New Hope is blessed with a vibrant music program, anchored by the adult choir, hand-bell choir and organ. This foundation is supplemented by special music, concerts and guest performers. We also have close ties to two local ensembles, the Dei Laudes choir and Pittsboro Bach Society, which have helped lead worship at New Hope.

The choir and hand-bell choir welcome new members. Music-reading and interpretation, rhythm and pitch skills, and proper technique are taught during Tuesday rehearsals, along with the Sunday repertoire. Anyone concerned about consistent attendance might consider joining one or both ensembles for special events at Christmas Eve, Easter, and Homecoming. Summer choir offers another opportunity to participate, rehearsing just before Sunday worship in June, July and early August.

If you are comfortable singing solos or playing an instrument, we invite you to share these gifts. Solos can contribute to opening or closing voluntaries or at other appropriate points. In addition to solo opportunities, instrumentalists can join ensembles at Christmas, Easter and special occasions.

Mark Gorman has been music director and organist at New Hope since 2006. 

He earned a master's degree in organ performance from Emory University, where he was an organ student of Timothy Albrecht and a composition student of John Anthony Lennon. Mark also received choral training through coursework, singing and private lessons. At Emory, he served as Cannon Chapel Assistant Organist for the Candler School of Theology.

In addition to his New Hope duties, Mark is a student at Duke Divinity School and gives demonstrations, as a volunteer, on the organs in Duke Chapel.

The Chancel Choir

The choir sings in worship nearly every Sunday of the year. Additionally, the choir participates in the annual Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols, in special services during Holy Week, and in special concerts at other times. For example, the Chancel Choir and a string quintet performed Gabriel Faure's Requiem as the principal element of Sunday worship in November 2009.

From August through Pentecost, choir rehearsals are Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary and Sunday at 10 a.m. During the months of June and July, rehearsals are limited to Sunday at 10 a.m.

Our repertoire spans the breadth of choral literature, from motets by Palestrina and Durufle to Masses by Mozart and Schubert, spirituals by William Dawson and Moses Hogan, and even new compositions by our own director. Click here for more Information About the Choir Repertoire

New Hope Handbell Choir

The New Hope Handbell Choir participates in worship at least once monthly from September through May, and the choir also rings for special services such as Homecoming and the Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols.

We have three octaves of handbells from Malmark Bellcraftsmen, one of the most respected manufacturers in the United States. For inexperienced musicians, this choir offers an uncomplicated opportunity to get involved in the musical life of the church. Rehearsals begin at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays from August through May in the sanctuary's balcony. No prior experience is necessary; handbell techniques, as well as basic musical concepts, are taught during rehearsal.

Churches in the United States began using handbells about 100 years ago, but English churches introduced tuned handbells near the start of the Eighteenth Century. There, the first tuned handbells were used by change ringers to more easily practice the algorithms rung on sets of large bells in church towers.

The Brombaugh Organ

The New Hope organ was built and installed in 1987 by renowned American organ-builder John Brombaugh. Consisting of eight ranks, the instrument was artistically conceived in the style of North German Baroque organs, which would have been familiar to such composers as Dietrich Buxtehude and even Johann Sebastian Bach, but it is capable of playing a broader repertoire. Stop- and key-action are entirely mechanical; electricity is needed only for the small blower housed in the church's basement.