My Last 3 Months… A “Bleet”

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I have posted on my blog.  I have sincerely missed writing and posting.  Where does the time go?  In an effort to catch up fast and move forward, I offer you… a bleet!!

What, you ask, is a bleet???  A bleet is a cross between a short blog post and a tweet.  See, with a bleet, you can be short, but you don’t have to keep it to 140 characters, which, of course, is an absolute impossibility with me.  (And in case you’re wondering, I just made all that up!)

So, here’s my bleet about the last 3 months:

Julia with Bryan Ashley

At The Mother Church:  March, April and May took me weekly up to Boston where I continue to sing as Soloist at The Mother Church.  I sang some gorgeous, inspired music ranging from the wonderful contemporary songs of Mindy Jostyn, (“I And My Father Are One” and “Prodigal Child”) to a perennial favorite, “On Eagle’s Wings,” to several deeply loved traditional treasures: “Arise, Shine” by James MacDermid (with acoustic grand piano) and the healing words and music of “Reality” by Dorothy Currey Chancellor.

At The Watchfire Music Listening Room:  From March through May, I performed at The WFM Listening Room in New York City.  As a partner in Watchfire Music, I have been helping to develop this wonderful performance venue with Peter Link and have also co-produced concerts when not performing:

Songs of Spring — An 11th Hour Addition!

Hi Folks,

After I posted “Songs of Spring” — a list of Easter and Spring solos, Watchfire Music composer Carolyn Kardinal sent a brand new Easter solo, “Rabboni, Rabboni” to be added to her WFM web page.  It’s now available.

If you are still searching for that last minute gem of a piece for your worship service — this may be just the answer!

Enjoy exploring this beautiful new solo hot off the press! Click here for more info.

Songs of Spring

Hello, my fellow friends in hibernation!  Can you feel it?  You know, that subtle little thing in the air — riding  just behind the final March rains and snows — telling us that indeed, the winter is over.

Ah!  I am so ready for fragrant warm breezes, sunshine days, green trees, fields of flowers and birds singing in the air.  Here in New York City, all that translates to walks in Central Park and long hikes and runs along the Hudson River Park.  Those are my two nature options living in NYC, and let me tell you, I am grateful for them!

Springtime New York Style (from nylacoast2coast.wordpress.com)

I can’t wait to get outside again!  It has been a long and most definitely indoor winter for me.  Time to break out!  For me, Easter always heralds this breaking out,  and it’s just around the corner again… in a couple of weeks!

So let me get to the point:  While dreaming of the flowers and fresh air to come, this blog post is really a last-minute list of some great Easter and springtime sacred music available on watchfiremusic.com.   For you singers still seeking that perfect Easter Solo for your church’s worship services, check out these songs!  Enjoy!!

Djembe Thanksgiving – Part 5

Djembe Thanksgiving
Part 5:
Drums in Church – Some Concluding Thoughts

Read Part 1: The Drummers and Joe
Read Part 2: Kurzweil Jeff
Read Part 3: Oy! Logistics, Permissions and Switzerland, Oh My!
Read Part 4: A Joyful Chaos!

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Kemi Awosile

My friend Kemi Awosile put me in contact with Steve Okwor, an African drummer who organized the drummers for our Thanksgiving Day service at The Mother Church (TMC).  She had sat in and drummed with this group before, and so I asked her how she felt about her experience.

Kemi said, “I am in awe of the communication that occurs when two or more people sit down to drum.  The inner and outer rhythms, the call and response back and forth and the pure joy of working together and off of one another all leave me breathless and spell bound. For me, it is miraculous and magical to get to play with these folks.”

Djembe Thanksgiving – Part 4

Djembe Thanksgiving
Part 4:
A Joyful Chaos!

Read Part 1: The Drummers and Joe
Read Part 2: Kurzweil Jeff
Read Part 3: Oy! Logistics, Permissions and Switzerland, Oh My!
Read Part 5: Drums In Church — Some Concluding Thoughts

One of my most favorite times on Sundays and special service days is my morning walk over to the church.  I love to see the sun’s light starting to illuminate the church and the huge plaza with the reflecting pool that runs right by it.

Morning at The Mother Church (Tony Arruza/Corbis)

There is often a security guard somewhere along the plaza all bundled up that I wave to, and there is such peace, tranquility and beauty. Thanksgiving Day was no exception.

I always think of this phrase from a favorite hymn during my ritual walk:
“A glorious day is dawning and o’re the waking earth,  The heralds of the morning are springing into birth.” ¹

As those morning heralds, I like to get into the church good and early while it is still quiet.  On this morning, I needed to get there even a bit earlier to get warmed up.  The drummers were coming!  I had to be ready!

Djembe Thanksgiving – Part 3

Djembe Thanksgiving
Part 3:
Oy! Logistics, Permissions and Switzerland, Oh My!

Read Part 1: The Drummers and Joe
Read Part 2: Kurzweil Jeff
Read Part 4: A Joyful Chaos!
Read Part 5: Drums In Church — Some Concluding Thoughts

The week before Thanksgiving, we were able to arrange a one-hour time slot in which everyone could rehearse at The Mother Church.  Let me tell you, with all of the drummer/nurses’ on-call schedules, the teaching and performing schedules of the Berklee guys, the scheduling of the church and its musicians, including travel schedules, tech crew and administrative folks, this was no easy feat.

We blazed through that one-hour Friday night rehearsal and got through a lot of things – but we clearly couldn’t cover it all in that amount of time.  It went well, but afterward, there was concern about the overall readiness of this endeavor.

Would everyone really know what to do during the service?  Would we have enough time to manage the logistics of moving 10 people and the drums into places without causing major traffic jams in a fairly small space – not once, but twice during the service?  Would the African drums playing in a reverberant hall be overpowering?  Could we solve all of this and more in one final 90-minute rehearsal?

The answers to these questions and more, a number of inquiring minds wanted to know…

Djembe Thanksgiving – Part 1

Djembe Thanksgiving
Part 1:
The Drummers and Joe

Read Part 2: Kurzweil Jeff
Read Part 3: Oy! Logistics, Permissions and Switzerland, Oh My!
Read Part 4: A Joyful Chaos!
Read Part 5: Drums In Church — Some Concluding Thoughts

I am grateful for many things, and as I stand facing forward into the New Year, African drumming is one of them!  Looking back over 2009, one of the stand-out moments for me was the Thanksgiving Service in Boston at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, (The Mother Church) where I serve as soloist.

This year, we had the distinct privilege of including some truly soulful folks whose lives are given to healing and caring.  These folks also happen to be mostly African and drummers and they are Christian Science nurses and they shared their musical gifts with the congregation during the Thanksgiving service.

Rehearsal in the Original Edifice of The Mother Church: Doris Olawuwo, Tamie Kanata, Nathan Frederick, Joe Galeota, Dogah Koblavi, Teresa Ambugo, Steve Okwor, Julia Wade

In my inimitable fashion, I will be telling you some stories and sub-stories of this experience – in 5 parts!  It was such a rich, unifying and uplifting endeavor that went way beyond the actual church service (which was wonderful – but more on that later!)  So here’s the story, or actually, here are the stories…

Interview with Composer Greg Granoff – Part 2

Music Chose Him:
An Interview with
Inspirational Composer Greg Granoff
Part 2

My interview with composer Greg Granoff kicks off a new part of Inspiratus.
It will be featuring interview/conversations with artists of all kinds.
The idea is to explore just how inspiration, creativity, and spirituality all play a role in the development, creation and reception of an artist’s work.

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Read Part One of my interview with Greg Granoff

To continue with our conversation, Watchfire Music Composer Greg Granoff has spoken in depth about his approach to composition and his thoughts on creativity. Greg also mentioned his work in the Music Department at Humbolt State University.

Lyrics and Church — Part 1

Recently, my good friend Kristie commented on this blog that she sang “From A Distance” as a solo in her church. Now, unless she corrects me, I believe she is referring to the Julie Gold song “From A Distance” sung by the divine Miss M, Bette Midler. (I love her! And I love Julie Gold!)

The Divine Miss M-Bette Midler

Feedback that came to Kristie was that some folks weren’t thrilled about the lyrics — meaning, I think, that maybe they thought the lyrics weren’t quite right for their church service – the song may not have had the substance they were looking for.

It’s happened to all of us who sing regularly in church: we sing something that is not everyone’s “cup of tea” or preference, or sense of theology. It’s a tough one.

The Master’s Voice

There is a lady who spends her days in an incredible place on the planet. She lives at the foot of the Front Range in Colorado where she composes beautiful ballads, solo songs and choral pieces for her church and the world.

She writes lyrics that soar and offer expressions of gratitude, joy, devotion, inner reflection, comfort, worship and praise. Her music is inspired. Remarkably, this lady’s method of tithing to her church is to offer her music on the internet as free sheet music downloads. What a gift!

Sally Deford is a prolific composer of Christian Inspirational music that crosses over many religions. She is a member of the Mormon Church, yet much of her music lives and breathes in other church denominations as well.