MAJIC (Music Arts for Justice in the Community)

The Good Pennyworths Entertain

2010-06-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

It was a fun evening with the self proclaimed Elizabethan pop stars of The Good Pennyworths. The MAJIC series was the forth stop on the group's midwest tour. We are so honored to have them as our first summer feature group and have their music provide the inspiration for our first off season fundraiser to help support future MAJIC concerts!

Thanks to all who attended and hosted the group!

Steve Talaga Jams Out the Third Season!

2010-05-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

From Steve Talaga

Our final concert of the season featured the premier of Steve Talaga's Heartside Sketches, a concert length work commissioned by the MAJIC Concert Series that was inspired by the Heartside Neighborhood in downtown Grand Rapids.

The band was a fantastic line up of Grand Rapids musicians:
Steve Talaga (piano)
Tom Lockwood (flute, bass)
Rob Smith (trumpet, saxophone, bass)
Mike Dodge (electric guitar)
Randy Marsh (drums)
Carmen Maret (flute)
Andrew Bergeron (classical guitar)
Members of Catholic Central High School’s Capella Choir

Art works by Dominican Artist Erick Pichardo!

From Loom

Thanks to everyone who supported this season! In the last three years MAJIC contributed a total of $16,048 to the Grand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness - including the $6,297 which came from the just concluded season.

Matt Ulery's Loom

2010-03-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

From Loom

We hosted a fantastic concert in March with a jazz ensemble group from Chicago called Loom, lead by bassist Matt Ulery. The concert featured all of Ulery's original compositions that were written especially for the group. I was pleasantly surprised at the open mindedness of the audience for new music, and many of the regular attendees commented that this was their favorite concert of the year so far!

The art showing was also a beautiful match with the colorful abstract oil painting of Eric Picardo, a Grand Rapids based artist originally from the Dominican Republic.

Thanks to BLC for the lovely reception and to Kirby Hanson for the photos.

A Beautiful Program by Paul Vondiziano

2010-02-23T13:12:00.000-08:00

From Paul Vondiziano

The February MAJIC concert was presented by classical guitarist Paul Vondiziano, a native of Greece who now lives, composes and performs in West Michigan and abroad. His program was a wonderful mix of guitar standards and new compositions including some of his own. To check out more of Paul's music visit his website: http://paulvondiziano.com/

An Dro Elevates MAJIC to a New Level

2010-01-18T16:02:00.001-08:00

We had one of the most successful concerts of the season this month with the locally based folk band An Dro. The concert drew nearly 150 people and raised $1500.00 in donations for the Grand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness.

Thanks to the band for a great show and to Kirby Hansen for building the slide show of his own photos accompanied by the band's music.

Thanks also to Eric Nykamp for the beautiful painting that will be up at Bethlehem Lutheran Church through the next month!

From MAJIC 2009 - 2010

Grand Rapids Women's Chorus Sings From the Heart

2009-12-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

From MAJIC 2009 - 2010

The Grand Rapids Women's Chorus is an accomplished group of over forty women who presented a culturally rich and well performed program for this December's MAJIC concert. Sung entirely from memory, their program included music from around the world and pieces from many genres including a breathtaking version of Leonard Coehn's Hallelujah.

Thanks again to Kirby Hanson for the photos here!

Heating it Up With Los Gatos

2009-11-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

From MAJIC 09 Los Gatos

We had a fantastic concert last Friday with the Ann Arbor based Latin jazz quintet Los Gatos: good attendance, great company with our co-sponsors Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and Aquinas College, and we ended up raising just over $1600 for the Coalition to End Homelessness, nearly triple our average concert amount!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a special concert!

The Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids also have an art showing up through December that was a special part of the evening!

From MAJIC 09 Los Gatos

Thanks to Kirby Hanson for the photos.
And, below is Los Gatos accepting the Anacaona award presented to them at the concert by Eric Pichardo from the Caribbean Arts and Culture Association for their commitment to the arts and to helping people in the community.

From MAJIC 09 Los Gatos

Drew Nelson Starts off the Third Season

2009-10-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

What an appropriate musician for the first concert of our third season.
Check Drew out; he is a fantastic song writer and performer.

Thank everyone for helping us raise nearly $500 last Friday night!
As Drew suggested in one of his story telling moments at the concert, go out and do something for somebody today!

Photos by Kirby Hanson and David McGowan

Bergeron's Music Moves

2009-05-14T10:32:00.001-07:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

On Good Friday this year MAJIC presented a unique concert that featured a world premier liturgical work by composer and guitarist Andrew Bergeron based on St. John's Passion.
The ensemble combined Soprano Kathryn Stieler and pianist Sheri Iott joined by Andrew Bergeron on guitar with his wife Carmen Maret on flute.

An incredible mix of people showed up for the concert, everywhere from long time Bethlehem Church members to people interested in modern chamber music to friends of the series who did not consider themselves church goes.

The concert mixed Bergeron's composition with readings and two hymns sung by the audience.

Julie Quinn's sublime liturgical art made for a special pairing of art and music this month.
Thanks for a great season! See you next year!

Composers Build Community

2009-03-17T17:33:00.001-07:00

The March MAJIC concert featured six different local composers, each who premiered their work for the concert. The quality of the compositions and performances was unexpected as well as the response from the community. Works were submitted in early January and each composer selected to have their work performed received a stipend for the perfomance. The concert offered a wide variety of geners and performance mediums to stretch the listerner's ears: solo jazz piano, sacred choral, solo classical guitar, concert chamber music, latin popular, and a free jazz jam out.

Susan Guerra, mom of one of the boys in the the choir commented to me after to the concert, "I think this was the best concert so far. Having local composers play their work gives such a nice feeling of community. I think local music making takes the emphasis away from "show" and from money making, and turns the event into people coming together to hear new music and support musicians who are really going for it in Grand Rapids."

Check out the photos and descriptions below!
Thanks to Kirby Hanson for the photos, Division Avenue for the Arts for the juried art works
and to the BLC worship committee for the reception!

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Steve Talaga performs Winter Suite

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Chad directs Preces and Responses

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Gideon premiers his Sonata for Guitar

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Carol VanRandwyk's Las Alas del Viento

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Daniel Castro sings his tunes with soul

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

The End Times Orchestra Jams it Out

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

The Boys examine the Avenue for the Arts submissions

High Energy with Steppin' In It and Rick Beerhosrt

2009-03-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

The February MAJIC concert made for an incredible pairing of music and art with a fantastic American Roots band called Steppin' In It and inspiring works by local artist Rick Beerhorst.

Our attendance was up for this concert, at around 120, and I found from the people who attended the concert that a lot of connections were made between many different types of music and art goers. The guys in Steppin' In It were especially appreciative for the opportunity to play for the MAJIC series because they typically play in bars where music tends not to be the first preoccupation for people. The sanctuary setting at Bethlehem Church also allowed the band to play acoustic, something they love to do, but don't normally have the opportunity to do.

Thanks to Rick Beerhorst for the art showing and important introduction before the concert that helped people to understand the importance of engaging with visual art and music in a public setting.

Thanks also to the Bethlehem Church Worship Committee for the great reception after the concert.

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Home of MAJIC

2009-02-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Check out the video that Andy Dragt from Rapid Growth Media made showing what Bethlehem Lutheran Church's new home is like in the Heartside neighborhood.

Gruca Gives Beautiful Guitar Concert

2009-01-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Michigan native Robert Gruca performed a lovely concert in January featuring classical guitar works from around the world. Many audience members commented how surprised they were at the way his instrument filled the sanctuary, not realizing how grand the sound of one guitar could be! For many, it was their first experience listening to a solo classical guitar concert.

During his visit, Robert Gruca also taught a Masterclass for students from the college guitar program and arts outreach program at Grand Rapids Community College.

Wietze Adema's paintings filled our art space this month bringing vivid colors to an otherwise drab January setting. Check out the photos in the album on the top right of this page to preview.

Thanks to Kirby Hanson for the stunning photos and to the Bethlehem service committee for a fun reception!

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

WaZoBia and Gary Eldridge Heat Up the Holidays

2009-01-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009

MAJIC hosted a fabulous concert event this month with WaZoBia! The 110 + adults and children who attended were entertained and engaged by this six piece band that showcased not only different style of African and Caribbean drumming but that made music participation and education an integral part of their show.

Everyone was surprised by the fabulous turn out and the amount of money we raised just broke $700 for one concert!

Gary Eldrige's multi-media works inspired by a healing mission that him and his wife made for people suffering from HIV and AIDS in Africa set a nice backdrop for the cultural education that was part of the evening's events.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this December's concert a huge success!

From MAJIC 2008-2009

Fascinating Concert with Early Music Michigan

2008-12-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Early Music Michigan is a group of musicians who perform a wide variety of concerts featuring music from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras.

MAJIC was fortunate enough to have members of the group, directed by Eric Strand, guest Baroque violinist Edith Hines.

The all J.S. Bach program began with a solo partita and sonata in the first half followed by his partita in d minor that was played once as a solo and then a second time accompanied by the vocal lines that underly the chorales hidden in the work. The result was an educational experince that offered a new way of listening to the music of J.S. Bach.

Artworks by Mary Andersen filled our narthex space. They vineyard and lakeshore landscapes accompanied the mood set by the music!

Thanks to everyone on the witness committee for a great reception!

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Organissimo Opens the Second Season

2008-10-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

For its opening concert of the season, MAJIC had the honor of hosting one of the best bands in town--Organissimo. The band started off with some of their lively tunes, and I noticed half of the heads in the audience bobbing up and down. Organissimo featured tunes from their newly released CD Groovadelphia. It is always a treat for someone like me, who has been following the band for five years to hear them keep writing and playing new stuff. What a blessing for Grand Rapids!

Thanks to the band for donating a portion of the CD sales to the Coalition to End Homelessness, and to everyone who attended the concert. We had over 80 people at the event and raised $680.00!

Local artist Mic Carlson graced our narthex art gallery with a beautiful selection of his original paintings and a set of bronze sculptures and prints inspired by St. Francis of Assisi.

Thanks to Kirby Hanson for shooting some great photos of the concert and reception. Be sure to check them out on the right hand side of the screen. Click on the photo album to see them in a larger format.

From MAJIC 2008-2009 Concerts

Final Concert of the Season: Folias Latin Dance Project and Hugo Claudin

2008-05-18T13:12:00.001-07:00

The final MAJIC concert of the season offered up a great art and music pairing. The local Grand Rapids flute and guitar duo Folias, combined with percussionist/composer Scott Harding and flutist Tess Miller to form their new group called Folias Latin Dance Project. The music program featured all original arrangements and compositions of works from Argentina, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.

The art work by Hugo Claudin was from a series of his called Mexicains sans frontiers that was inspired by a trip he took to an artist colony in Baja California. "The light is refracted in a special way" says Claudin about how his works that were inspired by this place near the Tropic of Cancer. Music such as Folias' original, Maufo Vega, a work about Big Bend National Park, also captures the way light is different further South and in the deserts of Texas.

Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet Offers Something for Everyone

2008-04-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet was started by four professional guitarists and instructors in the Grand Rapids area. Their MAJIC debut marked their second year anniversary as a group together.

Their concert featured a little something for everyone: Renaissance dance pieces, Bach's sixth Brandenburg Concerto, two transcriptions of works by Maurice Ravel, a new premier by Grand Rapids composer Andrew Bergeron called Argentine Dance Suite, and a transcription of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik done by Brian Morris.

It was great to see a varied audience for a classical music concert including a lot of children!

Thank you to Charles Andrews for displaying his photographs from Zambia and Madagascar.

Thanks also to Kirby Hanson for the beautiful photos from this evening. Click on the slide show and scroll to the end of the show to see up close shots of the guys with their guitars.

A Lovely Evening with Sunny Wilkinson, Ron Newman, and Alina Poroshina

2008-03-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

This concert was not only a great pairing with the husband and wife duo, Sunny Wilkinson (vocal jazz) and Ron Newman (jazz piano) but also with the beautiful life size paintings done by Lansing based artist Alina Poroshina.

The music was mesmerizing. Sunny held the audiences with her ever changing palate of vocal sounds and story telling characters. Ron dazzled with his crazy jazz chops that surprised the audience as well as Sunny, who smiled joyfully at him throughout the concert.

Alina, a native of Russia, showed paintings that depicted urban Grand Rapids scenes with close-ups of people in the forefront, many of them playing instruments, all of them a poetic statement to life in the city.

Singer Songwriter Dean Windemuller

2008-02-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Local singer, guitarist, and song writer Dean Windermuller performed for the February MAJIC concert last Friday the 8th. The concert was well attended, about 70 people, and Dean graced the series with a set of pieces written especially for his performance at Bethlehem Church all on the subject of Social Justice. He performed solo, with his band Open Land and with member of Tango Folias. The works displayed covered a variety of musical palates from jazz, blues, funk, and even opera as was the instrumental/voice combination used for Andrew Bergeron's arrangement of Dean's newest original tune called "New Sparrow" that speaks of the experience of men on the street. As was the case with the other concerts on the series, the audience was comprised of a nice mix of people from Bethlehem Church, those who were friends of the musicians, and many who came out in support of the social justice cause of the series.

Thanks to Debra Dieppa from the Heartside Gallery who displayed her art in the narthex!

Shakuhachi Grand Master Michael Gould

2008-01-18T11:47:00.001-08:00

Last Friday the MAJIC series hosted Michael Gould who is a master of the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute made of bamboo. His presentation included a description of how the instrument was made, the history of the way the instrument was used starting as far back in Japan as the 8th century, and demonstrations of the many performance techniques of the shakuhachi. He began his performance playing in the Bethlehem Church sanctuary an hour before the concert. Folks tentatively walked in, not sure at first if they were interrupting. However, as the concert time approached it became apparent that Michael was inviting people into the sanctuary space with the sound of his shakuhachi.

James Fissel presented a beautiful collection of paintings that were part of the Eyekons Gallery show "A Mystery Revealed". Each of the works contain an orb, a spiritual symbol that is a perfect match for a concert that features the shakuhachi. When I mentioned Fissel's "orb" theme to the audience, Michael Gould responded by lifting his flute to show them the round dark space at the end of his shakuachi.

Most of the comments about the evening highlighted that this was a unique and refreshing event.

MAJIC Holiday Concert with the GR Cantata Choir

2007-12-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Grand Rapids was treated to an interesting program of Latin American Christmas music. Grand Rapids Cantata Choir director, Suzanne Tiemstra, an expert on Latin American chorale music, conducted a program that covered centuries of Latin American works from the Spanish Renaissance to music of the still living Argentine folk/classical composer Ariel Ramirez. The turnout of over 100 people made for a lively evening and a good feeling of continued support for the MAJIC concerts to come in 2008.

Thanks to all of the guest musicians!!!
Mary, Josh, Jen, Julio, Wally, Monday's Joy recorder septet, and Daniel.

What we think we know about homelessness....

2007-11-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

With two MAJIC concerts down and six left to go in the season I have had a lot of folks express their doubts about the realistic goal of the Coalition to end homelessness by the end of the year in 2014. As a friend said to me when I told her about the project, "there is a coalition to END! homelessness?"

My response is, "absolutely!" Is seems to me that we first need to change our attitude from assuming that homelessness will always exist to engaging in the process of making permanent housing a right for all people.

Some other typical responses to the the topic of homelessness are somethings like, "oh, yeah, you know that people who are homeless choose to live that way", or "homeless people are just in it so they don't have to get out there and work."

The Grand Rapids Area Housing Continuum of Care recently published a document that provided facts about homelessness in Kent county. It reported that only 10-15% of people who are homeless are chronically homeless. That means that 85-90% of people who are homeless don't chose to live that way. There are any number of circumstances that result in homelessness: physical and mental illness, loss of a job, inability to find a job with a living wage, domestic violence, and inadequate access for help in coping with trauma and/or additions.

Here are just a few examples of real homelessness that people in our congregation observed during a Sunday night service dialog:

A teacher in our congregation found one of her middle school students sleeping behind the school dumpster. The student couldn't stand to go home any more because of a violent father.

A member of our church spent 15 months living out of his car. He was so sick that he couldn't work and had no other place to go.

NPR did a story a few days ago based on a New York Times article about the rise of the number of Iraq war veterans who are returning to the U.S. and ending up in homeless shelters (see story here) . After experiencing the any number of horrors abroad, they can't find their way back into "normal" society.

It seems that most of us with a permanent shelter to call "home" forget that people who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness are people just like us, and that they deserve the same dignity and rights as the rest of us.

MAJIC Continues with Eastern Blok

2007-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

Last night the series was graced with Eastern Blok from Chicago, our only group to play on the 2007-2008 series from outside of Michigan. In addition to being fabulous musicians and composers all of the guys in the band are GOOD PEOPLE who really understand the importance of community and the importance of a grass roots project such as MAJIC.

Reb Roberts and Carmella Loftis from Sanctuary Folk Art Gallery, just around the corner from Bethlehem Church, had their art hanging in the narthex of the church. It was nice colorful mix that went well with the Balkan-folk-jazz-klezmer blend of music by Eastern Blok.

Andrew and I thew a huge party for everyone afterwards which brought a lot of Grand Rapids artists, musicians, tango dancers, and Bethlehem Church folks together. Don't forget to click on the photo album at the top right of the blog to look at the photos by David McGowan from the 2:00am jam session! (The Fantastic Merlins stopped by via Hugo Claudin)

MAJIC Begins: Steve Talaga and Mind's Eye

2007-10-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

We had our first concert last night and it was a great success! There were about 70 people who showed up for the concert, a great start for a first concert on a first series of its kind in Grand Rapids.

So great to have a tight jazz group performing in a concert venue in Grand Rapids! The biggest comment I received was that folks couldn't believe that the four guys in the band are in the Grand Rapids area. Who knew we had such amazing jazz musicians in West Michigan? Steve Talaga told me that it is a treat for Mind's Eye to play together. They have a whole book of original tunes, each by different members in the band and when they play together (which Steve Talaga told me unfortunately doesn't happen enough) it is very special.

Paul Petersen brought a nice group of folks down from Muskegon to see his photographs; that helped boost our crowd as well.

Thanks to the MAJIC task force members, and all of the Bethlehem folks who made for a nice reception at our first concert!

Sound Check by John Sinkevics

2007-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

A concert series to embrace

Posted by John Sinkevics | The Grand Rapids Press October 12, 2007 00:40AM

Categories: Concerts

Steve Talaga and Mind's Eye, one of West Michigan pre-eminent jazz outfits, kick off a special concert series tonight at Bethlehem Church, 250 Commerce Ave. SW.

The monthly, eight-show lineup is sponsored by MAJIC (Musical Arts for Justice in the Community, a ministry of the church), with all donation proceeds benefiting the Grand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness.

The concert begins at 7; admission is free, but a donation of $10 is suggested and the bands that are playing are worth way more than that. Future shows will feature:

Eastern Blok (Nov. 9)
Grand Rapids Cantata Choir (Dec. 14)
Shakuhachi Grand Master Michael Gould, with Brian Hedeen (Jan. 11)
Dean Windemuller (Feb. 8)
Sunny Wilkinson and Ron Newman (March 14)
Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet (April 11)
Folias Latin Dance Project (May 9).

As the pianist Talaga so aptly put it:

"I am thrilled to be part of such a noble effort. I hope they raise a ton of money for this worthy cause. To me, this is the best of what the arts are all about.
"Through the power of art, social change can come and it happens in a much more positive way than via some alternative methods. I really hope we start to learn in this country how valuable and indispensable the arts are. ... I'm very proud to be a part of this endeavor to use the arts to help make a positive impact in our community."

Well said. Now, let's hope folks turn out and chip in, too.

E-mail John Sinkevics: jsinkevics@grpress.com

Formation of MAJIC (Musical Arts for Justice in the Community)

2007-05-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

I had the idea for the MAJIC series for a year, and it wasn't until I brought it up to Pastor Jay Schrimpf at Bethlehem Church that I felt it was something that was possible. The thought of putting something together that combined social justice efforts with supporting local music artists seemed like a project out of my reach-- too big, too risky, and definitely not profitable for a woman who is a free lance artist herself. But isn't that the point?

I realized over the past six months of actually putting MAJIC together how important the project is for Grand Rapids in terms of artistic outreach and how appropriate it is for me, others on the series, the congregation, and for all those that will attend the concerts to support a cause for social justice through participation in music. What better way to encourage people in the greater Grand Rapids area to get involved in their community and help other than to offer donation based concerts held in the Heartside district of Grand Rapids?