Music Blog

Welcome. A new year is beginning at First Parish. Welcome is such a multi-faceted word. It can be a noun, the act of greeting someone. It can be a verb, the act of reaching out or accepting something happily. It can be an adjective, descriptive of something gladly received. None of that fits for me. To say, “Welcome” means in this context, something deeper, “Let’s start anew into a spiritual journey called, ‘UU Values.’” This implies much more that a mere greeting. It is a a commitment to...

Shining through our year of Intention, and all the monthly themes, I see our First Parish choir. Belonging to the choir is to embody compassion, abundance, and courage as we notice with awe the rituals that awaken us to be flourishing together. (All underlined words are monthly themes this year.) To sing together is to engage your spirit and singers’ awareness of the singing of those around them elevates that spirituality. Shared spirituality is shared ministry. Shared ministry is looking...

This month, our theme is Rituals. Music has such a profound role in rituals at a church service. Before I mention that, my mind goes to the music used in movies or TV shows. Without music, shows might be devoid of feeling, definitely rendering them incomplete. As part of a show, I can see someone walking down a darkly-lit path at night. With benign music, why should we even watch? Yet in that same scene, imagine that drums are beating a heartbeat tempo, getting louder, then violins or string...

In our worship planning, we, the staff, focus on themes which give us inspirations for creating weekly worship services. This month, it is “Awakening.” It is as if, after being asleep, I wake to something new or something with more depth: appreciation of beauty, being able to name what I are grateful for, seeing a need and finding ways to care for others, perhaps a more mindful and purposeful ability to listen to others and the world around me. It is my habit to awaken to music as a joyful...

I am making a bold statement that “music helps us pay attention.” If I am trying to remember something important, I sometimes put that content into a melody and it then stays with me. And then, there is the issue of what we choose to pay attention to. I am humbled by our musical community, how diverse it is, and how much we have to celebrate with the people that join together, creating this community. On March 8th, during Music Sunday, we will pay attention to music and role it plays in our...

This month, “embodiment” is our theme. What does that even mean—and what does it mean to me, the music director? So, I looked up what “embodiment” means: “a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.” It could mean a realization of what matters and how we live our values. Well, music is rather central to my life, but that is because of you. Sharing music is a path that embodies and demands bringing people together. Making music together, whether we are singing a hymn, listening...

Happy New Year! Welcome 2026! This is a true story from the days of people enslaved, thinking of escaping. Imagine that you were born on a plantation and had never left it. You had heard of others like you who had escaped North. You do not know what or where “North” is. Then you heard a song that told you how to find and follow North. The song is “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” which describes the north star in the constellation, the little dipper. If the night is cloudy and you can’t see the...

Even though the weather has gotten cold, I notice a sense of Awe in the air.  I admit that I get much joy from tending our yard during the warm season. But, when it gets cold, the trees and plants get to rest. They shed their leaves with the certainty of them returning in the spring, restored from their time being dormant. Similar to the natural world around us, I am looking for magic in the air and renewal. If I can be open-ended in my experience of the every-day, I can let the light in and...

For the All-Souls Service on November 2nd, the First Parish choir is singing an anthem about the urgency of actions needed because of climate change, called More Waters Rising. The composer of this anthem, Saro Lynch-Thomason, has quoted Theodore Parker from 1853, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (a quote often attributed to MLK, Jr.) This anthem is a reminder that the arc will not bend towards justice on its own. It does so through the constant compassion,...

The collective voices of the First Parish’s choir will be heard at the October 5th worship service. We are singing some beautiful music this month and for the whole 2025—26 season. Choosing music for the choir is a labor of love for me. I look through our large library of music; I pore through sheet music catalogs; I recall music that I heard at the Association of UU Music Ministries (AUUMM) conference this past July. I try to choose lyrics that fit us and fit our worship themes. I listen, I...