Free Concert in our sanctuary this Saturday, September 10th!
This Saturday, September 10th at 3:00 p.m., there will be a special concert in the UUCC Sanctuary, featuring Laura Silverman and friends, who will be performing piano quintets of Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich. Admission is free, but donations will be gratefully accepted. A portion of the proceeds will benefit UUCC’s Marcellene Hawk Memorial Fund.
Special Pre-Service Music this Sunday, September 11th!
Be sure to arrive early to church this Sunday, September 11th for pre-service music with drumming ensemble Samba Joia at 9:45 a.m.! Samba Joia, which translates to “The Jewel of Samba”, brings together people from all walks of life and all parts of the Cleveland area to revel in the beauty of music and community. Playing a variety of Afro-Brazilian and Brazilian-inspired rhythms, Samba Joia shares the sounds and culture of Brazil with all those in Northeast Ohio.
Samba Joia will begin playing at 9:45 a.m. this Sunday before the 10:15 service. Weather permitting, the music will happen outside near the main entrance from the parking lot, or inside in the sanctuary in case of rain. Samba Joia will also be playing special music during our Ingathering/Water Communion Service, including a postlude where UUCC members and friends will be encouraged to join in the musical celebration! (drums, shakers, and other instruments will be provided) Don’t miss this special musical event!
Music Notes – Sunday, September 11th :
This week’s musicians are Samba Joia, The Chancel Choir, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Opening Hymn: More Waters Rising – Saro Lynch-Thomason
Saro Lynch-Thomason is a ballad singer, folklorist, illustrator, author and social activist from Asheville, North Carolina. Her passion for traditional music, people’s struggles and Appalachian traditions has called her to perform, teach and produce media that tell the stories and songs of
America’s social history. Her distinct, powerful singing style transports audiences to Appalachian mountain hollers, 19th-century coal camps and old meeting houses. Since 2010, Saro has led the Asheville Community Sing and is still active as a songleader, composer, performer, and activist (from sarosings.com). Saro wrote “More Waters Rising” in 2016, and she describes her song in this way: “For me, this song is about seeing what’s coming on the horizon: harder times that are inevitable and unavoidable. But the answer to the fear of what’s coming is resiliency and claiming a strength within ourselves that has been there all along.”
Sung Meditation: River is Flowing – Traditional chant, arr. Carney
“River Is Flowing” is a chant/circle song that is often sung at Pagan gatherings. The origins of the song are unclear – some believe it is based on a Native American melody, while others claim it is an Irish or Hebrew folksong. Just like the water represented in the song’s lyrics, it seems to come from and flow into every part of our world. In this Sunday’s service, you’ll hear an arrangement of this song for voices by UUCC’s Music Director Mike Carney.
Offertory Music: Draw Up the Water from the Well – Clemens and Wright
James E. Clemens (b. 1966) is an American composer, performer, educator, and active member of the United States Hymn Society. His “Draw Up the Water from the Well” was written in 2004 and features many elements of traditional spiritual music, including syncopated rhythms and call-and-response style interplay between voices.
Closing Hymn: #1074 Turn the World Around – Belafonte and Freeman
When legendary Jamaican-American musician, songwriter, and activist Harry Belafonte (b. 1927) was the guest star on a season 3 episode of The Muppet Show in 1979, he explained the inspiration for “Turn the World Around” before performing the song with various Muppets in African garb. Belafonte said: “I discovered that song in the African country of Guinea. I went deep into the interior of the country, and in a little village, I met with a storyteller. That storyteller went way back in African tradition and African mythology and began to tell this story about the fire, the sun, the water, the Earth”. Belafonte pointed out the whole of these things put together turns the world around – that all of us are here for a very, very short time. In that time that we’re here, there really isn’t any difference in any of us, if we take time to understand each other. The question is: “Do I know who you are, or who I am? Do we care about each other? Because if we do, together we can turn the world around.” Co-written by Belafonte with jazz performer and arranger Bob Freedman (1934-2018), “Turn the World Around” was first released in 1977 on Belafonte’s album of the same name. The song is also the final selection (#1074) in our Singing the Journey hymnbook.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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