The UU Church of Medford is pleased to announce our upcoming spring Folk and World Music concert series. Each month in April, May and June, we will be offering a concert that showcases local talent and continues the strong music tradition of our church. Some of these concerts will help bring to light local songwriters, while others will bring sounds from across the globe to our sanctuary.
On April 21, UUCM Music Director Alex Cumming will present “The Medford Songcatcher” as he explores the legacy of Olive Dame Campbell (1882-1954). Olive was born and raised in West Medford, MA (on Hastings Lane) and after graduating from Tufts college in 1900, went on to become a folklorist and song collector working across New England, The Appalachians and beyond. She co-published the book ‘English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians’ with Cecil Sharp after taking him to the songsters in the mountains. The 2000 movie The Songcatcher was based on her life and work. Join Alex as we sing some of the songs she collected over her long and exciting career.
On May 26, we are proud to welcome The Vox Hunters as they present “Ocean State Songster”. Hailing from the great state of Rhode Island, Armand Aromin and Benedict Gagliardi are seekers and singers of old songs, cultivators of local music, and chronic multi-instrumentalists. They are touted as strong tradition-bearers in their generation, and their genuine affinity for the music is evident in the emotion they draw from it. With a pair of oft-harmonizing voices tastefully garnished with fiddle, free-reeds, and tenor guitar, The Vox Hunters offer an all-natural connection to the living tradition of folk music.
On June 23, we are proud to welcome pianist Jacqueline Schwab as she presents “Building Bridges: Vintage Music of Latin America”. Jacqueline brings her signature style as she celebrates the sensual spirit, expressive melodies and pulsing dance rhythms of vintage habaneras, tangos, and waltzes, from Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. These styles were the forerunners of samba, salsa, and other Latin music of today. Familiar and less well-known melodies by composers Ernesto Nazareth, Ernesto Lecuona (made famous by I Love Lucy’s Desi Arnaz), Ignacio Cervantes, Juan Jose Castro and more, in classical and folk arrangements.
All concerts will be at 4pm, with a suggested donation of $5-15. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford traces its roots to the founding of Medford and has a long history of social justice activism. The congregation is proud to be a spiritual home for all people of free faith in Medford, Somerville and surrounding communities.