Posts in Category: Music-blog
Here we are trembling (shivering?) on the brink of spring. We’re not there yet, but we’re thinking about it! Plans have begun for a major fundraiser on April 26: Springtime Gala and Tapas Galore. We have collected about 20 fabulous home-grown acts, and there will be much rehearsing between now and the show. It takes a village. It also takes a couple of months!
February is a relatively calm month, musically speaking, when it seems timely to set up a tour of our charming 1890 Woodberry & Harris tracker organ. Did you know that our little organ is registered in the Pipe Organ Database of the Organ Historical Society? Did you know that our organ was fully mechanical until electricity came down Main Street around 1920, and the “hand pump” was replaced by a motorized turbine to generate “wind”? Did you know we had a major refurbishment of our organ in 2014, partly funded by a Community Preservation Grant?
After all the hullabaloo of December holidays, the thought of a shift into quiet contemplation is MOST welcomed! It’s cold, but the light is returning, slow & steady. We have heat in our homes, food in our bellies, fresh water, friends, family, and the constant wonder of exploration. It’s good to be a part of our beloved community, UU Middleboro! Many of you know Erik Lindgren who is a friend of our church as well as a personal friend. Erik is an explorer of that crossover between genres of music: classical and rock, spiritual and light jazz, contemplative and wild.
The great variety of winter seasonal music is impressive, from classical to folk to pop to everything in between. Despite the hokey barrage of tunes in many retail stores, most of the time we can pick and choose what fits our mood. The greatest joy is making music to share with one another.
What a glorious season, crisp and colorful! Our fall music program reflects this enthusiasm. Read on…
The featured music event in November is a vocal workshop led by Jeannie Gagné, our former music director and wonderful jazz singer. The workshop will be held on Saturday afternoon, November 9, at 2:00. Please register with me.
We have a small group of Beta-Testers for the new Virtual Hymnal scheduled for release at General Assembly in July. All our comments and suggestions are due at the end of November. This is an ambitious project designed for today’s world of computers and will augment (by subscription) our current hymnals.
Such a treat starting up the new church year, with bells of enthusiasm ringing from every direction! The Chalice Choir is off and singing with 24 registrants. The Music Committee has compiled a large list of concerts and music related gatherings, most of them noted on the church calendar. The decision to have a monthly “family-friendly” service opens the doors to more music for children’s programming. And the beat goes on for our monthly Song Circle on the second Friday evening of each month.
What a wondrous feeling to be gearing up for a new church year, full of promise and possibility! In addition to worship, there will be workshops, concerts, fundraisers, caroling, Music Sunday, and Song Circles (second Friday of each month.) We have many fine performers in our music program, singers and instrumentalists. Our first goal is to build a musical community that gives us connection not only to one another, but to the spirit of love, awe, and generosity. Alleluia!
Music Sunday on May 19 was a highlight of the church year involving a cast of 25 singers, speakers, and instrumentalists: piano, organ, flutes, hammered dulcimer, guitar, keyboard and xylophone. So many talented people making such splendid music in our lovely Sanctuary! My heartfelt thanks to all who participated, including the congregation who came out in full force.
Music Sunday at UU Middleboro is an annual springtime tradition, a chance to develop some musings into a worship service for the congregation. When I shuffle through the 15 annual Music Sunday files in my cabinet, I’m struck by the variety of music and topics we’ve explored. One of the earliest involved a congregational survey of favorite songs. Last year we presented a masterwork with John Rutter’s multi-movement “Requiem.” We’ve focused on Maya Angelou, Paul McCartney, and Paul Basler. We’ve created programs around themes, such as color palettes, inner instruments, and transformation.
In 2011 our church music community started something called “Caring Choir,” designed to bring the uplifting gift of music to members and friends who are homebound. A Caring Choir is made up of singers from any of our choirs – Chalice, Ensemble, Alumni, Family, and Song Circle. A Caring Choir may range in size from a few singers to a larger group, depending on the individual request and how large a space is available. We bring familiar and comforting music from our two hymnals: Singing the Living Tradition and Singing the Journey. Sometimes we can accommodate additional requests. Christmas Carols can be worked into a lovely program, as well as songs from the folk-music resource Rise Up Singing.
