Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts as worship

The Island Now
Duke Ellington called his Sacred Concerts, “The most important thing I have ever done.”

On Sunday, April 14 at 11 a.m., the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock will bring to life Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts in the context of a worship service.

At the age of 66, Ellington composed a series of concerts planned in major churches all over the U.S. He was inspired by the fact that his dear friend and collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, was very ill. Strayhorn died shortly after the first performance of the First Sacred Concert, of which there were three.

Improvisatory in nature, and adapted to the resources available at each location, no complete score of the three Sacred Concerts exists. In 1993, after an international conference on the Sacred Concerts, two composers, Peder Pedersen and John Hoybye, recreated a scored version which draws selections from each of the three Sacred Concerts. It is this version which will be performed on April 14.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s expanded choir of 60 singers will be joined by a professional, big band of 17 instrumentalists and vocal soloists Lilyan Strassman, Meagan Brus, Leah Wood, Joshua Sanders and Brace Negron, under the direction of Unitarian Universalist music director, Stephen Michael Smith.

The public is invited. A free-will offering to support music scholarships for Nassau County high school music students will be taken. There is adequate free parking, and the facility is fully handicapped accessible.

More information on the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, the concert, and driving directions is available at www.uucsr.org.

Share this Article