~ Submitted by First Parish on Bedford Common
The tintinnabulation of bells large and small will set the stage for winter and the holiday season in the sanctuary of Bedford’s historic First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Bedford Common next weekend. The congregation’s music committee will present a fundraiser performed by Boston’s Back Bay Ringers on Saturday, December 4, and a First Parish Lyceum featuring Brad Connor speaking about Christmas bells and bells in our lives will happen on Sunday, December 5.
Back Bay Ringers Holiday Concert
Saturday, December 4 at 2 pm, in-person and live-streamed
At 2 pm on Saturday, the Back Bay Ringers will return to Bedford for a Christmas concert featuring traditional, but perhaps slightly less often heard, holiday music along with contemplative classics like Silent Night, The Christmas Song (chestnuts roasting on an open fire), or the less familiar On This Day, Earth Shall Ring. You might just feel sentimental during the finale, All I Want for Christmas is You.
Concert tickets for in-person attendance or online streaming are available at www.backbayringers.org/events . General admission is $20 per ticket (in person or streaming) with student/senior tickets at $15 each. For the safety of the performers and audience, masks and social distancing will be required.
Click this link to learn more about the Back Bay Ringers.
First Parish Lyceum: The Bells of Christmas
Sunday, December 5 at 3 pm, in-person and on Zoom
In Sunday’s presentation, presented as part of the First Parish Lyceum series*, the congregation’s music and choral director Brad Connor will speak about The Bells of Christmas, just in time to get you into the holiday spirit. The Lyceum begins at 3 pm and lasts about an hour. ** Zoom link included at the end of this article.**
Connor will explore stories about bells and what makes them such an important part of our lives and common experiences. Does that “ring a bell”?
Connor states: “Some of the most significant moments in history have been defined by the presence of bells. … They announce births. They celebrate joyous events. They call people to congregate. They start revolutions. ‘Let freedom ring!’ They announce the end of wars. … They tell us what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. …. From the time we are born until the time we die, bells are everywhere. They even have the power to tell us when an angel gets its wings.”
A 17-year veteran of First Parish, Conner has a vibrant enthusiasm for all genres of music from classical to contemporary to jazz to blues, to the Great American Songbook, to Broadway/film music, to classic rock . In other words, to all good music. As events have begun to reopen, he has happily started to resume his professional performing life as a conductor, pianist, singer and as lecturer at First Parish Bedford, Beacon Hill Seminars and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.
Zoom Meeting Link for Sunday afternoon’s First Parish Lyceum: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82102237269?pwd=cDFHUURCdkxCSDBBM0lXMEVDc3NkZz09
Meeting ID: 821 0223 7269 Meeting Passcode: 488677 One tap mobile +13017158592 or by phone, 301 715 8592.
** First Parish in Bedford is proud to present this talk as part of its free, monthly, community forums (Lyceums) on a wide range of topics. All talks are free and open to the public. Registration is not required. **
Using the Elm Street entrance, First Parish on Bedford Common is fully accessible.
Loading ...
