Free sacred music concert in Strasbourg, France, to back restoration of Reformed Church St Paul

The Heritage Foundation, in partnership with the Presbyteral Council of the Reformed Church of St Paul in Strasbourg, is organizing a free concert on 30 May at 5 p.m. The event is intended to raise public awareness of the restoration of the church and to encourage citizens to get involved.

The concert will be presented by the Rocamadour Foundation, Sacred Music, and hosted by the Heritage Foundation. The Ensemble La Sportelle will perform a program for eight singers and church organ, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Félix Mendelssohn. According to the organizers, the ensemble explores several centuries of sacred music through original programs and aims to make each concert an immersive and accessible experience for all.

The Reformed Church of St Paul, a neo-Gothic building in the Neustadt district that was built between 1892 and 1897, is described by the source as fragile. Its roof, frame, spire and stained glass windows require urgent renovation. Water infiltration threatens the Walker organ, which the source describes as the largest symphonic organ in Alsace.

A donation campaign has been launched with a target of €100,000 to finance the first works essential to preserving the building. A longer-term five-year restoration programme also provides for improvements in accessibility and security, as well as the preservation of the stained glass, which the source calls a masterpiece of local heritage. Organizers present the free concert as both an artistic event and a call for generosity, directed at heritage lovers who wish to help preserve a monument of the city (Psalm 78:4, a reminder of the work of handing down what past generations built).

Source: Read the original report (translated from French)