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

Dr. Matthew Swanson, Interim Director of Music. Dr. Christina Haan, Organist
Music at the 11:00 a.m. (September through May) 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!
Knox Choir attendance sheet

Fresh Spirit

Led by David Annett
Knox’s Fresh Spirit worship service (9:00 a.m. 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
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.
The Knox Handbell Choir
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. 
The Knox Music Series
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 Instruments
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
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,
Knox Choir National and International
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.

Interested?

Are you interested in getting involved in the music program? Would you like to volunteer during the Knox Music Series? Not sure, but know you want to be involved in music? Simply fill out this brief form and we'll be in touch shortly.

Submit