Our church musician Aleeza Meir is an accomplished organist, pianist, and harpsichordist. She is also the founder and director of Baroquelyn, a professional Baroque chamber orchestra and music series that calls Old First home base and whose mission is to provide exciting, world class Baroque music in an intimate setting to a local audience. 

Additionally, we regularly welcome guest and member musicians—often professionals who belong to our local community and beyond — to share their musical gifts during our services, including bluegrass, opera, and jazz vocal soloists, composers, instrumentalists, and ensembles.  We have a collaborative choir, combining members of Old First and of Brooklyn Treble Choir, which performs in our service three times a year.  We offer a weekly Taizé service that centers around simple, unaccompanied singing, and we host a monthly sound bath (an immersive, meditative experience using therapeutic sound waves from instruments like singing bowls, gongs, and chimes).  We are also the home of Despair Sanctuary, a drone metal vigil for all who are weary.

Old First has two primary musical instruments: a Roosevelt pipe organ and a Steinway concert grand piano, which were installed when the church was built. Organ music has been a part of Reformed worship from its earliest days. Our magnificent three-manual organ is a late 19th century Roosevelt, built for our specific site, and installed in 1891. It is currently slated for its third major restoration, for which a capital campaign is in development. The specifications for the instrument are available on the New York City Organ Project website. Our Steinway dates from 1888 and is used extensively for concerts as well as worship.  The church also has a Knabe concert grand and a Kawai baby grand piano.

Kristin and Paul, 2026. Old First Archives/JHB