Music Director Ebee Bromley Monthly Blog
Think of the first instrument you were ever taught in school. Was it the recorder for you as well? Or maybe it was the ukulele. Remember how slow it was to change between one note or chord to the next. Remember how awkward you first felt to do something new? But you kept at it…
This month our collective focus at UUBerks is exploring ways in which our times call us to “Open to Joy.” Certainly the music of this month often resounds with Joy. A lot of songs tell us to be joyful “Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice Greatly!” Handel wrote. He also has that lasting ditty “Hallelujah.” There’s more recent … Continue reading Do You Hear What I Hear?
In this summer of possibility, in this summer where we’re, maybe surprisingly, still in uncharted territory, I encourage you to “follow the good notes.” What resonates with you? What feels right in this moment? What are you holding onto that’s creating a suspension? What are you playing ahead and offering an anticipation of chords and moments to come? What sounds right at this time? Follow the good notes.
So I’m hoping that we can play together, that we can dance for a long time. I’d like to ask you to play with me as our hymn #311, written by Ric Masten asks “Let it be a dance we do, may I have this dance with you…”
We start this month of Becoming off with Easter and each year it is a blessing to hear our trumpeters resound this joyous holiday. As I grew up in the Unitarian Universalist faith, I always knew the Easter Hymn with Unitarian Transcendentalist, Samuel Longfellow’s, words “Lo, the Earth Awakes Again.” Those of us who grew … Continue reading What are you awakening?
If you have the teal hymnal at home, you might notice hymn number 1014 was originally published with a name other than “Answering the Call of Love”. You see when Singing The Journey was published the song “Standing on the Side of Love,” was a new song. It was a song inspired by the UUA … Continue reading Beloved Community in Song
When making music, there comes a time to be silent. This can often be confused for stillness. While our voices or instruments may not be ringing – we are listening for the next entrance, we are counting the measures, we are watching the conductor. There is a lot of activity underneath all of that stillness. … Continue reading Stillness and Silence
For this month of Deep Listening I can’t help but think about suspensions. In a lot of ways I feel like we are in a time of suspension. In music a note that’s holding over from a time before and not quite arrived at someplace else. I’m choosing to name it ‘someplace else’ instead of … Continue reading Moving in Suspension
We were perfectly happy with the chord on the left. It’s easy to play on the piano at least. That chord is probably one of the first things piano folx learn how to play. The middle one makes the same chord, same notes but it’s harder. The middle chord we have to stretch our eyes. … Continue reading Striking a Chord
I first heard Kate and Justin Miner’s “Tomorrow” in the first days of UU wide collegial collaboration, in that mid March time when we were first trying to swim in this COVID shut down era. I was grateful to Rev Teresa Soto for sharing the Persisters of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland singing this … Continue reading There will be better days…
