Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman
A lovely at home concert from Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman …
Bagaduce Chorale Christmas Concert
One of the joys of my newly retired life is singing with the Bagaduce Chorale, a seventy-voice regional chorale ensemble that meets weekly in Blue Hill for rehearsals and performs three concerts each year in December, April, and July. Below is a playlist of songs from our most recent concert, a Christmas Concert performed three times on the weekend before Christmas. This recording comes from our last performance at St. Savior’s Episcopal Church in Bar Harbor. I sing a solo in the third song, “Angelus Ad Virginem.”
Bagaduce Chorale Christmas Concert
The Bagaduce Chorale, a seventy-five voice regional choir of which I am a member, presented a Christmas concert this past weekend. We performed Friday night and Saturday afternoon at First Congregational Church in Blue Hill and Sunday afternoon at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church in Bar Harbor. Here is the program …
Blue Hill
This is living in Blue Hill …
Friday: Singing Ola Gjeilo, Morten Lauridsen, Karl Jenkins, Moses Hogan and more with the Bagaduce Chorale in concert at the Blue Hill Congregational Church.
Saturday: Reprise of Friday’s concert.
Sunday: Breakfast and worship at Deer Isle/Sunset Congregational Church in the morning, and in the evening, attending a recital in Deer Isle by Jillian Gardner, a twenty-six-year-old internationally acclaimed organist.
Monday: Kayaking in Blue Hill Bay, seeing ten seals swimming and sunning.
Tuesday: Sailing with friends off Deer Isle. More seals. And in the evening, going to Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill (“the cradle of chamber music teaching in America”) to hear eight young artists, eight young world-class artists perform. First we heard Liyuan Xie, Camille Poirier, Lydia Grimes and Zoe Lin played Béla Bartók’s “String Quartet No. 3.” It absolutely blew me away, had me one the edge of my seat the whole time, had me in tears. And then, an exquisite “Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major” performed by Yu-Ming Ma, Ao Peng, Yifei Li, and Leon Bernsdorf.
Wow!
Film Review: “First Reformed”
I watched “First Reformed” last evening, the 2017 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. Actually I only watched about an hour of the movie, then turned it off and returned it to its Netflix envelope. So I don’t know what becomes of Rev. Toller or what transpires at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of First Reformed, but I can guess.
I turned it off because the film disturbed me, and not in a good way. I like movies that disturb me, in a good way, movies that provoke a struggle of thought and emotion, movies that challenge or reframe my way of thinking about the world and myself.
I was eager to see “First Reformed” because I expected it to be that kind of movie. I expected to see a nuanced portrait of a minister in crisis, struggling with the relevance and efficacy and authenticity of the faith, of the God, to which and to whom he was called to witness.
But there was no nuance here, no faith, and no God. Rev. Toller is an empty man, empty of any meaningful relationships, empty of meaning in his ministry, and empty of faith. He does not pray, but journals, substituting that as a kind of prayer, since he cannot pray. But his journaling is narrow in scope, little more than a diary, focussed entirely on himself. He does not invite God in or open his life up for examination as another soul searching for the place of God in this world did: “Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.”
But what disturbed me most about the film, as a minister, was its caricatured portrayal of ministry. At every point, the possibility of the presence of authentic faith, of genuine seeking after God, was undercut. The teenaged singer rehearsing a praise song with the Abundant Life choir tries to “feel up” the girl standing in front of him. The female director has slept with Rev. Toller and now is crazy to have him. The pastor of the “big box” Abundant Life church jokes that Martin Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” while pooping. And his televised devotional is canned, cliched, overproduced.
Ministry itself is assumed to be inauthentic, self-serving, a sham, a scam. Nobody really believes in what they are doing. That is not to say that much of what pretends to be ministry today is not inauthentic, self-serving, a sham, a scam, because much is. But it can only be shown as such in contrast to a kind of ministry that is authentic, humble, sincere in its desire to help and to serve … and to be faithful and accountable to God.
But here there is no contrast. Ministry itself is no more than showmanship and the church either a soundstage (Abundant Life) or a museum (First Reformed). And the only way to find meaning is to escape (or destroy) the church and to abandon even any attempt at faith.
I can imagine a film beginning in the same place with the same people in the same circumstances as this film and telling an entirely different story. I wish “First Reformed” had been that film …
axiom brass
I heard Chicago-based Axiom Brass Quintet in concert this afternoon in Blue Hill. They were fabulous — terrific musicians and great entertainers. The quintet played Holborne, Bach, Jorgensen, Ulery and Piazolla. It would be very difficult for me to pick a favorite from among the pieces. They were all delightful and quite diverse in style. Here’s a sample, a YouTube video recording of the second movement of the Piazolla suite they played …
Sierra Hull live
Heard Sierra Hull play the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis last evening with bassist Ethan Jodziewicz and guest pianist/accordion player, Sam Reider. Scott Mulvahill, bass player, songwriter, and sometime band member with Ricky Skaggs opened. It was an extraordinary evening: pure singing, exquisite arrangements, remarkable musicianship, joyful and uplifting tone. Here’s a live sample of the concert from Sierra’s Facebook page …
“miah and friends”
Watch a video recording of the finale from the “Miah and Friends” organ recital performed at First Congregational United Church of Christ on April 29. The piece is “Maestoso” from “Organ Symphony No. 3” by Camille Saint-Saens. Miah Han plays organ, accompanied by timpani and a brass quintet.
The concert provided all of us who shared the afternoon with Miah an experience of extraordinary richness and beauty. When she finished playing Buxtehude’s “Prelude and Fugue in G Minor,” I told myself, “That is going to be my favorite of the program.” Then she played Franck’s “Choral No. 2 in B Minor,” and I decided that was my favorite. And then she played “Messe de la Pentecôte” by Olivier Messiaen and I knew that was my favorite!
The music from beginning to end was dazzling and moving and awe-inspiring. The program was well-designed, providing moments that were in turn meditative and exuberant and whimsical. The “friends” Miah gathered added to the joy of the afternoon: brass players and a timpanist, a soprano soloist and, of course, her husband, Taemin. Their organ/piano duets were a highlight of the program, her impeccable musicianship matched by Taemin’s remarkably clean and technical and passionate playing.
To view videos of the other pieces on the concert program, go to Taemin’s YouTube channel: Taemin’s YouTube Channel.