Save the date: Windsong and Good Company next Sunday, Dec. 3rd
Don’t miss our service next Sunday, December 3rd, with special music from Windsong: Cleveland’s Feminist Chorus, a group that boasts a long and full Herstory of making beautiful music while promoting feminism and social justice. UUCC is proud to support Windsong and their mission, and glad to have them back in our sanctuary next Sunday!
Next Sunday, December 3rd is also the concert date for Good Company: A Vocal Ensemble, who will be welcoming guest composer and conductor René Clausen to Cleveland as part of Good Company’s Contemporary Composers Series. Dr. Clausen will lead a masterclass at Harkness Chapel (on the CWRU campus) on Friday, Dec. 1st, and then guest conduct Good Company on Sunday, December 3rd in A Joyful Noise, a concert featuring Dr. Clausen’s compositions. The concert will be at 3:00 p.m. at Lakewood Presbyterian Church (14502 Detroit Road) in Lakewood. Many of you know that I direct Good Company, and several UUCC members and friends sing with the group as well, including Amy Collins, Leon Michaud, Anne and Steve Sanford, Pam Schenk, and Holly Walker. Click here for more information about these events.
Music Notes – Sunday, November 26th:
This Sunday’s musician is UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley
Opening Hymn: #404 What Gift Can We Bring – Marshall
“What Gift Can We Bring” was written in 1980 by Texas native Jane Marshall (1924-2019) for the 25th anniversary of her congregation, Northhaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Over her long career, Marshall wrote over 200 hymns and anthems for her home congregation and others. Today, “What Gift Can We Bring” can be found in the hymnals of many denominations, including in our own Singing the Living Tradition (#404).
Centering Music: Thanksgiving – Winston
American pianist and composer George Winston (b. 1949) is known mostly for folk and jazz, although he has written and performed in a wide range of styles. According to Winston, his contemplative “Thanksgiving” was ‘inspired by friends and places of Miles City, Montana’. “Thanksgiving” is the first track of Winston’s 1982 album December.
Offertory music: Thankful – Foster, Sager, and Page
“Thankful” was the result of a collaboration between three professional songwriters: the Grammy and Academy Award-winning Carol Bayer Sager (b. 1947), who has performed as a solo artist and written lyrics for Melissa Manchester, Marvin Hamlisch, and Burt Bacharach (among many others), Richard Page (b. 1953), who is famously known as the lead singer and songwriter of the band Mister Mister and continues to work as a songwriter and performer to this day, and Canadian composer-arranger-producer David Foster (b. 1949), who has won 16 Grammy Awards to date and has written and produced music for Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, Whitney Houston, and dozens of other artists. Foster, Sager, and Page wrote “Thankful” for renowned American singer-songwriter and actor Josh Groban (b. 1981), who recorded and released the song on his 2007 holiday album Noel.
Closing Hymn: #1010 We Give Thanks – Perkins
A native of Nova Scotia, Wendy Luella Perkins (b. 1966) is a singer, songwriter and UU Minister. Still active as a musician, Wendy is also known as a local food and farm activist in Ontario, where she currently lives. Ms. Perkins wrote “We Give Thanks” in 2004, and her song is #1010 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook.
Postlude: What a Wonderful World – Weiss & Thiele
“What a Wonderful World” was written in 1967 by record producer Bob Thiele (1922-1996) and songwriter George David Weiss (1921-2010). The song was first offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down, and it was subsequently recorded by Louis Armstrong. Armstrong’s now-famous recording did not initially receive much attention or airplay in the United States, although it became a #1 hit in the United Kingdom. Over the years, “What a Wonderful World” has become one of the best-known and beloved standards in American popular music, having been recorded by dozens of other artists (including one Mr. Tony Bennett) and featured on the soundtracks of numerous movies and television shows.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director