Please join us for this concert, and help us support our connection to the Yue Yue Choir. The Concert will be on June 2, 2012 at 7:30pm in the Sanctuary of First Reformed Church.

After two weeks of rehearsals, the Rainbow Choir came together for this performance and presented three songs to the interfaith group – All Things Bright and Beautiful, The Earth Day Rap, and Noah’s Song. These songs touched on the themes of the day – the beauty of creation, the need to preserve our planet, and God’s promise to us to preserve his creation after he destroyed it once in the flood.

Please spread the word about the Rainbow Choir. If you know anybody who would like to sing with us, or who is considering the possibility, please encourage them to contact me.

These were some of the questions Timothy Brown and Justin Hartz answered following their wonderful piano recital on April 18. It was one of the days with fewer middle school students than usual in the audience. Subsequently, the questions asked were of a more academic nature. However, without the students having prompted the Q&A part of our rehearsals in the first place, it became quickly apparent that they shape the atmosphere of our recitals even while occasionally absent. So I conclude: Our concert series is a true intergenerational effort. What else could we wish for?

And so we thank the following for their much appreciated contributions:

• The Hospitality Committee of the church,
• Janet Waanders as the organizer of the Series,
• Our Music Director Ben Berman,
• The Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission, especially Ms. Rosalyn Neal,
• The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders
• The New Jersey State Council of the Arts/Dept. of State, and
• All the faithful providers of soup and bread from both the church and Pine Grove Cooperative Nursery School.

Award winning harpist Elaine Christy teaches at Princeton University and is a member of the Richardson Chamber players there. Christy presented a program of French music for solo harp from Debussy to the 21st century.

March 21 12:15 PM

Elaine Christy, harpist
Award winning harpist Elaine Christy teaches at Princeton University and is a member of the Richardson Chamber players there. Christy will present a program of French music for solo harp from Debussy to the 21st century.

April 4 12:15 PM

Rochelle Ellis, soprano, and Akiko Hosaki, pianist
Both teachers at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Ellis and Hosaki will perform art songs by Schubert and others and spirituals.

April 18 12:15 PM

Tim Brown and Justin Hartz , piano for four hands
Brown and Hartz are Directors of Music at, respectively, Faith Lutheran Church in Hillsborough and Christ Church in Riverton and perform chamber music regularly. Works by Mozart and Dvorak will be part of the program.

May 9 12:15 PM

The Manhattan Quartet – Jordan P. Smith, Aaron Patterson, Dan Kochersberger, and Jay Rattman, saxophone
This saxophone quartet, formed in 2008, has performed in venues ranging from Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Already known for premieres of new works and performances of established repertory, they will present a program of period and contemporary quartets.

May 23 1:00pm

Special Presentation of Livingston Elementary School
Livingston Elementary School will present a special concert to the series’ audience. This is a special recognition to First Reformed Church for providing free lunchtime recitals as part of the education of these local children. An ice cream party will follow this concert.

This program is funded in part by
Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage  Commission with assistance through a grant provided by New Jersey State Council of the Arts/Dept of State

The concert was meaningful. It did not just celebrate the historic achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, but made it clear that our society has still much need for improvement. We talked, for example, about the recent attacks on the synagogue Beth-El in Rutherford, NJ and praised the efforts of Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, who advised not only the synagogues of Bergen County to be on alert, but all religious institutions.

Raíces Cultural Center supported the efforts of the Rainbow Choir with several songs in Spanish language and performed by their own ensemble. This opened our ears to the international relevance of Civil Rights issues.

It was a great concert! Thank you, Ben, for your fine efforts in building a new community choir! And thanks to all the children whose enthusiasm was apparent!

The music featured the cultures of Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. In our quest for world music, the Rainbow Choir has gone a long way to discover the essence of songs from all over the globe. Kudos to these children who are so dedicated to their music. They will perform again at the Interfaith Earth Day event on April 22.

Finally, we learned one very important thing at the event: that in order for humankind to continue its struggle for peace among nations, we have to educate our heart’s mind, and better embody the virtues of honesty, loving kindness, and justice.

Under the direction of Dr. Sheng-Hwa Yu, the chorus sang beautifully and with such joy that the audience clearly caught the spirit, appreciating both the skill of the singers and their emotion. We at First Reformed Church have been privileged to know the YueYue group for a long time and on this occasion were privileged to receive its gift of music. All of the donations made by audience members are designated for the church’s Historic Preservation Fund and will be used to help complete the replacement of the slate roof.

Our thanks go to every member of the chorus, to Dr. Sheng-Hwa Yu, and to Artistic Director Maestro Sharon Yuan. Also, one of our members, Julius Fekete, used the occasion to sell his spectacular woodcarvings and to donate profits to the Preservation Fund as well. The soon-to-be-completed roof of the sanctuary certainly covered and united a throng of talented and generous-spirited people on this hopeful Advent night.

This is a great time to think about whether your want to join the Bell Choir, we can certainly use a few more players to get us back to playing 3 octaves, which also produces a nice brighter sound. Let me know if you want to join the choir so I can tell you all about it!

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly the music performed by Mrs. Bronstein Barton. From the program we were prepared for Bach, Liszt and Debussy. But other than that, the pieces were particularly difficult ones to play, I had not expected the incredible performance we had. Without a sheet of music in front of her, Mrs. Bronstein Barton turned the piano into a jewel box from which she extracted one treasure
after another.

I explained to the audience that this had reminded me of the cold desert fauna of Mrs. Bronstein Barton’s native Chile when the barren rocks are covered with an incredible plethora of precious flowers. The children, many with roots in South America, related immediately. One boy asked whether I knew the name of these flowers, but I had only seen them on the Internet and could not remember the name. Yet, this did not seem to matter much. The youngsters had clearly understood the preciousness of the music. And so they had one question after another for Mrs. Bronstein Barton. And I realized: We could not have done much better than that!

performing Mozart, Rutter, Praetorius, Holst, Shaw
Saturday, December 10th at 7:00pm
Suggested Donations: $20 general, $16 seniors, $12 students/children

The voices of our children create a rainbow of peace and understanding. How can a child grow in community with other children? There is no greater gift than the gift of song. Help us harness that gift so the children of New Brunswick can sing together once again: in a vast community of children from different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities.

We are looking for singers in grades 3-6 to join the Rainbow Children’s Choir and sing the music of our diverse heritages. Contact Benjamin T. Berman at First Reformed Church, 732-545-1005 or at benjamin.t.berman@gmail.com for more information.

Shea Velloso, who has been so gracious to offer us this marvelous program, is a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts where he earned his bachelor’s degree in organ performance. Shea’s teachers have included Antonius Bittmann, Mark Trautman and Paul Hoffman. He has pursued post graduation organ studies with critically acclaimed organists Gordon Turk and Paul-Martin Maki. In 2004, Mr. Velloso was the recipient of The Elizabeth W. Durham Award for Excellence in Performance and Scholarship. He has performed recitals throughout New Jersey and New York City and has appeared in concert on the NPR show Pipedreams and on Metuchen Television.

As Director of Music at United Methodist Church at Milltown, he is the organist, director of the church’s three choirs and is responsible for planning the church’s concert series. He previously served as Director of Music at the Presbyterian Church of Jamesburg. In addition to his job at the Methodist Church, Mr. Velloso serves as the High Holy Day organist at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple and accompanist for Philomusica Choir. During the summer months, Shea enjoys working as an accompanist and rehearsal leader for the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

While this concert, like the others to follow in the series, is free, we are asking for donations of $20 for general audience members, $16 for senior citizens, and $12 for students to benefit the preservation of the historic buildings of the First Reformed Church. The concert will be in the historic sanctuary of First Reformed Church, at the corner of Neilson and Bayard Streets and the building is handicapped accessible.

Call 732-545-1005 for additional information. First Reformed Church, the “town clock church of New Brunswick”, is raising money to support the Historical Preservation fund to renovate its historic buildings. We hope you can join us to continue being a part of our series of concerts. Please bring a
friend, and help us spread the word.

On July 16th, we were privileged to use the Crossroads Theater for a fund-raising concert we called A Spiritual Crossroads. The theater’s own name and philosophy inspired us to think about our congregation’s experience over the years of engaging with people from many origins and faith traditions.

Three of those origins and traditions were represented by the gifts of music at the concert. Raíces Cultural Center Ensemble played music from Afro-Cuban rumba spiritual masses and batá chanting and drumming from the Orishas or forces of nature. Jeanel LeBlanc sang hymns and spirituals originating in or important to the African American experience. And Wind of Anatolia played Turkish folk music in the Anatolian tradition. By evening’s end, audience members were dancing first in the aisles and then, at Pastor Susan’s invitation, on stage with Wind of Anatolia.

We truly experienced a time at a spiritual crossroads. And the historic preservation fund is $2,000 larger, thanks to ticket sales, to ads purchased for the program, and to donations beyond the ticket price.

Many thank-yous to many folks have been expressed, but we thank Ben Berman again for his leadership in planning and organizing the event, and Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission who, through the auspices of Johnson & Johnson, offered us the space and technical staff.

It does not take much to be able to play, as long as you can count and follow two notes (if needed, colored for your part) you can try it. We welcome young and old up in the balcony to come and join us on Sunday mornings

The occasion happened during Sunday worship announcements on June 26th – it was an appreciation for Ben Berman, our Choir Director & Organist and Erie Beemsterboer, our volunteer Bell Choir Director.

Janet and Margaret presented flowers and a card signed by the choir and bell choir. We wanted to thank them so much for their contribution to the musical life and ministry of the church.

Before now, we had done something during choir rehearsal, but for the past two years we have made the presentation before the church. Since we all enjoy the beautiful music during worship, all of us want to express our gratefulness for their gifts and devotion.