The Music Program at First UU

What an exciting year this is going to be! John Spradling is coming on board as our keyboard partner and Reverend Holly will be leading us in word and thought. And we're going to make great, GREAT music.

Without question one of the most exciting things about being the Music Director here at First UU is the opportunity to share music of all kinds - from all faiths, countries and centuries. Below you will see the schedule for the fall, full of a wide variety of music spanning from 1630 2008! Highlights include music with Cello, Guitars, Drums and a Winter Solstice Celebration with our kids, dance and instruments.

Next Spring our Music Sunday will feature one of the most beautiful pieces ever written] Dixit Dominus by G. F. Handel, and will spotlight our Choir, two Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass soloists, strings and continuo. If you don t know this piece you re in for a rare and wonderful experience.

All members and friends if you were waiting for the right time to join the music program THIS IS IT! We rehearse every Thursday from 7:15 - 8:45, and you are ALL WELCOME - young adults this means you! The choir is only as good as it members and we welcome any of you that would like to join. No audition or experience needed, just the desire to make friends and wonderful music.

Remember, any of you, young and old alike, who would like to play an instrument, sing a song, dance a dance, beat a drum, rock the house with your band EVERYONE is welcome, and strongly encouraged to take part. I promise, this is going to be a fantastic year. Here is a sampling of the music for this fall (just a partial listing due to space!):

• The Underground Stream, by Mary Grigolia, 1991 - I Brought My Spirit to the Sea
  
• Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra (The Mexican National Anthem,) 1854 - in celebration of Mexico s Independence Day
  
• We've Come to Our Own Conclusions, by Mary Grigolia, 1991 with Guitars as Holly talks about Misquoting Jesus and the importance of the UU voice
  
• When Morning Breaks, by Allan Robert Parker, 1990 - Commemorating Confucius Birthday
• Kol Nidre, by Samuel Adler, 1972 With Cello
  
• Zuni Sunrise Call, Zuni Native American Tribe - with Drums
  

If you are interested in joining us, or have any questions about our music program, please feel free to the church office.

John Spradling, noted as a "...superb pianist..." by composer Vincent Persichetti, is active in Central New York as a teacher, pianist, accompanist, adjudicator. His appearances have seen him on the Syracuse University Faculty Series, the Hobart and William Smith College Faculty Series, the Keuka College Series, the Mohawk Valley Community College Series, the Civic Morning Musicals Live at the Everson Series, with the Society for New Music, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and live on WXXI - FM, Rochester, NY.

He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, studying under Dorothy Dring Smutz, where he made his debut as a competition winner playing the Grieg Piano Concerto and gave numerous recitals with his duo partner, Susan Huntman. He has a Master's Degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Abbey Simon and Sascha Gorodnitzki. He served as Barry Snyder's assistant at The Eastman School, and also spent two years of special study at the Vienna Hochschule under Hans Graf, and was a private instructor in the home of Christa Ludwig in Weidling, Austria.

John Spradling has taught piano lessons since 1971. He began teaching in Syracuse in 1997, and after brief stints at Syracuse University and Hobart and William Smith College, has one of the most successful private piano studios in Central New York. His students have been accepted on scholarship at the major conservatories and festivals of the nation, and they have won competitions across the United States. Close to home, Spradling's students have played concerti with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, as winners of the CMM/SSO Concerto Competition, for four different years. John Spradling is President of Civic Morning Musicals, recipient of the Tiffany Award of Civic Morning Musicals, is listed in Who's Who of American Teachers for 2005, and is past President of Central New York Association of Music Teachers in Syracuse.