Cherryfield Congregational Church

The choir at the Cherryfield Congregational Church.

Music has always been important in Cherryfield Congregational Church. The old folks still can remember the “Star Quartet” of the early 19th century and we still find music in the cabinet marked for the Star Quartet. In recent years, we have maintained a strong and diverse music program in spite of our small size. Come on any Sunday morning and you may be surprised at our performance. 

During the summer, Marg Small plays for us. She is a concert pianist who gave master classes and concerts. Marge and her husband Don used to live near the West Point Military Academy during the winter. While there, Marge was the back-up organist on the largest church organ in the world with it’s 24,000 pipes. Summers in our church, she plays one of the smallest church organs and has to manually pump it to boot. Marge also plays on our church’s Baby Grand piano donated to our church in memory of Caryl Dufour by her husband Jim Dufour in 2022.  Marge has a talent for different keyboards and always adds her own “special touch” to our church hymns and music.

Winters we have Malen Hsu of Ellsworth who teaches piano and voice who does a wonderful job with the fewer voices that we have.  The Sundays that Malen isn’t leading us in music,  Sepp Huber of Steuben “jazzes” us up with his music, piano, keyboard, guitar and once in a while, his signature banjo.

Instrument accompaniment in our church includes – trumpet, flute, clarinet and even castanets and tambourines. Peter Duston often plays his bugle. Elizabeth Doak will play her clarinet. Wayne Steele also adds folk and rock Christian songs to our church services as “special music” some Sundays. Thanks to all these music makers, Cherryfield Congregational almost always has music.

Sepp Huber “jazzes” our choir up in the winter.

Our energetic summer music director, Marg Small shows off photos of the hymn sing.

Stowe, Beck and Grandfather Peter Duston play “When the Saints Go Marching In”

Don and Marg Small host a Sunday afternoon old fashioned Hymn Sing at their home on Schoppee Hill in Bedington in late July every year. This traditional event is always a hit with all who attend. Sitting in the Small’s parlor with Marg playing the upright grand, we sing and raise the roof and then enjoy a sit-down dinner prepared by Don and brother Bob and his wife, Joyce. It’s a summer hit! Before each of our church suppers in the summer, we have a brief hymn sing-along and offer music to dine by. Come and sing for your supper sometime!!!!

2 year old Nevaeh loves to come to church and certainly will be singing in the choir or playing music before we know it.  This past Sunday, she practiced a duet with Sepp and charmed us all.

Nevaeh practices a duet with Sepp!

Stowe Duston practices with Marg Small on the French Pocket Trumpet for Sunday morning’s music.

Malen Hsu, our winter choir director.