Windsong concert at 5:00 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 10th
If you came to church last Sunday, December 3rd, you got to enjoy 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 this Sunday, Dec. 10th when UUCC hosts Windsong’s winter concert: Don’t Dream It, Be It: A Broadway Extravaganza! The concert starts at 5 p.m. this Sunday the 10th, and tickets are available here.
Music Notes – Sunday, December 10th:
This Sunday’s musicians are Danelis Calderón and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
About today’s guest musician:
Danelis Cedeño Calderón started playing classical guitar in 2022. She is a current student of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Education Program, where she was awarded the 2023 CCGS Student of The Year. Danelis has attended masterclasses with William Kanengiser, Bokyung Byun, and David Russell and shared the stage with Berta Rojas, Hermelindo Ruiz, Thomas Flippin, and Boyd Meets Girl. She will participate in the LASP 11th Classical Guitar Festival & Youth Competition in February 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Danelis is a Fellow of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Musical Pathway Program under the guidance of Rodrigo Lara Alonso. Danelis’s appearance in today’s service is made possible through UUCC’s Change the Tune Cleveland fund.
Opening Hymn: Sing Out Praises for the Journey – DeWolfe/Purcell
#295 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Sing Out Praises for the Journey” was written by UU Minister, author, and activist Mark DeWolfe (1953-1988), who was a staunch AIDS activist and Canada’s first openly gay minister. The tune DeWolfe’s words are set to was written by English Baroque composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695). Purcell’s melody is commonly known as “Westminster Abbey” and is an excerpt from a larger choral anthem called O God, Thou Art My God, written by Purcell in 1680.
Centering Music: Snowflight – York Aire istmeño – Tamez
“Snowflight” is a 1994 composition for solo guitar by Grammy Award-winning American composer and guitarist Andrew York (b. 1958). York is one of today’s best-loved composers for classical guitar and a performer of international stature. His compositions blend the styles of ancient eras with modern musical directions, creating music that is at once vital, multi-leveled and accessible. Andrew spent 16 years as a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and he has also released eight solo albums and has dozens of published compositions (includes material from andrewyork.net).
Héctor Gerardo Tamez Domínguez (b. 1948) is a Mexican-American guitarist, composer, and music educator. Tamez rose to prominence during the 1960s as one of the founding members of Los Folkloristas, and he currently directs Terceto de Guitarras of Mexico City and the Tierra Mestiza Ensemble. Tamez’s large catalog of compositions includes works for solo instruments, orchestra, chorus, and numerous small ensembles. In 2018, he was awarded the Fine Arts Medal from Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature. He wrote and released “Aire istmeño” (Isthmian Air) in 1977 and it remains one of his best-known pieces today.
Offertory music: Anticueca 4 – Parra
Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (1917-1967) was a Chilean composer, performer, folklorist, and visual artist. Her work was so influential in her native country that her birthdate is now officially designated as “Chilean Musicians’ Day”. Sunday’s offertory music is from Parra’s set of Anticuecas (Antique pieces), composed in the late 1950s.
Closing Hymn: Wake Now, My Senses – Irish folk tune/Mikelson
#298 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Wake Now, My Senses” is a setting of “Slane”, an Irish folk song that is most commonly associated with “Be Thou My Vision” (which is also in our hymnal as #20). “Slane” is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick’s lighting of an Easter fire – an act of defiance against the 5th Century pagan king Loegaire – led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland. The words you’ll be hearing – and hopefully singing along with – this Sunday were written by the Rev. Thomas Mikelson (1936-2020), a UU Minister and native of Iowa who was also an educator and activist for racial justice and LGBTQ rights.
Postlude: Cueca valseada – Parra Bailongo – Pujol
“Cueca valseada” is a piece by Chilean composer, performer, and visual artist Violeta Parra (1917-1967). Parra was famously known as a folklorist who brought her native Chilean culture to audiences around the world. The cueca is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile and other southern regions of South America.
“Bailongo” (Open-air Cafes) is a piece for solo guitar by award-winning Argentine classical guitarist and composer Máximo Diego Pujol (b. 1957). This piece is from a larger published collection called Diez piezas fugaces (Ten Fleeting Pieces).
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director