Things are happening!

I suppose that's a rather obvious statement, isn't it? Right now, today, I think I'm using it as a bit of an excuse as to why you haven't heard from me in such a long time.

Here in Winnipeg, winter (or winter-like weather), is our longest running season pretty much every year. This year we've broken records not for coldest temperatures, but for how long it has been cold. We still haven't had a night that stayed above freezing and according to my little gardening diary, that's at least 2-3 weeks later than usual.We still have some snow on the ground with flurries forecast for tomorrow.  All this tends to be a little depressing. Everyone I know is sick and tired of winter. In fact, if someone told me they wanted more of this, I think I'd haul off and swat them!

Snow-covered field in February,

 about a 10 minute walk from home

I tend to be a winter hibernator and apparently, this blog was hibernating right along with me. It's time to get active again. In the last couple weeks the push has been on to get ready for some upcoming concerts and guest musician spots. These will mark the first time since my new CD launch back in November that I'll have both recordings for sale.  That in itself will be a bit of an adventure as I never really know how many to bring with me on such a trip. Beyond that sort of detail, I'm really looking forward to meeting people, seeing a part of Toronto I don't think I've ever been to before (the Beaches area) and going back to Ottawa for the first time in almost 30 years.  Where do the years go?

I often think of Natalie Sleeth's song "In the bulb there is a flower" while waiting for spring. You can read the full text at the Hope Publishing site, but here is a brief quote:

In the cold and snow of winter there's a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

What I've been up to...

Well, my readers, you haven't heard much from me in quite awhile. The photo tells part of the story: I've been busy with copyright licensing and other paperwork for the new CD. In addition, the design, layout and content for the liner notes and traycard (back of the CD case) had to be written, revised, edited and submitted to the manufacturer.

In red on a paper in the photo to the left you see "Book 1st Pres".  The biggest highlights of my musical career have been at First Presbyterian Church here in Winnipeg.  I gave my grad recital there on April 2, 1981 on the wonderful Beckerath pipe organ. Twenty-five years later, on April 2, 2006 I released my first CD, Notes of Faith. The launch celebration concert was also at First Church.  Once again I'll be playing in this lovely space to launch my new CD. The details are below.

Merry Christmas!

It's okay to greet each other by saying "Merry Christmas!" since we are still in the 12 Days of Christmas... Did I write the same thing last year? I wonder if I also said that some year I'd love to have a big carol sing in the week between Christmas and New Year's. Now that we're in a bigger home, with lots of space for the piano to reverberate, I think I should make it a project for 2012: more piano/music events at home. On March 13, 2012 it will be my piano's 25th birthday - that'd be a good place to start. The year could end with a carol sing... hmmm.

You can't beat live music!

This post, strictly speaking, is not faith related. However, it does have to do with music! Twice in the space of seven days, I've attended live music events. It doesn't get much better than that for me. As a musician who is more often than not sitting on the bench playing, it is a real treat to listen to others for a change. Last weekend, I was at the first ever national women's conference put on by the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Saturday was a 'free' evening with various events to attend. I chose the concert at the conference hotel with fabulous music by two groups: Clan Hannigan, led by Steafan, and Lost Pilgrims. A most enjoyable evening of music and entertainment.

Tonight I went to "Spring Fling", an annual fundraiser for the band program at my son's school. The music was provided by the jazz bands - one band per grade, Gr. 9 through 12 - and an alumni band. Once again, great quality music and really good entertainment.

These two very different events held 1,200 miles apart made me think about the power of music in our lives. It would be easy to take music for granted. After all, we hear it nearly everywhere we go - the grocery store, the airport, traveling in the car, etc. I can hear a song from a certain time in my life and be instantly 'transported' back to that year (1970 something?) and sometimes even a specific place where I was when I heard it.

Now, just for a moment, think about how this relates to the pieces we sing in worship. The staying power of words and music is phenomenal. Words of faith and statements of belief can be planted in our hearts and minds using music and be used over and over to assure us of God's love and plan for us. I say, bring on the music!

The greatness of God

Don't be frightened away! I'm not planning to attempt to write all my thoughts on the greatness of God. It's just that I've been reminded once again how many hymns and songs we sing proclaiming God's greatness. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I have a couple concerts coming up next week and in preparation for them I've been doing some research. In my concerts, I talk a little about the background of the pieces I'm playing - whether it be about the author or composer, or my own connection to the song. Next week's program includes 5 previously unperformed pieces and three of them embrace this very topic. They are: Our Great Saviour, Great is the Lord, and How Great is Our God. The respective publication dates of these pieces are: 1910, 1982, and 2004. It inspires me to know that songwriters, over all the decades and centuries that pass, are still finding new and creative ways to praise God. Why don't you come and hear for yourself?

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

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"!

January - exhilarating?

January is not always exhilarating. In fact, earlier this month I don't think I would have written what I am about to write. One week can make a big difference in a person's outlook though, and here in Winnipeg we have turned a weather corner. Last week, our temperatures were in the minus 30C range with nasty windchill to accompany that. This week, not so much! Add to that the fact that January is nearly over and it all feels good.

I am in the midst of making some concert arrangements for this coming spring, and am definitely planning to record a second CD in July. All these plans are very exhilarating to me, and just to top it off, I'll be attending the Refreshing Winds Conference next week out at CMU. I went to this conference in 2007 and was very inspired by the workshops, the worship, and the speakers. So, all this to say stay tuned for concert dates and a few thoughts on what I saw, heard and experienced at "Refreshing Winds".

High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art

One of the reasons I began this blog is that I enjoy writing. When I was a teenager, I made a little money writing poetry and short, inspirational pieces and it was always so exciting to get that cheque in the mail! I might have pursued writing as a career except that the passion of making music took over and I knew I couldn't do without music in my life.

On my recent trip to Calgary, it was a thrill to meet an author whose work I've read and learned from . Pictured below (L-R) are author Donna Fletcher Crow, me and Donna's daughter, Elizabeth who lives in Calgary.


Donna lives in Idaho and arrived in Calgary around the same time as I did for a family visit and a book signing this coming Saturday. My sister, Sharon, told Donna about my concert at Grace Presbyterian and I was excited to learn that Donna, Elizabeth and a friend were able to come hear me play. There's much more to it than meeting this author whose work I enjoy. Donna writes historical fiction and I learned when reading The Fields of Bannockburn and Glastonbury (the history of Christianity in Scotland and England respectively) that the Celts had many small kingdoms whose monarchs would come together to elect one to be King over all. His title was "High King". Applying this knowledge to the hymn "Be Thou My Vision" gave the words a whole new meaning for me! Donna came to me after the concert and thanked me for my words and shared that she too would never sing this hymn the same way again.

I believe that when we learn more about the hymns and songs we sing in worship, we strengthen and enrich their meaning and our own praise as well.

A Weekend in Calgary

I thought it would be fun to post a few photos on my blog from my weekend in Calgary, Alberta which was Sept. 17-19, 2010. For those who were at one of the events, you can share the memories with me. If you weren't there, maybe this will whet your appetite to come to a concert in the future!



The picture above was taken at Grace Presbyterian Church, Calgary where I played on Friday evening. What great acoustics to play in!



I believe this is the first selection after intermission, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". The second half of the program was a musical journey through the church year. It began and ended with Advent.


On Saturday, my friend, Jean, took me out to Canmore to the mountains. It was glorious!

Do you see those Rockies in the distance?

We're getting closer now!

The Three Sisters

Sunday morning I played at Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Calgary. They meet in the Orpheus Theatre on the campus of Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). It was a blessing to me to be part of the worship service, to learn a new worship chorus, and to teach the congregation there something new as well.

Here I am speaking about the 2 solo pieces I played: You Are My Hiding Place and a medley of Open the Eyes of My Heart and Be Thou My Vision.

All in all, a wonderful weekend filled with good music, good friends, and God's creation!

Excitement's in the Air!

My musical brain is just full of great melodies these days. I have been practising up a storm because ... ta da! On the weekend, I'm travelling west to Calgary, Alberta to play twice. One is a solo concert (Friday evening at Grace Presbyterian Church) and the other will be during the Sunday morning celebration service at Trinity Church of the Nazarene. I am so looking forward to connecting with old friends and making some new ones, as well as playing the music which reaches deep down to my soul and speaks to me. I know that it also speaks to those who listen because some of you have told me of your personal experiences. Thank you so much for that. To God be the glory!

Prepare the Way - Advent 3

I recently (Dec. 6th) presented a solo concert of Advent and Christmas music. Basically, I have two goals in preparing for such a concert. First - to give information about the music or words to make them more meaningful to the audience; second - to introduce lesser known works to expand musical horizons. My favourite new-to-me Christmas song is the Wexford Carol. I included it in the program as part of the second goal. I discovered it in a book of arrangements by Phillip Keveren called, appropriately enough, Celtic Christmas. Here is a most wonderful version I found on YouTube.

Prepare the Way - Advent 2

The darkness of December deepens; the light of Advent grows! There is so much wonderful music for this time of year that it was difficult to choose what to include in Sunday evening's concert program. Due to time constraints, this piece was not included.

Of the Father's Love Begotten

Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega
He the Source, the Ending He
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heaven, adore Him!
Angel-hosts, His praises sing!
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
And extol your God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring.
Evermore and evermore.

Words by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius
- based on the Latin hymn Corde Natus ex Parentis
Music derived from 13th Century Plainsong

The Latin hymn on which these words are based was written in the early Fifth Century by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius whose professions include being a lawyer, head bodyguard to a Roman Emperor and, later in life, a monk. These are only 2 of 10 English verses translated first by John Mason Neale and later revised by Henry W. Baker, both in the 1800's. The 13th Century plainsong melody is hauntingly beautiful and creates just the right mystical atmosphere of awe as we try to put into words the divine mystery of Christ's coming to earth.

The Seven O Antiphons

This photo is from the house concert I gave last weekend. The first half of the program consisted of arrangements of general hymns, some from my CD Notes of Faith. I began with Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and ended with On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand - both a nod to Black history month.

For the second half I decided to play selections from the church year. In every concert, I give notes on the history of the hymn, or the hymn writer, or some personal meaning that piece holds for me. Here I am counting off the seven great O antiphons of that wonderful Advent hymn, O come, O come Emmanuel. I was privileged to relate to my audience an almost mind-boggling bit of information which I read on this blog just before Christmas. There were audible sounds of awe - not sure how else to describe it - when I finished. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to share knowledge of the words of this ancient hymn, then sit down at the piano to play it knowing that I have helped my audience appreciate it even more than they did before.

Hanging on until...

The two photos above were taken about a week apart on Jan. 6/09 and Jan. 12/09. The snow continued to drift and the overhang got even bigger until I really began to wonder how long it would hang on. It eventually fell off on Friday when the temperature here in Winnipeg got above 0 (C). It struck me the other day that I was feeling a little like that drift... hanging on over the edge and looking down at the ground!

January became a very busy month for me. Part of the reason for that was the house concert I gave last evening. For the past couple of weeks, my head has been full of the music I was preparing, and the program notes I was writing, or at least thinking through in my head. One of the joys for me of performing is digging into the history behind the hymns and songs I am playing. I thought for this post, I'd share one of my favourite tidbits of insight from the program.

"Be Thou My Vision" - I love this hymn! The arrangement I play is by Teresa Wilhelmi and it is wonderful in its simplicity in places, and awesome in its power in others. A couple times in the words we find the phrase "High King of heaven". While reading The Fields of Bannockburn by Donna Fletcher Crow awhile back, I learned that the ancient Celts had many kings of small kingdoms. These kings would meet together and elect one of them to be the "High King" - the king of all kings. Singing "Be Thou My Vision" has taken on a new dimension for me ever since.