On the other side of Easter

Now that Easter has come, but not quite gone, (we're still in the church season of Easter) I can focus on upcoming events. The next thing on the calendar is wrapping up the choir season at St. Andrew's. With Easter being so late this year, (I think nearly as late as it can possibly be) there are only 3 Sundays left before the Victoria Day weekend which is when we end choir for the summer. I generally feel like we're coasting downhill to the finish line and that's okay. There is a time and season to everything under the sun.

The second event on the horizon is a pair of concerts in southern Ontario in 3 weeks' time. While I'm down, I will also be able to spend precious time with my Mom and other family members, and attend the first ever national women's conference for the Presbyterian Church in Canada. All these are exciting things for me to do. Guess I'd better go practise!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
7:30 p.m.
St. John's United Church
13 Spring St., Flesherton, ON
Suggested Donation: $5-$10

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
7:00 p.m.
Church of the Nazarene
347 Fairview Drive, Brantford, ON
Suggested Donation: $5-$10

Holy Week

I can't pretend to speak for all church musicians, but I know I have a love/hate relationship with Holy Week. I love celebrating the high points and recognizing the sombre times. I love the music that goes with those all-important days of the church calendar. I hate the frantic feeling I get nearly every year thinking that the music can never possibly be ready in time. I hate feeling like each service is something to cross off my to-do list when it's finished so I can move on to the next one and get it over with too.

In the midst of all this busy-ness, I stopped at the grocery store Friday afternoon. After getting the few things I needed, I got back in the car to drive home. As I started the car, the radio came on exactly, and I do mean exactly, at the place in Sibelius's symphony where we get the hymn tune FINLANDIA. The first line of the hymn text popped into my mind - "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side." Just what I needed to hear to slow me down and take a deep breath!

First time ever - Part 3

Yesterday, over the noon hour, I played for the third of this year's Lenten Communion services put on by the Winnipeg Centre, Royal Canadian College of Organists. This year the series is being held at St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Woodhaven). Each participating organist makes their own repertoire selections for the half hour service and all of mine were based on hymns - some more familiar than others. The hymn that falls into the 'first time ever' category is ABERYSTWYTH, a beautiful tune of Welsh origin. The only text I believe it is ever paired with is by Charles Wesley, Jesus, Lover of my Soul.

The first time I ever remember hearing this hymn was when the choir from Canadian Nazarene College came to sing in Orkney church. I think it may have been 1971 during their spring tour of eastern Canada. I seem to recall it being sung a cappella; maybe one of my sisters will remember for sure. It's probably safe to say that the music that stays with us (especially for 40 years!) is connected to us in more than one way. I may not have remembered this hymn and the first time I heard it except that my parents taped the evening's concert on a new radio/cassette player we had with a built in mic. That tape was replayed often and the hymn remained with me. If you can ignore the lip syncing, you can hear Aled Jones singing Jesus, Lover of my Soul by going to this link. The second verse is sung in Welsh.

You can have all this world...

"How Sweet the Sound!" is already more than a week ago; how time flies! The concert went well and I really enjoyed working with professional singers again. It's been awhile since I could just sit down and play and not do the coaching side of it as well. Definitely a treat for me. :) I usually find that there are one or two songs, sometimes more, that stay in my head for a few days after a performance. This time one of them was the spiritual "Give me Jesus". In my opinion, music and text are perfectly wed to create a song filled with emotion and the spiritual longing to desire only Christ in all I do.

This performance is not the arrangement we did, but it captures the essence of the song very well.

Go Down, Moses!

These March days are full of preparations for an upcoming concert (details above) and once again, I found myself dreaming the music last night. You guessed it - the piece was "Go Down, Moses!" This is one of the selections I am collaborating with Encore Vocal Quartet to perform in 2 weeks' time. In my dream, I seemed to be playing the song from finish to start - a technique sometimes recommended to really know your stuff. To make things even stranger, the music was laid out on a long banquet table...? I didn't think I went to bed hungry, but then dreams come from weird places sometimes.

All dreaming aside, the evening promises to provide great entertainment and hopefully some inspiration to get us through the rest of our long, cold, windy winter in Winnipeg. (Temperature at 8 a.m. today was -27C.) Good thing one of the solo songs I'm playing is "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"!

Refreshing Winds

February has flown by! You might think that since I haven't posted anything about the conference, Refreshing Winds, that I didn't get anything worthwhile out of it. I did! It just seems that once that was finished, life kept on rolling at a crazy pace. Nearly 3 weeks have passed, and I guess it's now safe to say that the things I'm still thinking about are the things that made an impact on me.

The workshops were the highlight for me. I attended 2 given by Doug Gay - both very thought provoking and informative. The Saturday one gave me good insights into the emerging church movement and how it is shaping worship and, I believe, how it will continue to have an influence on the church.

Another great workshop was the one called "Improv-ing Worship" led by Marilyn Houser Hamm. She worked with other musicians, including CMU profs and students, to challenge us with breaking out of the traditional re: accompanying for worship, and into the improvisational. The Celtic flavour was strong with the use of fiddle, bodhran and pennywhistle. However, I'd have to say the most unusual twist came with a tango-like accompaniment and beat used for the German chorale "Jesus, priceless treasure" (Jesu, meine Freude). It really did work!

Last but not least, and perhaps leaving the most lasting impression on me, was the panel discussion with 4 CMU students who talked about their worship experiences. They each related the type of congregations they were nurtured in growing up (if any), and where they worship today. A wide range of experiences was revealed. The phrase that has been echoing in my mind ever since, that lasting impression articulated by one of these 20-somethings is this:
"We are ready to be ecumenical."