Fountain East Liberty Presbyterian Church
Saturday, Feb 6 – First day of Snow 2010
Twenty days of snow, sleet, wind, rain, shoveling, salting, no parking, school closings and rescheduling… it seems as if it will never end. Once again, classes and private lessons are canceled for today. Stay safe and warm. Memorize your lines, practice your music, write a song or a sonnet. Make something. See you all tomorrow (hopefully).
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Mardi Gras/Carnival this Saturday!
Thaw out with us this Saturday at our Hot, Hot, Hot Carnival — rescheduled from two weeks ago and better late than never!
Carnival fun and frolic will be had by all as we transform the Social Hall into an island paradise. Dress in your most colorful outfit showing off your warm-weather island wardrobe — ditch the down coat and dig out your favorite shorts, flip flops and Hawaiian shirts — and enjoy dinner with a kid-friendly menu and some tasty Caribbean treats. Entertainment includes a live steel drum band performing authentic Soul-Calypso (Soca) music. Start limbering up for a Limbo contest (really, how low can you go?) plus crafts and activities for kids of all ages. Last year’s Mardi Gras queen, Charlotte, in her German Fasching costume pictured above. More photos of last year’s Mardi Gras here.
SAT February 27 at 4:30 pm (dinner will be served at 5:15)
Social Hall of East Liberty Presbyterian Church
Tickets are $6 for adults; $3 for children 12 and under, or $18 for an entire family. Call Norma Meyer at 412.441.3800 x11 to RSVP
This is how they do it in Trinidad – steel drum soca music
Bethan Neely Wins Duquesne Piano Festival Competition
Hope Academy student, Bethan Neely, is one of the winners of the first Duquesne Young Artist National Competition and Piano Festival. This festival recognizes and honors the achievements of piano students ages 6 to 18. Winners will perform in a Winner’s Recital on March 6, 2010 at 11 AM in the PNC Recital Hall in the School of Music at Duquesne University.
Bethan studies organ with Dr. Richard J. Szeremany. She is also a member of our Voices of Hope vocal ensembles under the direction of Suzanne Polak and Anna Elder. Bethan is pictured, above, playing the organ during the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Community Engagement Concert student recital at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
Congratulations to Bethan!
Suzanne Polak’s Recital and CD Release
Tuesday February 23rd
7:00 to 8:00 pm
Duquesne University – PNC Recital Hall (click for directions and campus map)
Hope Academy teaching artist extraordinaire, Suzanne Polak, invites everyone to join her tomorrow evening for a recital of her composition work and the release of her new CD, Unguarded Moments. You can listen to samples from the CD on her website here.
The recital will feature a wind symphony and brass choir, conducted by George Vosburgh, with violist, Marylene Gingas-Roy, and percussionist, Joel Panian.
A reception follows.
Congratulations to Suzanne!
Pastoral Message, February 2010
This month we enter once more into the season of Lent. It is an important time—a chance to stop and reflect on both the fragility and preciousness of life. Officially it is the time when we remember how the story of Jesus Christ includes a harsh crucifixion and burial in a borrowed tomb. Yet it also is the time when we reflect on our own mortality, how we are born into this world and one day will leave it again. In considering the brevity of life, we remind ourselves not to take its daily miracles and opportunities for granted.
As we take stock of our life during the season of Lent, there are big questions we might be brave enough to ask ourselves: In the end, is it all worth it? Does my brief existence make any difference in the grand scheme of things? What exactly is the meaning of life? Those are important questions; however, they’re also questions we cannot answer ourselves. If you sat alone on the top of a snowcapped mountain pondering those deep questions, you would not come up with any satisfying answers for two reasons.
First, we do not fully exist in isolation from others. Sure, we can do things on our own and take pleasure in solitary walks and lifestyles, but we were not created to be autonomous, isolated creatures. We have been made for relationships—for friendship and conversation, for community and intimacy, for shared experiences and social interaction. We can see an image of ourselves in a mirror, but we can only truly see “ourselves” when we are reflected back from another person’s pair of eyes. If you want to know whether “it’s all worth it” and what your place is “in the grand scheme of things,” talk it over with someone else. In that shared conversation (and others like it) you will have the best chance of coming up with an answer that rings true deep inside you.
Second, we (human beings) are not the only players in the game of life. At the very least, we are surrounded by a vibrant ecosystem of plants, animals, microscopic life forms and natural elements, all of which have to be included in our “meaning of life” calculations. Over/above/through it all, there is God, the creator of life. The story of God-in-Christ, that is at the heart of Lent, offers the best framework for grappling with the big questions of life.
When the famed Catholic priest and author Henri Nouwen grieved over the death of his mother, he wrote a very personal letter to his own father (which has since been published under the title Letter of Consolation). It well summarizes the hope and comfort inherent in the season of Lent, both in the honest reflection on the death of Christ and the comforting promise of Easter resurrection. I’ll close with Nouwen’s words:
“If the God who revealed life to us, and whose only desire is to bring us to life, loved us so much that [God] wanted to experience with us the total absurdity of death, then—yes, there must be hope. There must be something more than death. There must be a promise that is not fulfilled in our short existence in this world. Leaving behind the ones you love, the flowers and the trees, the mountains and the oceans, the beauty of art and music, and all the exuberant gifts of life cannot be just the destruction and cruel end of all things. Indeed we have to wait for the third day.”
Love and All That Jazz – This Week!
HA Closed Today – Wednesday, Feb 17
Hope Academy classes and private lessons are canceled today
Wednesday, February 17
The view from Ms. Linda’s office
See the post below for links to all of the music and mp3s for the songs that many of you are singing this Saturday at Love and All That Jazz. Plus EL CEO music for the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet.
For all students participating in Love and All That Jazz on Saturday, Feb 20 (Voices of Hope, HAT Co, EL CEO): Call time is 6:00 pm. Wear red on the top and black on the bottom. Bring your family and friends!
Shakespeare students will receive an email today with monologues and scenes to work on for class this Saturday. The Pittsburgh Public Showcase of Finalists has been rescheduled to this Friday, February 19 at 4:00 pm at the O’Reilly Theater. And don’t forget to check out the Flickr site for photos from the preliminary round last week and hurling insults in class.
More soon…
Love, Twinkle, Prayer and Romeo & Juliet Music
Because our last two rehearsals were snowed out, you will need to practice the songs for Love and All That Jazz on your own at home. Here are mp3s of Love, Twinkle and Prayer.
And here is music to print out for All You Need is Love and Twinkle (for singers) and Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet for EL CEO musicians.
DETAILS FOR STUDENT PERFORMERS
Performance Date and Time: Saturday, February 20th @ 7 pm
Student performers must be at East Liberty Presbyterian Church by 6:00 pm (sign in and leave your coats in the Harambe room – across from the security desk – and then go to Music Room for a warm-up and quick rehearsal all together). This includes all Voices of Hope singers, EL CEO musicians and HAT Co.
Performance Location: Sanctuary of East Liberty Presbyterian Church
Rehearsal: We will rehearse together at 6:00 pm on the evening of the performance. This is mandatory!
What to Wear – LOVE-ly Valentines-themed Attire!
RED on the top (shirt or sweater or dress)
BLACK on the bottom (pants or skirt)
BLACK shoes
RED or Valentines-themed accessories — jewelry, scarves, pins, ties, etc.
Contact Information for Questions:
Linda Addlespurger, Hope Academy Director – 412-441-3800 x12
Norma Meyer, Hope Academy Administrative Assistant – 412-441-3800 x11
We need your presence and your voice!
Please come and sing at
“Love and All That Jazz” for Dr. Z!
“Love and All That Jazz” for Dr. Z!
The grand finale of Love and All That Jazz will be giant sing-a-long of “All You Need is Love,” see the video above, on the steps of the Sanctuary. If you are a friend, colleague or admirer of Richard Szeremany (Dr. Z) please join us!
Performance Date and Time: Saturday, February 20th @ 7 pm
If you are singing with us please be at East Liberty Presbyterian Church by 6:00 pm (sign in and leave your coats in the Harambe room – across from the security desk – and then go to Music Room for a warm-up and quick rehearsal all together)
Performance Location: Sanctuary of East Liberty Presbyterian Church
Rehearsal: We will rehearse together at 6:00 pm on the evening of the performance. Here is a link to the music.
And here is an mp3 of the song:
What to Wear – LOVE-ly Valentines-themed Attire!
RED on the top (shirt or sweater or dress)
BLACK on the bottom (pants or skirt)
BLACK shoes
RED or Valentines-themed accessories — jewelry, scarves, pins, ties, etc.
Contact Information for Questions and to RSVP:
Linda Addlespurger, Hope Academy Director – 412-441-3800 x12
Norma Meyer, Hope Academy Administrative Assistant – 412-441-3800 x11
Please call or email to let us know if you will be singing with us (we would like to put all of your names in the program).
Intro to Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare students began their work today on Romeo and Juliet with the two households prologue, hurling insults, the opening thumb-biting scene, the holy palmer’s sonnet and the balcony scene.
We watched a clip of the balcony scene from the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. In this modernization of the play the balcony scene takes place in a pool. Here is a video of the making of that scene, including rehearsals and all of the technical details that went into filming underwater.
Shakespeare can be interpreted and presented in many different ways. Here is the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s take on Romeo and Juliet.
For next week, the older group should continue working on either the opening prologue or the thumb-biting scene. Extra credit: write a sonnet. More about sonnets in the next post.
Bravo to everyone who braved the storm and made it to the preliminary round of the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. The Showcase of Finalists is on Friday, February 19 at 4 pm at the O’Reilly Theater.