Simple Beauty: Redeemer Community Serves Classical Musicians through Performance Workshops

On the third Monday of each month, a small stream of people make their way to Heather and David Bixler's Harlem home, bearing classical instruments of all shapes and sizes, along with sheet music. Some are aspiring opera singers. Some are established concert players. Some are composers. They are all gathering for one of Redeemer's most unique offerings: a Performance Workshop created to serve the classical music community at Redeemer and beyond.

Redeemer's Performance Workshops are the brainchild of Heather Bixler, a freelance violinist. In the Christian world at large, she noticed, music ministries tended to skew towards Christian contemporary, leaving the large community of classical freelance artists largely unserved. As a freelance violinist herself, Heather was keenly aware of the needs of classical freelance community in New York. Freelance artists suffer from lack of job security, and despite the lengths they go to in the service of their art, they are often treated as insignificant. "What would a music ministry to classical musicians look like?" she began to wonder.

The idea for Performance Workshops came to her through prayer and thought. In the classical world, musicians sometimes gather before an important event like an audition or a competition, so that they can practice their work in front of a live audience, instead of in the solitude of their own practice spaces. If Redeemer bore the cost of creating a regular Performance Workshop event, Heather recognized, the church could serve classical musicians by providing a regular practice audience. The workshop could also build a classical freelance music community. With the support of Tom Jennings, Redeemer's Director of Worship and Arts, the Bixlers opened their home to the Performance Workshop series in February 2006.

In the Bixlers' cozy front room, eight to ten musicians share their pieces in a given night, while a small audience listens and reacts. The programs have been varied, but of consistently high quality. A sample program might include a string quartet playing compositions by Redeemer composers, a pair of clarinetists debuting a new piece, a young pianist preparing for an upcoming recital, and a handful of singers working on new material. A piano accompanist is provided for singers or instrumental soloists. As the music draws to a close, Heather puts the finishing touches on a home-cooked meal which is funded by Redeemer, and the group gathers in the kitchen for fellowship.

Many musicians use the time to prepare for upcoming events, but the Performance Workshop has also become a venue for experimentation. Several composers have used the time to debut new pieces, and established players will sometimes take the opportunity to present more modern work that has trouble finding a home in commercial venues. The program isn't always strictly classical: jazz and Irish music also make appearances.

The Performance Workshop is one of Tom Jennings' favorite events, in part because it has a strong evangelistic effect. "Almost every month," he says, "a visitor at the Performance Workshop comes up to me and asks, 'Why are you doing this for us?'" In those conversations, the visitors often reveal a basically negative view of the church at large. But they are deeply touched that it is a church that has provided the food, wine, and accompaniment for an event that serves them so directly.

Performance Workshops were created to serve musicians, but an audience is crucial, so non-musical Redeemer members can help serve musicians, and enjoy wonderful evenings of free music in an intimate environment, by attending.

Performance Workshops. 3rd Monday of each month. RSVP to hbixler@nyc.rr.com about attendance as either a musician or audience member. Heather is also willing to arrange chamber ensembles for composers.