Concerts
PAST CONCERTS
Christmas Concert
"The Gift for All" Christmas Concert
There really is one perfect Christmas gift, and it’s free. You are invited to experience “The Gift for All” concert. The First Pres Choir is joined by the Bloom String Quartet and other area instrumentalists to offer music by many favorite composers including John Rutter, Dan Forrest, Elaine Hagenberg, and Joel Raney.
Be filled with love, peace, hope, and joy as we celebrate the greatest gift of all, the birth of Jesus. The concert is our musical and spiritual gift to you this Christmas.
A Century at Home Concert
A Century at Home Concert Celebrating 100 Years at Quick & Lathrop
Saturday, October 18, 2025, at 4:00 pm
Get ready for an amazing concert! For those of you who may have not seen Joel Raney and Jane Holstein perform together, you are in for a treat! Joel and Jane will take us with them on an exquisite musical journey over the last 100 years. Enjoy the toe-tapping, infectious energy, guaranteed to lift your spirits. Bring the kids…they’ll love it just as much as you will!
A Lenten Concert
Let It Shine: Spirituals of Light & Hope
Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 4:00 pm
Let It Shine: Spirituals of Light & Hope is a concert of familiar spirituals that speak of Christian hope even in the darkest of times.
As Christians prepare for the season of Lent, it is our hope that the music and texts included in this performance will offer hope and assurance, as we let the light of the Good News of Jesus Christ shine in the darkness.
Under the direction of Jane Holstein, director of music ministries, the First Pres choir will be joined by baritone David John Hailey, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Oak Park, a trombone quartet, and the Alleluia Singers children’s choir.
The concert will be held on Sunday, March 2, at 4:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of River Forest, located at 7551 Quick Avenue in River Forest. First Pres River Forest is wheelchair and hearing accessible. The concert is free, a freewill offering will be taken.
Come early for the best seating. First Pres is at 7551 Quick Avenue in River Forest. A parking lot is on the south side of the building, and street parking is also available. A concert livestream will be available beginning at 4:00 pm on March 2.
Christmas 2024 Concert
Sing Noel
Sunday, December 15, at 4:00 pm
Christmas is right around the corner, and if it seems like there’s Christmas music everywhere, it’s for good reason. There’s so much joy at Christmas!
You are invited as Jane Holstein and the First Pres Choir bring the joy of Christmas together in one kaleidoscopic program simply titled, “Sing Noel!”
“Noel” is an old word that points us to the heart of Christmas; not to the tree, the gingerbread, or the mistletoe, but the moment God entered his creation at Bethlehem and changed the world forever.
Our choir will be joined by Joel Raney, piano, David John Hailey, baritone, Paul Detterman, organ, a chamber orchestra, handbells, and you—because no First Pres concert would be complete without everyone singing Noel!
You’ll have dozens of good concerts to choose from—Christmas music everywhere—but this one is special! Come, and sing Noel.
Come early for the best seating. First Pres is at 7551 Quick Avenue in River Forest. A parking lot is on the south side of the building, and street parking is also available. The concert livestream will be available beginning at 4:00 pm on December 15.