Organ Concert

American Composers Reinforce Our Love
of Nation and Church on the Fourth of July
 Organist: Beryl Samia

(July 4, 2004) Where were 140 enthusiastic people at 4 p.m. on the 4th of July? Were they at the beach, sailing along the coast, or barbecuing in the back yard? No, the group I'm referring to was in our sanctuary enjoying our 3rd Annual Independence Day Concert. And what a concert it was - Beryl Samia on the organ, Danielle Allie on the clarinet and Carl Bartlett on the trombone. Did I hear someone refer to them as our Three Musketeers of Music?

Beryl, who excels at coaxing every bit of music out of our organ, performed patriotic music of our nation. We sang with pride "The National Anthem" and Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."

Danielle and Beryl played two duets by Edward MacDowell. Danielle, who is the first clarinetist with with Bangor Symphony Orchestra, is one of our town and her regular performasnces at our church are moments of musical peace and reflection.

On the other hand, Carl Barlett's trombone encourages us to march vigorously to the music, in spirit and in fact. Carl joined Beryl in performing the songs of our Armed Forces. Carl, how played in the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, kept our hearts thumping and our feet marching.

"Onward Christian Soldiers" concluded the program - one more opportunity to sing heartily as the words reminded us of our Christian duty to share the Good News.