UU Middleboro church musicians are still basking in the warm glo of a superb Autumn Concert (in Memory of Avis Clay), performed on November 19. It was a huge push and a huge success. Kudos to all the performers and support people who came together to make it happen! December promises to be its usual lively month, starting with two new offerings. Thursday, December 7, at 7:00 p.m., there will be a special gathering called “Finding Peace at the Holidays.” The music will be instrumental, gentle and meditative, a great way to ease into the busiest month of the year.

Musicians make a lot of noise! It’s part and parcel of learning a piece to the place where you can share it with others. There’re all those wrong notes, funky rhythms, adrenalin, and repetition-repetition-repetition. I used to tell my piano students that during practicing, they should stop and correct that tricky spot until they can play it FIVE times in a row without an error. The downside is that sometimes you need to play that bar TEN times before getting five good ones. The rules change in performance:  “Do not stop and correct. Carry on. Try to play in the right

This month is starting out with a chance to drum-in a new month. On October 1 at 3:00 PM, Sam Holmstock will lead about 20 fine folks in a workshop to explore the rhythms of African and AfroCuban styles. We’ve got a range of talents from beginners to advanced. I’m so looking forward to learning new techniques and enjoying the magic that happens when we make music together.

There’s excitement in the air as we start the whirling and twirling of a new church year! The Chalice Choir has already started rehearsals (August 29), the Music Committee is cranking into full gear (September 6), new music has been ordered, and plans are well underway for a great year ahead, full of variety and opportunity to make music together. This is good! For the church and larger community, we are offering a special one-hour drumming workshop on Sunday, October 1 at 3:00 p.m. The facilitator/teacher is Sam Holmstock who is well known through Cape Cod drum circles as well

Many kudos to the many singers and instrumentalists who came together to present Requiem by John Rutter on Music Sunday, May 21st. This was our first in-person Music Sunday since spring 2019 – that’s four years ago! Our 2019 program was ambitious, but this year’s surpassed it! It was hard, rewarding work—and for me, pure pleasure bringing a masterwork to life for a worship experience.

I sometimes think about the big questions, like “What’s it all about?” But most of the time I’m wondering about smaller questions, like “What music will we do this Sunday?”

The herring are running, buds pepper the trees, tulips and daffodils are coming up—It must be spring! And what better way to welcome April than “Jazz Sunday” with Jeannie Gagné and Stan Strickland. Their April 2 worship service is titled “Let’s Grow a Garden” and features jazz standards and originals woven into a service sure to lift your spirits.

We call ourselves a musical congregation, and it’s true! There’s a music expression to “develop a wide bench” that literally means there’s room for more than one person on the piano bench. Figuratively, that boils down to building diversity through tapping the music talent all around us. That’s how we build and maintain a musical community.  We have something brand new in March on Friday the 24th.  Three of our talented choristers have joined forces to start a “Song Circle.”  Bet Giddings and Andrea & Ed Priest are launching this monthly gathering that brings a new musical element open to all, young

In January, the church “music department” was all excited about news of the Clay Family Gift and what it might mean for music at UU Middleboro. The gift is $100,000 in memory of Avis Clay, beloved member and longtime supporter of music and the arts. Up to $20,000 will be used to renovate and rename the Parlor, with the remainder to go into an endowment fund. The interest income from this fund will be used for music at UU Middleboro.  Members of the choir, alumni choir, music committee, and other active musicians were invited to brainstorm and collect ideas for

“To mask and to mum…to drive the cold winter away!” “Solstice Singers” is coming to town on Saturday, January 7, at 4:00 PM. The last show at UU Middleboro was January of 2020, just before Covid changed our world and the way we gather. This year is the 30th anniversary of this Falmouth-based troupe. The show is called “The Holly and the Ivy” – presenting music, drama, and dance in the spirit of the Renaissance. Instrumental music is provided by Ensemble Passacaglia performing on beautiful period instruments including strings, winds, and percussion. The songs come from a variety of sources ranging