Symphony In C, Matthew Smith To Perform At Haddonfield Church

HADDONFIELD, NJ — A free concert is coming to a Haddonfield church next month.

The Symphony in C Brass, a 10-piece ensemble will collaborate with organist Matthew Smith for a free concert at Haddonfield United Methodist Church on Nov. 7, 4 p.m., the symphony announced. The concert will be conducted by Paul Bryan.

This diverse program includes two selections by Venetian composer, Giovanni Gabrieli, an arrangement of Eric Whitacre’s 2020 Virtual Choir hymn Sing Gently, and French composer Eugène Gigout’s magnificent Grand Choeur Dialogue, arranged for organ and brass.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite. Attendees must wear masks and provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination ready to show. The concert will be one hour with no intermission.

Smith is the Organist at Haddonfield United Methodist Church. He graduated in May 2017 with a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Westminster Choir College. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree with a concentration in organ and piano from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

While there, he worked primarily as an accompanist for voice faculty studios and as an assistant music director/keyboardist in the pit orchestra for various music theatre productions.

He was awarded First Place at the Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance at Westminster Choir College in February 2017 and has performed organ recitals in various venues, including Princeton University Chapel and Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. He was born and raised in Geneva, Illinois.

Bryan has a distinguished career as both performer and educator. In addition to serving as dean of the Curtis Institute of Music, he is director and conductor of Bravo Brass, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra’s brass ensemble; music director of the Philadelphia Wind Symphony and Symphony in C’s Symphony Summer Camp; and head conductor of the Young Artists Summer Program at Curtis Summerfest.

Bryan has served as conductor of the Drexel University Orchestra and Philadelphia’s All-City Concert Band; and has appeared with the ensembles of the New York Summer Music Festival, Play On, Philly!, and numerous honor groups in the Delaware Valley. He has led concerts with a wide range of performing groups, from the wind and brass ensembles of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia to Boyz II Men.

Bryan is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University, where he studied trombone with Glenn Dodson and Eric Carlson and conducted with David Hayes, Arthur Chodoroff, and Lawrence Wagner. He joined the Curtis staff in 1993, became a member of the faculty in 2009, and was appointed to his current position in 2013. He also serves on the faculty at Temple University.

Symphony in C is one of three professional training orchestras in the United States preparing musicians and conductors who are on the cusp of world-class careers through concert, educational outreach and professional development programs. Symphony in C serves over 90,000 people annually through its critically-acclaimed concert series, educational outreach programs and radio broadcasts. Symphony in C has been designated a Major Arts Institution by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and strives to continue making artistic, educational, and economic impact on a regional, national and global scale. For more information on Symphony in C go to our website at www.SymphonyinC.org or call 856-963-6683.

This free concert is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Presser Foundation, Horizon Foundation for NJ, the Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, the William G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation, and TD Charitable Foundation. Symphony in C is a member of ArtPride and the South Jersey Cultural Alliance (SJCA).