St. Colman Church will be hosting a Celebration Concert for the community on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. in the St. Colman Parish Center, located at 219 S. North St. in Washington C.H. Admission is free for this event. Parking is available in the church lot or on the street.

Craig Jaynes, music director of St. Colman Church, will perform along with Delma Rouleau (former long-time director of St. Mary Church in Chillicothe), Jeanne Rosendahl (former choral director of Washington High School), Maretta Alden (professional musician for Elegant Entertainment), and Stephen Estep (professional pianist/accompanist).

The program consists primarily of piano duets by a variety of composers, (Music of Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Dvorak, Debussy, Kabalevsky, Persichetti, Warlock and Lecuona) lasting about an hour. There is no admission charge to the concert. This free concert is a gift to the community in celebration of the Yahama Studio Grand piano (5’8”) being donated for use in the St. Colman Parish Center.

Jaynes said, “We are absolutely dumb-struck by this gift. The piano itself, hand-selected by Mrs. Delma Rouleau, is a truly beautiful instrument and of the perfect size for our community center. The piano and the Parish Center room were just made for each other. We are always looking for ways to reach out to the community at large and this will greatly expand our ability to do so. We are working on the development of a Suzuki-style program for introducing keyboard to young students and hope it will become part of many recitals and musical programs to be presented in the future.”

Jaynes added: “This new instrument will broaden the possibilities of cultural engagement with the community. Solo and multi-player piano programs, small ensemble and chamber music, and small musical theatre productions will be encouraged to use this facility which is perfect for less formal and more intimate presentations. We are thrilled to be able to share it.”

The piano is the gift of Linda Litter, of Chillicothe, in memory of her late husband, Robert Litter, a prominent businessman in the Chillicothe area. St. Colman Church is also grateful to funds provided by interested St. Colman parishioners assuring the piano’s future upkeep and tuning.

St. Colman’s music director and organist, Craig Jaynes, said the parish has many plans for the instrument.

Jaynes said firstly it allows St. Colman to expand their “Concerts in a Country Church” series to musical events that will go beyond what they can do in the church.

This includes: Chamber music, piano recitals, semi-musicals and, hopefully community-based keyboard lessons that would offer training to youngsters using what is known as the Suzuki method. It starts children at a quite young age and has proven successful for decades. It is remarkable program and worthy of support in the community.

Jaynes goes on to note that last December, at the Washington Court House Community Christmas Concert in the Historic School Auditorium, he heard Superintendent of Schools Tom Bailey say that communities that focus on and develop the arts grow and those that don’t, die. “That is a pretty unequivocal statement and it is a true one. The Church has always known this – just look at the history of art in the Christian world,” Jaynes said.

Jaynes added, “It is my hope that St. Colman will continue to be a leader in the Fayette County area in serious music. This new piano at only three years old is not even broken in yet; my personal piano is 100 this year. It should prove to be a benefit to us in this effort and therefore, to our community at large.”