“Take a music bath…and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
While we all know that listening to music is good for the soul, creating music with others offers a number of additional restorative benefits. We often refer to our “music community” because rehearsing and performing music with others fosters a sense of connection, belonging, and accomplishment that nurtures our community.
One of the many goals that we have for the Music Program at OCUUC is to make it easy, relaxed, and fun for people to come and join our music community by sharing their talents.
Here are three opportunities for you to share your talents. If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, send us an email at musicdirector@ocuuc.org.
Drummers and Strummers
The Drummers and Strummers group is for people who want to sing or drum or strum along with others in a group which includes percussion instruments (such as cajóns, djembes, doumbeks, tambourines, shakers, idiopans, etc.) and lute-type instruments (such as guitars, ukuleles, etc.) This joyful group reads through several pieces of music each meeting, and performs selected pieces on Sunday mornings.
We have beginners to advanced players in our group. All are welcome!
One of our philosophies is that it's easier to practice if you schedule it. With this in mind, the next meeting of the Drummers and Strummers will be on Thursday evening, August 7th, at 6:30 pm. Starting August 20th, we will meet at 6:30 pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. All meetings are in the Victoria Room and on Zoom.
Choir
If you enjoy singing with others, come join the Choir! The only requirement to join this fun group is that you need to be able to follow directions and match pitch.
The Choir is on break for the summer, but we still get together on Sunday mornings as a “pop-up choir” to help lead the congregational songs.
Our new Choir season starts soon, so now is a great time to come join us! Throughout the Choir season, the choir performs in three Sunday services per month.
We rehearse on Thursday evenings from 7:00 pm through 8:30 pm. All rehearsals are also available through Zoom. Our first rehearsal of the new season will be on Thursday, August 14th, and we’re planning to be in the new Sanctuary!
If you didn’t already notice, the acoustics are really great in the new Sanctuary. Come and be a part of this experience!
Open Mic Night on Saturday, September 27th, at 7:00 pm
Our next Open Mic Night will be Saturday, September 27th at 7pm in the friendly confines of Daniels Hall.
Open Mic Night is open to any family-friendly act. Each performer can have 4 minutes for their act. All ages, abilities, and types of acts are welcome. Music, poetry, drama, comedy, dog acts, dance, you name it!
This will be a hybrid event, so performers and audience members can be at home or on-site. On-site performances are preferred, but we will accommodate Zoom performances as well.
OCUUC Music Mission Statement: Creating music together that affirms our universal message of community, service, love, and hope.
Susan Shaw and Steve Morihiro
Co-Directors of Music
musicdirector@ocuuc.org
Susan Shaw and Steve Morihiro, both longtime choir members, are the Co-Directors of Music Ministries.