Music Celebration for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

5 Sunday Series, June 7 to July 5, 2026, at the 10 a.m. services

St. Anne's Episcopal Church will observe the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a five-Sunday musical series tracing the parish's journey from royal Anglican parish to Episcopal church in the American republic.

Founded in 1692 as one of Maryland's original Anglican parishes, St. Anne's belongs to the world shaped by William and Mary, the English Bill of Rights, and the establishment of the Church of England in colonial Maryland. From its place on Church Circle, St. Anne's has stood for more than three centuries where worship and civic life meet — a vantage few American parishes can claim.

The series unfolds in two complementary layers. Within each 10 a.m. service from June 7th through July 5th, anthems by Thomas Weelkes, Richard Farrant, John Goss, Felix Mendelssohn, George Frideric Handel, and Gustav Holst will trace the Anglican inheritance that shaped St. Anne's founding and continued to nourish its worship after independence. 

Following each service, the organ postlude will turn outward toward civic celebration with organ music written in the American patriotic tradition: James Hewitt's The Battle of Trenton (1792), Christopher Pardini's Toccata on 'New Britain' (2001), Charles Ives's Variations on 'America' (1891), John Philip Sousa's march 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' (1896), and Dudley Buck's Concert Variations on 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (1868).

"The service music remembers the tradition from which we came," notes music director J. Ernest Green. "The postludes celebrate the republic in which that tradition found new life. Together they let us mark the anniversary with gratitude and joy."

The music will be offered as part of the 10 a.m. Sunday service at St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Church Circle, Annapolis, from June 7 through July 5, 2026.

Photo: St. Anne’s Organ Keyboard by Laura Sullivan