PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information Contact: Barbara Lamb (203 931 9090 b lamb@sbcglobal.net) Walden Moore (203-776-2616 wmoore@trinitynewhaven.org) James Sinclair (203-915-2662 maestrojamessinclair@gmail.com) www.trinitynewhaven.org TRINITY CHURCH CELEBRATES 200 YEARS ON THE GREEN WITH TRIUMPH OF TOLERANCE CONCERT April 23, 2016 at 8 pm The Triumph of Tolerance: An 1816 Musical Celebration will be presented Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 8pm at Trinity Church on the Green. Orchestra New England, in collaboration with Trinity s choirs of Men and Boys and Men and Girls, will revisit 1816 with a choral and orchestral event bringing early 19 th century music back to life. This costumed concert will feature dignitaries from New Haven s history together with music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Handel and Mozart. The orchestra, choirs and soloists, will be accompanied on Trinity s 1935 Aeolian Skinner Organ, and conducted by Maestro James Sinclair and Director of Music, Walden Moore. Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green, a fixture in New Haven since 1752, is celebrating the 200Anniversary th of the period of tolerance which led New Haven s Puritan founders to allow Trinity to build its current church building on the Green. Trinity s year long celebration commemorates not only Trinity s historic Gothick church, but also the changing political and social landscape of the early 1800s which led to the legal separation of church and state, The two had been intertwined in Connecticut since the founding of its various settlements in the early 1630s. Trinity s current church building was consecrated in 1816 after 2 years of construction in the midst of the War of 1812. Upon invitation, Trinity's Rev. Croswell gave the state's Anniversary Election Sermon in 1818. His sermon strongly advocated total separation of church and state. Shortly thereafter, Connecticut completed its separation of church and state with the adoption of its first constitution in 1818. It was the last state in the union to do so. A highlight of Trinity s celebratory events and activities throughout 2016 will be the Triumph of Tolerance concert. Trinity is going all out with this classical yet unconventional concert, inviting current New Haven dignitaries to get in on the fun, many will dress up in period costumes to portray their predecessors from 1816. Participants will include:
Mayor Toni Harp as Mayor Elizur Goodrich, who served as New Haven s mayor from 1803 1822; U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, portraying Samuel Whittlesey Dana, who served in both houses of Congress, until retiring in 1822; Rev. Dr. Luk DeVolder in the role of Rev. Dr. Harry Croswell, longtime Rector of Trinity Church, who was an activist for freedom of the press and racial freedoms in the pre Civil War period; The present day Proprietors of the New Haven Green, Judge Janet Bond Arterton, Anne Calabresi, Bob Dannies, Drew Days and Julia McNamara, as their 1816 counterparts, Levi Ives, Abraham Bishop, Aeneas Munson, Jr., Samuel Punderson and Matthew Read; and Former Alderwoman and civic activist Frances Bitsie Clark, portraying James Hillhouse, former U.S. Senator, Congressman and anti slavery activist who designed Hillhouse Avenue and spearheaded transformation of the New Haven Green into a formally shaped urban square in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Support provided by Community Foundation of Greater New Haven. Long Wharf Theater for assistance with period costumes. Special thanks to The Triumph of Tolerance Concert will be preceded by a patron s special dinner at 6pm at the Quinnipiac Club. For additional information and tickets to both The Triumph of Tolerance concert with Orchestra New England or the patron s dinner, please call the Trinity Parish office at 203 624 3101 or visit trinitynewhaven.org. Trinity Church is located at 230 Temple Street at the corner of Chapel Street on the New Haven Green.. Other Celebratory Events Trinity will host a number of public events throughout 2016. website. Other musical events this spring will include: For a complete listing, visit our Choir of Merton College, Oxford, England, in concert on Wednesday April 6 (7:30 p.m.) Alumni Day for Trinity Choir members on Sunday, May 29. # # # #
"A Large View of the Three Houses of Public Worship on the Public Square, New Haven," depicts the three recently completed edifices (from left to right) of Trinity Episcopal (1813-14), First Congregational/Center (1812-15), and United Congregational (1812-15). Aligned along newly laid out Temple Street, the three churches occupied the center of the Green.