Farewell

Sunday was Phillip's last service at Trinity. Our time with the saints there was too short, and we have been humbled and touched by the love shown to us this week as we leave after only one year. You would think we had been there for twenty! Over and over again I have heard, "We are so thankful for the time we had with you." That feeling is mutual and makes our leaving much harder than I ever anticipated. Still, we trust that God knows what He is doing and give thanks for the time we did have with these truly godly people. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Going away dinner with elders and their wives

One of the TWO cakes!

Evan eyeing the other cake.

Cantor preparing to cut the first piece!

Saying goodbye to a young friend. :*)

 

 

What it's all about.

Preparing to Say Goodbye

In two weeks Phillip will play his last service at Trinity. Our stay among the people there has been short, but the love has been tremendous. We are sad to leave new friends so soon but thankful for the time we had in their midst. They were exactly what we needed at exactly the time we needed them and we hope and pray they feel the same about us. I did not go to church prepared with my good recorder today, so these were taken with my cell phone. The quality may not be the best, but the memories are priceless. To the people of Trinity: thank you for everything.


"We Will Tell the Next Generation" (Psalm 78) from Cheryl on Vimeo.



"Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

♫ Notes of Encouragement ♪

Several days ago the Cantor received an appreciation gift from the first graders at our church's day school. It consisted of handwritten notes from the students glued to a large piece of poster board. In the interest of both sharing and preserving for future enjoyment, here is a sampling:

"Your the best. Thank very much!"

"I like it very nice."

"Thanks for the help."

"Good job."

"You are the best."

"Thak you Mr. Magise."

"Tak you for help us doing sing."

"Thack you. :-)"

"I love you."

And my personal favorite:

"Thank you. You are the one how shud get the credit."

Intrepid Lutherans

We are having floods in Chicago. Schools have cancelled classes and activities, cars are falling into sinkholes, rivers are breaching their banks, and sump pumps are working overtime. But did that stop our middle grade choir from keeping their scheduled date to sing at Concordia University-Chicago this morning? No, it did not. These are Southsiders, after all. They are made of tougher stuff. And they have a leader who allows very little to come between him and the liturgy. (Of course, that meant his accompanist had to make the trip, too.)

It goes without saying that the children sang beautifully, receiving many accolades from students and professors alike. The drive to and from CUC was uneventful, if a bit longer than usual. Many thanks to everyone whose support made this day possible!

He almost didn't let me share this one.

He's still getting over a bug, and the voice is a little stressed. (Or so he says.) He had to transpose this into a lower key last night so he could sing it.

That's Evan turning around to grin at me. (And yes, he did comb his hair this morning--why do you ask?) Caitlin is next to him.

The congregation loved this. Little do they realize that some day they'll be joining in on that refrain. :-D




Psalm 148 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

The Best of Easter Sunday

For those interested who might not see these otherwise.


Our Middle Grade Choir totally rocked this one with text by Gerhardt, music by Magness. Rise and shine!

"Awake" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Worldwide premier of this new organ Prelude by our friend Rev. Jon Vieker:

Prelude on GAUDEAMUS PARITER ("Come Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain") from Cheryl on Vimeo.

The piano man doing what he does.

"Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

One of our favorite choral works, composed by our friend Kevin Hildebrand. Trinity's choir has not done a great deal of a cappella singing, but you wouldn't know it from this performance. Kudos to them for their hard work and dedication. And yes, they have a pretty good director. :-)

"I Am the Resurrection" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

And finally, some full-out congregational singing with rockin' brass. I was a little too close to the brass section, so the brass-organ balance is not reflected very well in the video.

"Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

I will probably put up a few more--if you are interested, keep checking my Vimeo page. By the way, I attended three services yesterday, so even though I did some videotaping I had plenty of opportunities to just sing. Happy Easter. He is risen!

Good Friday

A sampling of last night's musical selections for those who would like to listen. Thank you to all the musicians who gave of their time and talents in the service of the Word last night. Many were blessed by your efforts.

Psalm 2 led by a specially recruited Good Friday youth choir. The congregation joins in on the refrain and the adult choir assists with the descant. After the organ prelude, this was the first musical selection of the service.

 .
Psalm 2 from Cheryl on Vimeo.


A dramatic and powerful meditation on Jesus' anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. "“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

 
"Thy Will Be Done" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

The treble choir again, singing the Isaiah text: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)


"Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs" from Cheryl on Vimeo.


 A quiet moment in the darkness, shortly before all the lights are extinguished and the strepitus is heard. "Sorrow and love flow mingled down." This is the essence of Good Friday: so awful, and yet so very good.

 
"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"No Tramp" Past and Present

I find it interesting to compare last year's Palm Sunday singing of this hymn with this year's. There are things I appreciate about both. Last year's version includes Phillip singing the verse (John 12:23) as a lead-in. I love that, not just because of my husband's beautiful singing, but because of the chill-inducing drama of moving from the quiet observance that "The hour has come" to the ominous opening notes of the hymn. Those notes text-paint the marching not of soldiers in a celebratory parade, announcing the arrival of the king, but instead that of guards escorting a condemned prisoner to his death.



Palm Sunday Verse/Hymn of the Day from Cheryl on Vimeo.

This year's version includes not just Phillip's organ setting (sounding even more powerful than before) but a new choir stanza he recently composed. Listen halfway through the stanza as the choir represents the cacophonous mocking and jeering of the crowd.



"No Tramp of Soldiers' Marching Feet" (Lutheran Service Book 444) from Cheryl on Vimeo.

This is a new hymn for Trinity. The choir sang the first stanza in unison to model the melody. You may notice that our new church has projection screens mounted in the front of the church (as well as at the rear). This post is not about that topic, but I would like to note that while I can at times appreciate certain benefits of the screens, overall I think they are a detriment to robust congregational singing, as well as to the learning of new songs. Phillip has a rule for his younger choirs: unless they know the hymn tune so well that they can sing it perfectly while looking only at the words, they must sing out of their hymnals. Unfortunately he can't make a similar rule for the congregation. ;-) But even people who don't read music can benefit from seeing the layout of the notes on a page and observing which notes are long, which are short, which ones go up, and which ones go down!

I was very proud of our choir Sunday. There is always a lot for both musicians and director to learn in the first year of working together, but I think this choir and their cantor are making some beautiful music together. I can't wait for the rest of this week!

Kindness

This morning on The Huckabee Report, to which I subscribe via Facebook, Mike Huckabee shared the story of some Girl Scouts in Portland, Oregon, who were the victims of a cruel trick. They took a bulk order for 6,000 boxes of cookies, only to discover when the cookies came in that the order was phony. As word has gotten out, however, people have been lining up to take the cookies off their hands. A spokesman for the  two troops involved stated that the girls have learned that "for every one person that has bad intentions, there are hundreds more with good intentions and good hearts that are here to help you."

Indeed. I would add that it really only takes one kind word or action to drown out a passel of meanies. Today my husband informed me that one of his students at school is celebrating a birthday. She brought in cookies not only for her classmates but also for Cantor to take to "the homeschool kids." (That would be my children.) Such a seemingly small thing, and yet its power to uplift and encourage is huge. Thank you, dear people. You don't know what you did today.

Christmas Update

The last few days have had their ups and downs. First, the ups. Christmas Eve was divine. We started, as is our tradition, by listening to Lessons and Carols from King's College in Cambridge. Then Phillip took Evan out for some last minute Christmas shopping and I ran out for a last minute grocery item: collard greens, which I had forgotten to pick up on any of my excursions several days prior. Can you believe Jewel was out of collard greens? What's up with that? I didn't think stores in Illinois ever ran out of collard greens! Luckily, Meijer had one bag left. One. Again, I ask, when did collard greens become so popular in the Chicago burbs?

Our church has three services on Christmas Eve but for the first time in more years than I can remember my husband did not have to be at all of them. We left the house as a family at 5:15 (the first service started at 5:00) and drove together to Christmas Eve worship (can't remember the last time that happened either). We attended the 7:00 service (the one which included the three preceding musical selections) and then between services enjoyed a Christmas picnic in the church kitchen.

The last service of the night started at 10:00. As much as I like being at church at midnight on Christmas Eve, I appreciated being able to get home by just a little after midnight. Between 9-year-old and puppy and Santa I still didn't get to sleep until almost 2:00 a.m. The next morning Evan and I stayed home and I cooked and he played while Phillip and the big kids went to Christmas morning worship (10:00 a.m.). When they arrived home I had fresh bread, cheese, "Little Smokies" (miniature sausages in BBQ sauce) and wassail (with rum) ready to snack on. We opened presents, took naps, and began watching the DVD of Trevor's University choir concert from a few weeks ago (on which he also did a lot of organ playing). The plan was to follow up with supper (ham, cole slaw with pineapple, black-eyed peas, and yes, collard greens!) and then watch the Bulls-Rockets basketball game.

But then life took a turn. As we were watching the choir concert we heard my mom calling, distressed, from the bathroom. When we ran to investigate we discovered her on the floor. After making sure she was breathing and not bleeding (she was alert and communicative) we got her up off the floor. She was not able, however, to stand up. We called 911, an ambulance came, and long story short, Mom has a broken hip. :-( We are not sure what happened except that she must have fainted. She doesn't remember the fall, only waking up. As I write this I am sitting in her hospital room. Tonight she will have surgery to repair her hip and then we face another cycle of recovery and rehabilitation (she had her other hip replaced 7 or 8 years ago). Tonight's surgery will not be a full hip replacement but (as I understand it) the placing of screws to reconnect the hip. This fracture seems to be not as severe as the last one and the lesser surgery will also minimize risks: smaller incision, less blood loss, less time under general anesthesia, etc. Mom's heart checked out fine today and the prognosis for recovery is excellent. Your prayers are appreciated.

Last night as we sat in the ER I began reading one of my Christmas presents, a book from my husband by Andree Seu, one of my favorite columnists for World magazine. The book is the first of several published collections of Seu's columns. I am not sure what denomination Seu is but she sure sounds Lutheran a lot of the time. The first chapter of the book is the first column she wrote upon returning to writing after the death of her first husband some years ago. She writes of the struggles one would expect at such a time--how to continue without one's long-time help-meet? How to do what needs to be done? She recalls her pastor's counsel:

"Rev. Min says when I feel myself sinking I must start from the beginning: What is true? What is real? God is alive. I am His daughter. You His true Son."

It was exactly what I needed to read last night and I hope maybe it is exactly what someone out there needs to read right now. Merry Christmas!

"Gesu Bambino"

"Gesu Bambino" (Yon, Pietro) from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

This is our friend, the former teacher of the young man in the previous video. She has also taught voice lessons to my husband and children. Apart from her voice, what I find amazing here is her ability to sing with such simultaneous strength and softness, reflecting the hushed mystery of the first Christmas and yet still filling the sanctuary without the use of a microphone. This setting of the third stanza of the hymn was composed by my husband with this singer in mind.

"Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"Oh, Holy Night"

Prelude for the 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service last night. The singer is 18 years old, the student of a dear Lutheran lady friend of ours (herself a Ph.D. in voice and a professional singer). Josh is in his freshman year on vocal scholarship at Oberlin Conservatory and just won the lead role in the spring opera (almost unheard of for a freshman). If you follow classical voice music at all, keep an eye out for his name in the years to come.

"Oh, Holy Night" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"Silent Night"

According to lore, "Silent Night" was composed to be played by guitar because the organ was broken. I don't know if that story is true. But I do know that as much as I love the organ, I personally prefer to sing this hymn accompanied by a more intimate instrumentation: guitar, piano, flute, accordion.

Accordion, you ask? Yes, accordion. It's not just for polkas! This video is from our recent Lessons & Carols service (our new church holds this service before school is dismissed for the holiday). I think the flute, guitar and accordion make a gentle and fitting canvas for this beautiful lullaby to the Christ child.

"Silent Night" with Accordion, Flute & Guitar from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"Öfne Dich, mein ganze Herze"

"Öffne Dich, mein ganze Herze" - J.S. Bach from Cheryl on Vimeo.


Aria from Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, saviour of the gentiles), Cantata BWV 61 by J. S. Bach

Translation:

Open, my whole heart,
Jesus is coming and entering in.
Though I am but dust and dirt,
He is not willing to despise me,
He wants to see His joy in me,
So that I become His dwelling,
Oh how blessed I will be!

The Role of the Cantor

A few weeks ago one of my Facebook friends, a pastor, posted a status update in which he extolled his parish musicians. Specifically, he said that he was blessed to have the best musicians of any church anywhere. In short order, several of his pastor friends came along to dispute that claim, saying that he couldn't possibly have the best musicians since each of them was quite sure that honor belonged to him. It was a beautiful thing to behold--pastors celebrating and building up their musical staff. Obviously these pastors understand the value of having competent, committed musicians serving with them. One commenter in particular said something I thought quite wise. He said that the sign of a really good musician is that he can turn a not-so-good musician into a better one. I suppose that's not always the case when it comes to professional musicians. There are concert artists who are not necessarily good teachers. But that pastor's comment made me think about what my husband does in his work as a Lutheran cantor. More than anything, his calling as a church musician is to equip and assist the music-making of others. It is not about making music for its own sake or about demonstrating his own skill or even about using his own musical talents to make the worship beautiful; it is, instead, about helping the saints in a given place and time sing the eternal story of God's saving love.

That work of helping the faithful to sing is accomplished in a variety of ways. It may mean leading the liturgy from the organ or piano in a manner that encourages robust congregational song. It may mean teaching children in the choir or day school how to read music so that they can better mine the riches of the hymnal. It may mean taking a piece of music that is too difficult for an instrumentalist who wants to play and arranging it into a version that he or she can manage. It may mean composing a brand new piece of music so that the available musicians can better magnify the appointed Reading, Psalm or Verse of the day. Sometimes it means all of these, with the cantor's putting in long hours arranging and teaching and rehearsing lay musicians for something that will take all of one or two minutes to execute in the worship service. In all of this work it is not just the congregation that is better equipped to sing but also the individual musicians who are supported in utilizing their musical talent and ability to live out their vocations as Christian musicians.

I don't know if I have ever shared this here. Sometimes people who aren't familiar with the term ask what a cantor is. The Association of Lutheran Church Musicians has a wonderful answer. It is called, appropriately, "The Role of the Cantor":

When Christ’s people, the baptized, gather for worship,
they receive God’s love in Word and sacrament,
and through the gift of music,
praise, pray, proclaim and recount
the story of God's grace in song.
The cantor--the historical term
among Lutherans--is
the leader of the people's song.
The cantor is responsible for leading the musical expression of the people--
the assembly, choral groups, solo singers, and instrumentalists--
among whom organists have been especially important for Lutherans. 

The cantor uses whatever musical resources are available,
using them in a manner appropriate to the talents of those serving
and the needs of the people who are served.
The cantor leads the earthly assembly in a foretaste
of John’s vision of the heavenly assembly
in which all creatures give praise,
honor, glory and power to the Lamb. (Revelation 5:13).

The cantor's work is a worthy service to God,
God's people, and the world.
It is a high and holy calling.  

Once upon a time, someone who wanted to hurt my husband told him that he doesn't do what he does for others or even for his Lord but for his own aggrandizement--to call attention to himself. I suppose that there is an element of truth in that statement to the extent that every sinner is motivated by selfishness. But what that person did not apparently understand is that if my husband really wanted to draw attention to himself he has been going about it all wrong. If it were all about him he would just play everything and sing everything and be done with it. He is, more often than not, the best musician in the house. But it's not about him, and he knows it. It's about putting the salvation story in the mouths of the redeemed. If it really were all about him, instead of putting in many over and above hours helping untrained singers prepare a song for worship, he would just sing it himself. Instead of taking the time to arrange a piece of music for the instrumentalists on hand, he would  look in the file cabinet, and seeing nothing suitable, shrug and decide not to have instrumentalists that day. Instead of choosing choral music that requires both him and his singers to stretch themselves beyond what is easy and comfortable, he would select a "wind it up and let it go" anthem that because of its predictability sings itself. Moreover, he wouldn't make multiple trips to teach in Africa or spend all the time he does behind the scenes advising and counseling pastors and musicians in synod who seek out his advice regarding music and worship. Nor would he go beyond his musical calling to provide emotional and spiritual support for his musicians who are facing struggles in their personal lives. If it were all about him he wouldn't spend 90-95 percent of his time focusing on others and how he as a Lutheran cantor can enable them to better live out their faith. 

When we left our former parish several of our dear friends, members of the choir, gave my husband a decorative glass nameplate as a going away gift. On it, instead of his name, were the words "Cantor Extraordinaire." He was deeply touched but in his humility expressed to me some reservation about displaying it in his office. He did not want to send the wrong message to our brothers and sisters in Christ at our new parish. As it happens, those brothers and sisters figured out all by themselves that what they now have in their midst is not merely a music director but a cantor, and on their own, not at my husband's request or by his efforts, they decided to change his title from "Minister of Music and Worship" to "Cantor." And now, also not by his own efforts but by those of his rather determined wife, that beautiful glass nameplate sits on a shelf in his office (granted, shyly nestled among some rather sizable tomes). I am so looking forward to seeing what happens in the coming years as this cantor helps a new congregation find its voice. Soli deo gloria. 

ABP, Day 8

I am not going to have time to post later today so decided I better get it done right now. Today was homeschool co-op day (math for Caitlin, pottery for Evan), but Evan stayed home with a sore throat. Before that, I was going to go exercise with my husband at our community recreation center but opted out after a nasty bout of insomnia last night. Between the state of the world (which I am trying to ignore but find it impossible to entirely avoid) and several other things weighing on my mind, it has not been a good week for sleep. But I have come to a few decisions that I hope will assist in putting those things to rest and moving beyond them. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom.

I am taking my mom to the doctor for a checkup this afternoon so am very thankful for the moderate weather and clear skies. It will make it easier for her to get out--she is extremely sensitive to the cold.

Tonight we are looking forward to getting together with some friends. There are very few things in the world better than spending time with Christian brothers and sisters.

At some point I think I will have to start paying more attention to the world again. I am at heart just not a head-in-the-sand person. I don't think it is possible to shut it out entirely, and I don't think as a parent of children who have to grow up in this world that it is moral or responsible for me to do so. But the challenge is finding the balance. How to live in the world but not let it take my heart and sap my hope? I think I have been out of balance for a while, too plugged in, too much inclined to let the events of the world, both on the macro and micro level, dictate my outlook. Rediscovering that balance is what my little "challenge" is all about. I guess it will never be a settled thing--"this much world, but no more." If only it were that easy. The struggle will always be there; in the words of a dear friend, "Such is life this side of heaven."

A friend posted this video on Facebook. I love James Taylor and I love this song. It is an interesting rendition because James humorously uses a reel-to-reel tape to provide the missing background vocals and himself sings the "riff" that his long-time backup singer, Arnold McCuller, usually sings. I really appreciated Laura posting this today as I find myself feeling incredibly thankful for our new church home and our new family there. They have taken us in, battered, bruised, imperfect people that we are, and they have made us their own, telling us that even in our weakness, we are enough. Thank you, friends. We are honored to be in your midst and we pray for God's continued blessing on the fellowship we now enjoy with you.

By Request

In a comment on my last post, Anonymous requested more music. The following two videos have been on my Vimeo page for a few weeks and I did post them on Facebook, but for those who missed them and are interested, here you go.

The first video is of one of my favorite hymns, "Jerusalem, My Happy Home." Phillip has a concertato version published by Concordia Publishing House that is dedicated to me. :-) On All Saints' Day he did a solo version that combines some of the elements of his concertato with some of his inimitable piano improvisation. He apparently mixed up a few of the words, but I didn't notice. I can't listen to this without crying like a baby.

"Jerusalem, My Happy Home" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

The next video is from the same Sunday and was the organ prelude for the 9:30 service. It is a little noisy, as the first service ran a bit long and there was a quick turnover with 8:00 congregants leaving and 9:30 congregants coming in. The choir is also coming back in to sing at the beginning of the 9:30 service; they are not robed for logistical reasons (the music room was going to be in use by another group during the 9:30 service). Phillip wrote this on Facebook regarding his organ prelude:

Change of pace for All Saints' Sunday this year for me: I usually play hymn-based repertoire, but for a prelude to the service chose instead to play Krieger's Toccata and Fugue in A Minor. I put Rev. 14:13 in the bulletin for the congregation's meditation while I played the piece, which lines up very well with the music - "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" for the Toccata, and, for the Fugue, "Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."



Toccata & Fugue in A-minor by Johann P. Krieger from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Finally, here is a video not from our church but from a gathering we had in our home last week on Election Night. Before the returns started coming in we assembled to sing "Praise the Almighty" from our Lutheran Service Book. The second stanza words are an important reminder of where we, as Christians, are to place our trust: not in earthly rulers but in Christ. I stopped recording after the second stanza so that I could sing the rest of the hymn. The young voice you hear towards the end is Evan.
 
"Praise the Almighty" (Lutheran Service Book 797) from Cheryl on Vimeo.

New Church, Same Cantor

On August 19 my husband was installed as Minister of Music and Worship at a new church. We have been welcomed more warmly than we could have ever anticipated and are seeing with greater clarity each week why God has called him to this place at this time in his professional life. Still, it has been hard to say goodbye to our former church home. We were there for almost thirteen years. During that time we made many dear friends and my husband did much to develop a rich, liturgical, singing piety. In the wake of our departure we have had countless people from our former church reach out to say how much they are going to miss having us in their midst. I have been most touched upon hearing from both young people and their parents about how much my husband's teaching has meant to them in the recent and more distant past. Just a few days ago Phillip received a note from one of his singers in last year's junior high choir. The note read simply, "Alleluia! I'm still in choir. For you, Cantor." When you read something like that you grieve anew for those you have had to leave behind.

But then you see something like this. Another group of children in another place who, just like those we left behind, have a song to sing and need someone to help them sing it. The video below was taken during warm-up for church this morning. It is typical of my husband's approach to working with children: demanding, accepting only the best, but always doing so with a sense of joy and fun. (Former choir members, young and old, will recognize Phillip's "Russian piano teacher" persona.) I told Phillip a few weeks ago that I know that he will be a blessing to all the children with whom he is currently working but that I believe that somewhere among them is a child, maybe more than one, who particularly needs a teacher like him right now, and that is in part why the Lord as called him here.

These children are fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. They have been singing for their new choir director for about a month now. Aren't they sounding beautiful?




"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" - J. S. Bach from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Trinity Sunday