“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music.”
MARTIN LUTHER
I love music!
Though I’ve had no formal music training other than a few trumpet lessons as a youngster and a year or so of guitar as a young adult, for as long as I can remember, music has been a part of my life. Yet I never thought that my love for music was unusual.
As a very young child in Puerto Rico, I constantly heard my mother sing along with the radio at home. She loved boleros, the slow, melodic, romantic songs that were popular back in the day, usually sung by trios with tight harmony and accompanied by guitar and maracas.
My father loved to sing at church. Not in a choir, but congregational singing in the pews. And his voice did carry!
I developed an appreciation for classical music in college, singing in the college choir and men’s glee club. Our choir would perform Handel’s Messiah every three years and in a case of providential timing, I had the great fortune to sing it twice, as a freshman and as a senior.
My sophomore year, I was selected to play the role of Balthazar in Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.
This past week, I had three vastly different experiences from which I came away tremendously grateful for my eclectic taste in music.
Since I am forcing myself to remain retired, at least for a few months, my wife and I became season subscribers to Apollo’s Fire, a classical orchestra based in Cleveland and best known for playing Baroque music with period instruments.
Their opening performance for the current season was staged at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron on Thursday, October 12th. First of all, I have a fondness for the location because St. Paul’s is where I was installed as bishop in 2014. Each subsequent visit to this church is filled with joyous memories of that unique moment in my life and ministry.
On this particular evening, the orchestra performed works by Henry Purcell and George Friedrich Handel. Again, another connection. A movement from Handel’s “Water Music” was the recessional piece at our wedding eighteen years ago. I also happen to know one of the Apollo’s Fire choir members. That element of familiarity makes one listen with an additional feeling of pride.
Saturday found us at Severance Music Center (formerly Severance Hall), not for a Cleveland Orchestra concert, but rather for the first ever Hispanic Heritage concert, featuring Sammy DeLeón y su Orquesta, a Latin salsa group. It was nothing that anyone had ever before witnessed in the storied building. The band encouraged people to dance in the aisles, which they did with an enthusiasm that can only be described as…classic! The noise level was extraordinary, as was the music and the audience participation. I don’t believe Mozart or Tchaikovsky ever got this reaction!
The concert had a dual purpose, to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, which was drawing to a close; and to increase awareness of Severance and the Cleveland Orchestra among greater Cleveland’s Hispanic Community. If you have ever attended a concert at Severance, you realize the audience’s lack of diversity. (By the way, we are also first-time subscribers to the Orchestra.)
Finally, Sunday evening I traveled to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Massillon for a Hymn Festival that featured Painesville native Tom Trenney, a superb organist, conductor, and composer of sacred music. He and the choir of First-Plymouth Church from Lincoln, Nebraska performed a unique repertoire of hymns, combined with scripture, and reflections. The best part was that those in attendance were also encouraged to sing along in harmony, which I love to do. I was blessed to be surrounded by others who were of the same mind. So we had a choir at the chancel and a choir in the pews. And God was glorified!
I confess that I stayed home Sunday morning, watching church services online, so this was my in-person worship for the day. And I felt so fulfilled!
Afterwards, I approached Trenney and introduced myself, letting him know of my connection to his hometown of Painesville, where he and his choir had performed the night before. I told him of my having served as Interim Rector of St. James during the initial planning stages for their 200th Anniversary, and how excited we were that he accepted the church’s invitation to perform in 2024. It was a joy to make that connection.
In addition to the quote at the top of this post, the blessed Martin Luther was also quoted as saying that, “I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God. Music drives away the Devil and makes people joyful; they forget thereby all wrath, unchastity, arrogance, and the like.”
We’ve been through a couple of tough weeks on both a national and global scale. This weekend was the perfect antidote to all that turmoil. I thank God for having given me an appreciation for all types of music, and the ability to witness the varied events of the past week. The music was soothing to my psyche, and my life is richer for the experience.
Walking Together in Faith 
How is it th
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