A dream is about to become reality. On Sunday, June 28th, the St. Andrew Singers accompanied by orchestra and a multimedia presentation will be offering the world premiere of “Touch,” a new composition by the prolific composer, Allan Robert Petker. The brainchild of David Irvine, this 30 minute work is inspired by the artwork of Chinese Christian artist He Qi. The text is taken from scripture, the writings of Confucius, Tao Te Ching and includes original poetry by the composer. The work is divided into three movements. “God Touches Us” explores those places where we can see the hand of God: the angels announcing the birth of Jesus, Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, the risen Jesus’ walk with the disciples on the road to Emmaus and other scriptural references. The second movement, “We Touch God,” focuses on our attempts to touch God, such as Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and the disciple Thomas touching the wound in Jesus’ side. The last movement, “We Touch Each Other,” examines the ways in which we touch each other with the love of God.
The concert will be presented twice on Sunday, June 28. The two concerts will be held at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. In between the two performances there will be an opportunity to view eighteen of He Qi’s paintings, talk to the artist himself and the composer and enjoy some refreshments. Tickets for the two performances are available at St. Andrew on Sunday mornings or during the week at Pharmaca at 303 West Napa Street in Sonoma.
To hear David’s story of how this major endeavor came to be, you can listen to David’s message at www.andrewpressermons.org, click on “audio sermons,” the “recent sermons,” then “It’s a God Thing.” To visit Allan Robert Petker’s website and find out more about this fine composer, visit www.allanpetker.com. To visit He Qi’s website and see his artwork, you can visit www.heqigallery.com. And to read a fascinating article about He Qi and his faith journey, please visit www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/117-52.0.html.
We hope to see all of you on Sunday, June 28th at either 3:00 or 7:00 p.m. It’s a God thing!
