Category: Community Photos

GLOUCESTER MEETINGHOUSE AUDIENCE RAISES OVER $4,500 FOR UKRAINE RELIEF

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

GLOUCESTER MEETINGHOUSE AUDIENCE RAISES OVER $4,500 FOR UKRAINE RELIEF

  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—PHOTO ATTACHED                                                                                  Tuesday, March 22, 2022

An audience that applauded the return of live concerts to the Gloucester Meetinghouse on Sunday also brought compassion as they
gave more than $4,500 to support war relief efforts in the Ukraine by the International Rescue Committee.

The concert, a “Bach Birthday Bash” to mark the 337th birthday of famed composer Johann Sebastian Bach, attracted close to
200 listeners to the Meetinghouse, the oldest standing church edifice in Gloucester and home to the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church.

The concert featured harpsichord, violin, organ and vocal selections from Bach’s diverse repertoire and was presented by the
Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation, an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to preserving the historic building and
increasing its use for public functions. The performance ended with the Ukrainian National Anthem, whose words include,
“Our enemies shall vanish like dew in the sun; soul and body shall we lay down for our freedom.”

This was the first of three spring concerts scheduled after two years of coronavirus pandemic conditions brought the suspension
of nearly all open public events at the Meetinghouse. The next concert, scheduled for Sunday, May 1, will be a Holocaust memorial
performance featuring a specially commissioned orchestral work to be presented jointly by Temple Ahavat Achim and the
Meetinghouse Foundation. The final concert on Sunday, May 22, will present the Appleton Consort, performing Bach on
period instruments including the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

The large response for Ukrainian war relief through a free-will offering surprised Meetinghouse Foundation president Charles Nazarian.
“We were greatly encouraged by this outpouring,” he said. “It far exceeded all our expectations, showing the concern and great generosity
of our community concerning the struggle for freedom in Ukraine.” Admission to the concert itself was free, underwritten by the
Foundation’s annual concert sponsors.

The Meetinghouse Foundation provides a permanent base for secular support to preserve one of Gloucester’s most revered historic buildings,
built in 1806 as the home of the first Universalist church in America. The Foundation is modeled on a nonprofit that supports Boston’s famed Old North Church.

 

Information about upcoming concerts and events, the Foundation, and an internet link to a YouTube recording of Sunday’s Bach birthday concert,
is available at www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org.

-end-

Photo: Violinist Emily Hale playing a Bach sonata at the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation

“Bach Birthday Bash” Sunday, March 20, 2022, where more than $4,500 was raised for Ukrainian war relief.

$4,500 Raised at Concert for War Relief. PRESS FINAL 03.22.22

Walking Good Harbor on a windy clear day

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

On Sunday was windy but such a pretty day to go and take a walk.  Good Harbor as usual was very pretty.  Loved how the sand blows.

Spring is in the air

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

With spring and Easter are just around the corner.  Come on down to Arts Abound, 21 C Lexington Avenue, Magnolia, Gloucester, MA, shop local thank you

Concert to benefit Ukrainian Relief

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

 

PRESS RELEASE:
MEETINGHOUSE BACH BIRTHDAY CONCERT TO BENEFIT UKRAINIAN RELIEF

The Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation will present a live concert to celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach
on Sunday, March 20th, 2022 at 4:30p.m. in the historic Meetinghouse at the corner of Church and Middle Streets.
The event will be simulcast on the Foundation’s YouTube channel and will be available afterwards for those unable to attend.
The event is free and open to the public but a collection will be taken to benefit Ukrainian relief efforts through
the International Rescue Committee.

The Meetinghouse Foundation’s president, Charles Nazarian, will describe how the harpsichord works on his Flemish Double
harpsichord made by David Jacques Way. He will play a few pieces pieces to demonstrate the varied sounds of the instrument.
Mary Jodice on the harpsichord and Emily Hale on the baroque violin will follow with the Bach Violin Sonata in C-minor,
after which Ms. Hale will perform a Bach violin solo. Soprano Caroline Teague will sing Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
and Counter-tenor Cameron Dobson will sing selections from the great Mass in B-Minor accompanied by Mary Jodice.
She will complete the concert with one of the monumental Bach organ compositions, the Passacaglia and Fugue in C-minor,
on the Meetinghouse’s 1893 Hutchings/Fisk pipe organ.  The event will close with the ensemble leading the audience in
singing the Ukrainian National Anthem followed by a reception with a Bach birthday cake.

The mission of the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation is to restore this 1806 architectural masterpiece that is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places as a concert venue, civic hub and community gathering center.

More information about this and future events is available at: www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org