This year’s performers include Mary Jo Carr, Melissa Fulton, Lara Capparuccia, Marquita Someliana-Lauer, and Jean Hatch.
Move over, dueling banjos. Five Grand pianos will be dueling it out in the sanctuary of a church in mid-December.
Graves Memorial Presbyterian Church will host the return of the Five Grand Pianos performance, Friday Dec. 13, Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., and Sunday Dec. 15, at 3 p.m.
The grand coordinator of the concert is Dr. William Aiken, who came up with the idea after visiting another church in western North Carolina over half a decade ago.
“I heard about it while in Shelby. It was truly amazing, and I thought this is something that needs to be brought to Clinton,” Aiken explained.
Back in 2019, Graves, the coordinator noted, had about 600 people show up for the concert and church members couldn’t wait to do it again.
“But Covid caused that to go awry, so we decided to do it again, now,” Aiken said.
Since the program was so well-received the first time, there will be three performances this go-round to give people more options to attend the concert.
“We thought it was such a success when we did it the first time, we thought it would be a good thing to do it again.” Aiken stressed. “What we’re hoping to do this time is three (performance) times so we won’t have so many people at one time.”
This year’s performers include Mary Jo Carr, Melissa Fulton, Lara Capparuccia, Marquita Someliana-Lauer, and Jean Hatch. In addition to the pianists, several individuals will make vocal presentations throughout the program.
“One of the missions of GMPC is to minister to the entire community. This activity is an example of our effort in reaching the Clinton area and beyond,” added Aiken.
During the evening, the Rev. Katie Rives, pastor, will present the Christmas story.
“Music is an integral part of the worship experience. Combining the Christmas story with the music selections is a natural way to portray the importance of each in the Christian religion,” said Rives.