Happy Mothers' Day

Yesterday I posted a short biography of Clara Schumann, but she isn't the only special music that I'll be playing in honor of Mothers' Day. The Meditative Prelude will be "In Memoriam" by Rosalie Bonighton, a contemporary Australian composer and organist. I'd like to dedicate it to the mothers, grandmothers, and generations of women whom we honor in our memory this weekend.


We'll be singing the hymn "For All the Faithful Women," which reminds us that the Bible isn't just about patriarchs. There are important women in the Old and New Testaments - Ruth and Naomi, Esther, Eve, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and on and on.


I will also be playing a piano arrangement of "Let Us Break Bread Together" during communion. It's one of my mother's favorite hymns. (In fact, you may recall that I played it to fill some extra time at one of the Christmas services when she was here. It's an inside joke that I know I can share with her from the organ bench.)


I know it always makes my mom smile to hear it, so even though she won't be in town this weekend I'll think of her and play it for the mothers who are in the congregation. (Incidentally, I realized yesterday when talking to Cassie that this will be her first Mothers' Day as a new mom, so be sure to wish her a happy day.)

Happy Mothers' Day, everyone.

Meet our Choir Director

Today, your blogger is turning this space over to our choir director Cassie, who submitted a short bio so that you can get to know a bit more about her:

Cassie began her musical journies from the cradle immersed in the beautiful intricacies of Byzantine chant at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Warren, OH. At the age of 13, she began learning to play piano, intensively studying performance, music theory, and composition. She attended the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, focusing on piano and harpsichord performance, composition, and theory under the tutelage of their esteemed faculty. Though, after meeting her husband James, a man deeply passionate about sacred music, she was overwhelmingly convinced that the secular music path was not the only path for her.

Cassie has been accompanying for and singing in choirs since the 8th grade. Before being hired at Bethany, she was the vocal assistant for the Vermillion High School and Middle School choirs and was the Music Director and Organist at Wakeman UCC. She now directs our Sunday School (1st - 3rd grade), Wittenberg (4th grade and up), Chancel (Adult), and Handbell choirs. Often marked as a tradtionalist, she simply supports truly sacred music and good liturgy.

She and her husband James live in Berea with their 6-month old daughter Gia. They advocate natural family living and love to travel. Cassie's favorite color is green.