I am so grateful that OCUUC gives me enough Professional Development funds each year so that I can attend the annual UU Musicians Network Conference. This year it was held August 1-5 at the big UU church headed by Rev. Bill Sinkford (former President of the UUA) in Portland, Oregon. Here is a brief summary of what…
Costa Mesa, California
The regular column from Beth Syverson, OCUUC's Director of Music Ministries. Beth can be reached by email at musicdirector@ocuuc.org.
With deep gratitude to Rev. Sian, the Board, and all the volunteers who will help make this happen, I will be taking a medical leave through mid-June. I’ve been struggling with pericarditis (inflammation of the lining of my heart) for over a month, and I’m still not feeling better. I suspect the doctors haven’t unlocked…
Last month our newest ensemble debuted. U3 (Unitarian Universalist Ukuleles) performed “Over the Rainbow,” with guest singer Triston Dyer. I was thrilled to have 11 of us playing during our annual Ingathering service, including two children and one guest who had never attended OCUUC before joining U3! About half of the group had never learned…
Report on UU Musicians Network (UUMN) Annual Conference In July I spent five days with 230 of my UUMN colleagues in Arlington, VA at our annual conference. Here are some of the highlights: Every morning I enjoyed a worship service created by a worship team made up of UUMN members. It was wonderful to be…
Last month I was lucky enough to attend the Chorus America Conference in Cincinnati, thanks to this congregation’s support of my professional development funds. Here are a few highlights of the conference – things that I can tangibly apply to my work here at OCUUC: Speaker on multicultural programming and multicultural audience development. Does our…
I’d like to take this opportunity at the end of the church year to thank a few people who helped make the Music Ministries an inspiration for everyone this past year: The Music Committee – Barbara Schilling, Amy Tompkins, and Stacy Smith – creates fun events throughout the year to help raise funds for the…
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…