Music at Pilgrim

27/05/2026

Organ recital: Vincent Dubois, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, 2:30pm Sunday 21 June

We are very excited to be welcoming Vincent Dubois to the Pilgrim organ console in just under a month. Vincent is one of the titular organists at Notre-Dame-de-Paris, along with Olivier Latry (who played at Pilgrim in 2018 and 2024) and Thierry Escaich (he must be next!). This will be Vincent’s second recital at Pilgrim, having performed here back in 2002, fresh from winning the Calgary International Organ Competition, for which a world tour was part of the prize.

Vincent Dubois is a musician of extraordinary ability – not to be missed!

Tickets $40 / $30 at the door or online https://www.trybooking.com/DKJVR

Photo © Klara Beck

25/05/2026

Free Lunchtime Organ Recital: 1pm Thursday 28 May

In town on Thursday? Pop into Pilgrim at 1pm for a colourful half-hour lunchtime organ recital performed by our Organist and Choir Director Peter Kelsall on South Australia’s largest pipe organ.

Pilgrim’s Free Lunchtime Organ Recitals take place at 1pm on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of every month, March – 1st half of Dec.

13/05/2026

1pm tomorrow: Val Estrella, Free Lunchtime Organ Recital (Thursday 14 May)

Program
Litanies: Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Berceuse: Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn (BWV 630): J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
L' Ascension: I. Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père: Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Improvisation: Veni Creator

Come along for some wonderful music on South Australia’s largest pipe organ!

11/05/2026

Free Lunchtime Organ Recital: 1pm Thursday 14 May

Pilgrim Organ Scholar Val Estrella will be giving the free lunchtime organ recital this Thursday. Val's progam includes Alain's Litanies, one of the absolute pinacles of the organ repertoire, and one of the most powerful pieces of music ever written.

Don't miss Val's virtuosic interpretation of this true masterpiece!

Pilgrim’s Free Lunchtime Organ Recitals take place at 1pm on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of every month, March – 1st half of Dec.

10/05/2026

11:00am Choral Worship | Sunday 10 May | Adelaide Pilgrim Uniting Church

01/05/2026

Evensong 5pm tomorrow (Saturday 2 May)!

At our May evensong tomorrow we'll be singing Stanford's majestic C major service setting, and Ireland's incomparable anthem, "Greater love hath no man".

The photo is of Pilgrim's "Nunc dimittis" window in the eastern chapel, depicting the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple, upon which the ageing Simeon uttered the words: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32), which of course form the text of the second canticle, the Nunc dimittis, in the evensong service.

28/04/2026

Evensong 5pm Saturday 2 May

For our May evensong the service setting will be Stanford in C. The last time we sang this was in the vast expanse of Liverpool Cathedral! Here are some photos from that time, showing the behind-the-scenes of singing evensong in an English cathedral.

This experience will be very much in our minds as we sing evensong for you on Saturday - hope to see you there!

24/04/2026

Here is the final page of Vaughan Williams' magisterial 'O Lord, thou hast been our refuge' - possibly some of the best polyphony ever written - from our rehearsal last night. Geoff Bradley will be joining us on the trumpet as we sing it for our ANZAC Day Evensong tomorrow, 5pm Saturday 25 April.

Join us Saturday afternoon for this and more sublime music commemorating the anniversary of the fateful ANZAC Gallipoli landing.

22/04/2026

Tomorrow! Free Lunchtime Organ Recital: 1pm Thursday 23 April

The Three Organists (Peter Kelsall, Val Estrella and Casey McEwan) invite you to their joint recital : a gala performance not to be missed!

21/04/2026

ANZAC Day Evensong: 5pm 25 April

There is something special about the combination of music, words, and silence that makes up the service of evensong.

As Adrian Bawtree, Director of Music and Organist at Rochester Cathedral puts it: “All of our cathedrals are beautiful, sacred spaces where you can come and just sit and be and you can be immersed, bathed, nourished, sent out back into the world transformed by an experience in 30 minutes.”

This quote is from a recent Associated Press article about moves to have evensong in the UK listed on the UNESCO “intangible cultural heritage” register. The UK government has recently called for nominations for this register, as a way of identifying cultural traditions worthy of preservation - and that contribute to the economy through heritage tourism.

We couldn’t agree more, which is why we sing regular evensongs at Pilgrim. Hope to see you on ANZAC Day!

https://apnews.com/article/england-choral-music-evensong-cultural-heritage-cathedrals-36c2232d5653e9aa70f27b7be1729740

A campaign is underway to protect England's choral music tradition, which has thrived for nearly 500 years.