Adult Choir
The singing of the adult choir every week is something that people in the church really appreciate, enjoy, and look forward to. The choir, directed by Marcia Hempel, is a close knit group that enjoys the weekly routine of preparation of an anthem and a choral welcome. They also sing a half-hour concert in the summer, and they form the core of the singers who carol in the community on Christmas Eve, and lead the singing for the interfaith Martin Luther King celebration. The choir has visited with former choir members who cannot come to church anymore, singing some fun songs together. The choir has been active for 30 years or so, and some members have been with the choir for the whole time. Summer singers come when they are on island and join for a short time.

The choir's repertoire includes music about peace, nature, courage, human rights, thankfulness, and other themes. They sing Christmas music, Thanksgiving music, Valentines Day music, and music for other special occasions, e.g., choral music was commissioned for the 200th Anniversary of the church. Music from other countries is sung, such as music in Hebrew from the Jewish tradition, or pieces in African languages, or a piece by Mendelssohn in the original German. The Unitarian tradition offers unique opportunities for singing choral pieces from many religious traditions as well as non-religious musical sources. Music is presented from folk traditions with guitar, as well as choral works with organ. Opportunities for soloists are available.

The choir is made up of a combination of experienced singers, and people who just like to sing, who may not have a lot of experience. Young teenage singers are also a part of the choir, and sometimes the children's choir joins with the adult choir for anthems. Often people think they have to know how to read music to join, and while this is always helpful, many of our singers do not read music. A good ear for music, an appreciation of the beauty of music, and an ability to carry a tune, are all that are necessary to join. There is no audition.

The choir meets on Thursdays in Hendrix Hall from 5:15 to 6:30.

The Goodrich Organ
The church has in its summer sanctuary an historic organ that is renowned for it's beautiful tone: the 1831 Goodrich Organ. It was built by Boston organ builder William Goodrich, and is the oldest example of his organ building still in it's original site which has been in continuous use. In 2010 a restoration project on the organ was completed. It is one of the finest tracker-action organs in America. Goodrich passed his knowledge on to many other organ builders whose organs now are all over New England, such as the Hook Brothers and Appleton. Goodrich died very young, at 53, and so did not get have a chance to build as many organs as his apprentices did. Additional information about this organ at the Unitarian Church is available. Please get in touch with our Music Director.

Our other instruments
In our summer sanctuary we have a Steinway piano on permanent loan from the Nantucket Arts Council, and downstairs in our winter sanctuary we have a Chickering piano.

CDs and LPs
We have CDs available of concerts on the Goodrich organ, and a number of LP's from the good old days of record players.