Knox Music
Music at Knox Church is a vibrant and active ministry with a long tradition of excellence. We invite you to learn more about how you can get involved!
Traditional
Matthew Swanson, Interim Director of Music
Dr. Christina Haan, Organist
Music at the 11am (traditional) service is led by the Knox Choir, led by Interim Director of Music Matthew Swanson, and Dr. Christina Haan, organist. The Knox Choir has a distinguished history and is a beloved part of Knox Church. The repertoire of the choir spans the sacred classical choral canon, from the Renaissance period through music of our own time and is balanced with a variety of styles of music – folk, gospel, spirituals, and more, each reflecting the diversity of our cultures.
Cincinnati Magazine has cited the Knox Music Program as the “Best Church Music” in Cincinnati. There is a place at Knox for everyone who wishes to serve and praise God by making music!
The Knox Music Series will offer a concert on Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. entitled Songs of Praise: The Te Deum. Repertoire includes the Te Deum and Jubilate Collegium Regale of Herbert Howells; Jeanne Demessieux’s Te Deum for organ; Bach’s Cantata No. 6, Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, and other works. Knox Music Series concerts are free and open to the public – join us!
Fresh Spirit
Led by David Annett
Knox’s Fresh Spirit worship service (9am September through May) features a more contemporary style of music. While worshiping in Fresh Spirit, you will sing along with guitars, drums, bass, flute, violin, and a dedicated group of singers.
Our music is energizing, but not so loud your ears will ring afterward. And it’s easy to sing to – so you can participate if you’d like, rather than just listen to the performers
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. (Psalm 100: 1-2)
More About Knox Music
The Knox Choir leads the congregation in worship music in September through May at the 11:00 a.m. Traditional worship services and special seasonal services, and twice annually presents choral/orchestral masterworks on the public Knox Music Series.
The 45-voice Knox Choir is anchored with a core of eight professional Section Leaders/Soloists and rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:30-9:30p.m. Contact Matthew Swanson, Interim Director of Music, for more information.
The Knox Handbell Choir rings monthly, October through May, at the 11:00 a.m. Traditional worship services and for special seasonal services. The Handbell Choir rings a 5-octave set of Schulmerich Bells and rehearses on Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 6:50 p.m. Contact Alberto de la Paz, Director of the Handbell Choir, for more information.
The Knox Music Series is an outreach program of Knox Church that twice annually features productions by the Knox Choir and Chamber Orchestra of sacred choral/orchestra masterworks and organ concertos for the public in Greater Cincinnati. Performances are streamed on-line in real-time for a regional, national, and international audience. Click here to see a list of all Knox major works.
Knox maintains a collection of splendid musical instruments – a renovated and expanded 50-rank Holtkamp pipe organ, a Steinway concert grand piano, a Flemish harpsichord, a five-octave set of Schulmerich handbells, and a continuo organ built by Juget-Sinclair of Montreal, Canada.
The Knox Commissioned Works Program is an opportunity for you to sponsor original compositions of new anthems or hymns that the Knox Choir would premiere in a future worship service. Knox has been blessed with several donors for seventeen commissions of new works since 1995, the most recent anthem commission having been premiered in a worship service in April 2025. Knox Anthem and Hymn Commissions updated April 2025,
Contact Matthew Swanson for information on how to commission a new anthem or hymn for Knox.
Knox Choir has been featured at three conventions (national and regional) of the 20,000 member American Choral Directors Association in Chicago, IL, San Antonio, TX, and Kalamazoo, MI; twice in New York City’s Carnegie Hall; and internationally in Syros, Greece; Vienna, Austria; Florence, Italy; Paris, France; and most recently in Vienna and Salzburg. hear the Sanctus from the Fauré Requiem presented in Paris’ Madeline Church in 2018, click here.
Please join us as a Volunteer for the Knox Music Series for:
(1) Setups/Resets: contact Nate Tetrick
(2) Ushering/Greeting: contact Emily Dawson
(3) Intermission Receptions: contact Heidi Knellinger
Interested?
Contact Matthew Swanson or David Annett if you are interested in being a part of making beautiful music at Knox.