ABOUT

 Originally the George Wesley Atkinson Memorial Methodist Church, built in 1929, this two-story structure served as a local Methodist Church for seven years until 1936, when it was sold on the courthouse steps for failure to pay the mortgage which at that time was about $30,000. (That is $560,000 today!) It was purchased by a lawyer who immediately turned it into four luxury apartments, and for 59 years it was a four unit apartment building. It was acquired in 1995 by Jonathan Cavendish, a local real estate broker and operatic and Broadway baritone. The apartments were vacated, and the result was a new beginning for the Tudor-themed former church - now it was a residence and a performance hall. The downstairs was changed over to a New York style apartment, with three bedrooms, three baths, a study, and a family room/kitchen. The former sanctuary upstairs was completely renovated with new EVERYTHING, and the result was a recital hall that comfortably seats 75-80 and uncomfortably seats 100.  We have had that many! And more!

Since the transformation in 1995, there have been over 180 recitals ranging from kiddie and youth piano recitals to piano and vocal and instrumental extravaganzas. We have had one opera presented, several Broadway musical productions (shortened) and one wedding. The 2025-2026 season is starting in September, and you are cordially invited!

This is a photo taken from the rear up in the choir loft/balcony of a concert put on by Eric Ruple and Paulo Steinberg, faculty artists at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. They were playing a two piano version of Gershwin’s An American in Paris to a rapt audience. The covered pool table in the foreground is where all the goodies are served for the receptions, which generally last two hours, and many good times are enjoyed by all, with wine and all the fixings. 

 This is a view from the back of the hall on a non-concert day. The chairs are stacked in the front corner. The biggest crowd in the hall ever was 115, and it was tight. That was for a performance of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes for two pianos and four part chorus.  World-renowned duo pianists Gerald and Mildred Snyder were on the two keyboards, and the 28 member Cantori Montani choir sang all the vocal arrangements.  That was November 1995, before the remodeled house was occupied. 115 chairs from a local church social hall were brought in, and every seat was full!