimated at $15,000; if you would like to help defray the costs of our Lenten Choral Concert, we would be most grateful for your contribution in any amount.

If you wish to have your name listed as a Sponsor of the program AND if you wish to remember a loved one in the In Loving Memory section, please download the PDF below and fill out both lines of the “Lenten Concert Dedications & Donations”; if you are interested in listing only the name of a loved one, please fill out only that line.  In the unlikely event we have questions, your contact information has been requested; thank you for sharing that as well.  Please note that you do not have to be a member of the Festival Chorus or Old North Church to become a sponsor or to list a loved one.  Feel free to invite others to support our concert in this manner, if appropriate.

Please mail your check to the address below (checks should be payable to Old North Church – with “Lenten Concert” in the memo).  While donations are accepted at any time, if you wish to have your name – and/or the name of a loved one – listed in the program, please mail your check to arrive no later than Wednesday, March 25, 2026.  

Thank you for your support!                                                                                                                 Download this PDF to make a      
                                                                                                                                                         contribution or a gift "In Loving Memory"                                                                                                                                                 
The Music and Festival Chorus Committees 

Simply fill out the form on the reverse side and return to: 
Attention: Maria van Kalken
OLD NORTH CHURCH, 8 Stacey Street, Marblehead, MA  01945
 

​