By Mark Heiskanen
Songs of joy and community this Fall Kick-Off Sunday!
Creative variations on the famous “Ode to Joy” by Charles Callahan opens worship. The tune, well-known for its inclusion in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the melody for the hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”), is arranged in a series of variations (a partita) including for manuals, pedals alone and culminating in a dance-like jig. To close worship, a toccata dedicated “for a joyful day” by Emma Lou Diemer sends you out into the parking lot for fellowship, fun and a rollicking pep band of U-W alumni, students and local musicians.
The Chancel Choir returns to worship for the new program year with the spiritual “Wade in the Water” arranged by Brad Printz. A call to human dignity and to raise “good trouble”, let’s walk forward together into this new program year of possibilities.
Staff Singers Sachie Ueshima, Jessica Kasinski, Kendall Terhaar and Patrick Malnaa offer a work as the Quadrilateral Quartet in “Are We Yet Alive” arranged by Mark Miller. A staple Wesleyan text of the denomination, the words speak to the perseverance of the Blessed Community and the promise of God’s grace in the journey ahead. Composer Mark Miller’s works are commonly used in progressive traditions with its emphasis on inclusion and social justice. Mr. Miller also comes from a family of Methodist ministers and has served on the hymnal revision committee for the United Methodist Church. His arrangement of the Charles Wesley 1749 text employs a fun gospel and blues treatment that may just get your toes tapping — joyfully!