Music Notes

Music Notes

Orange Coast Choir is lucky to have several new singers join us in the last few months: Richard Belles, Tamara Colby, and Don Martin. If you’ve always wanted to sing in a choir, this would be a great opportunity for you too. We sing through the end of June, then take off July and August. The only requirements for joining choir are your ability to match pitch and follow directions. Choir rehearses every Thursday from 7:30-9pm, and they usually sing three Sundays per month. Talk to Beth if you’re interested in joining the choir, or just show up a bit early on a Thursday night.

I’d also like to highlight some of our own talented musicians who have been featured in recent worship services.

  • Susan Shaw and Amy Tompkins have been holding down the fort when I have Sundays off. I’m so grateful that when I’m away on my Sundays off, I don’t have to worry for one moment about how the music will go, since this power duo are so talented and dedicated.
  • Our small vocal group Sparks! has been even smaller lately - we just used a male trio for the Crosby Stills & Nash song “Find the Cost of Freedom.” Later in May a small women’s group will be singing a chant by 10th century composer Hildegard of Bingen. I appreciate the extra work they do after choir rehearsal every Thursday.
  • Alexandra Berrocal has been a featured soloist with the choir a few times lately. Her perfect pitch allows her to start without even receiving a note from the piano!
  • Dave Hardenbrook sang a touching song “William’s Doll” for the Free to Be...You and Me Sunday.
  • Linda Kraemer brought us her singing talents again on May 1st. Incidentally, we submitted the song that Linda and I wrote, Chants on the Seven Principles, to the Silliman Hymn Composition Competition. We’ll find out real soon if we’re going to be a finalist for the song selection. We hope the song can get more distribution throughout the UU world so more people can memorize the exact words of our seven principles.
  • New members Joel and JoLynn Ibanez have shared their vocal and piano expertise on several occasions already, and I hear they will be providing entertainment at the upoming Spring Auction. Don’t miss that!

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge the hard work that these folks are doing behind the scenes to make the sound and the slideshows flow smoothly on Sunday mornings: Jennifer Abt, Michelle Catlett, Adam Goldman, Jan Mabie, Katherine Martin, Joey Nakao, Jonathan Pearson Magoon, Barbara Schilling, and Katherine Tatis. Please give them kudos next time you see them.

If you’d like to participate in the choir, as a featured singer or instrumentalist, as a slideshow creator, or as a sound/slideshow operator, please contact me anytime. I’d love to have you involved in the Music Ministries at OCUUC! It helps out the church, plus it provides you an opportunity to engage with our community in a unique way. A win-win for everyone!

Beth Syverson
714-376-6666
MusicDirector@ocuuc.org


Beth Syverson was Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's Director of Music Ministries for 22 years.

Next
Thanks