Trinity Newmarket Singers

We celebrated two birthdays and talked about age a little bit before we started our theme of Dreams and Wishes. Sometimes we feel like a big number is scary, shocking, or even embarrassing. The extra attention is uncomfortable. But, it’s such a good thing for your friends and family to celebrate you, your existence, your presence as you ‘level up’.  Last week we were talking about how people ‘our age’ are getting sick and dying. My wish for the birthday girls is that you continue to enjoy relatively good health and the loving attention of your family and friends for many years, looking forward to the next big milestone birthday celebration, and hopefully lots off little celebrations in-between. Just like our other themes, this one is represented in songs that focus on a moment with one person, a lover or spouse, and songs that include the world, and eternity. A dream for peace and a dream for the return of a lover can both be impassioned and moving. We were moved.  We nibbled...

Earth Day was yesterday but we had another special Earth Day today singing songs on my Earth and Peace playlist. We added a few new ones, as we often do, following our hearts and inspirations in the moment. I love how we are all generous and flexible and willing to step off a path like that.  I’m glad we all love John Denver’s music. So many of his songs are tributes to nature! Listening to Annie’s Song, one can’t miss the fact that he’s measuring romantic love against the wonder and beauty of nature. We discovered a couple of his songs we hadn’t heard before, and they’re so good that they quickly became singable (sing-alongable?). Ian missed last week, so we had to do Calypso again, and we were happy to oblige. I especially love those la-las (yodels?).  We didn't want to feel despair with our Earth and Peace theme. It's easy to fall into despair on this theme. I had hoped some protest songs might help us to feel powerful and hopeful. But, I couldn't introduce my Songs of R...

Boy, did we go off theme today! We were talking about all kinds of things, including Canadian things like Mark Carney, Heated Rivalry, Wab Kinew, hockey, diversity, and painted ponies. We talked about people our ages (not old) dying, and how that makes us feel. We need to live well while we can, make a difference where we can. We worried about how it’s sometimes hard to separate art from the artist. We don’t want to support horrible people, but flawed people can create wonderful things.  We saw pieces of our conversations in all of  the songs, and it was, as always surprising and interesting. It was a lovely afternoon, spent in lovely company. My recipe for apple cake converted to muffins very nicely. As is often the case lately, we talked and sang so much that we didn't have time to do a lot of nibbling. My family will benefit from the leftover apple muffins.   Our Earth and Peace theme developed into a life cycle theme, so I guess we were more focused on the peopl...

Sunday, April 19th, 2026 at 3:00pm in the Sanctuary of Trinity United Church, Newmarket. Child prodigy Angel Heung, our music director's daughter will delight us with her extraordinary piano virtuosity. And, this time, she's got a guest from Boston, another young pianist, also a winner of several international piano competitions. Here's the poster for next week's fundraising concert. It's not easy to read in this format.  Tickets are $25 (kids under 12 free). All proceeds will go to Trinity. Tickets can be found online at Eventbrite (enter Trinity in the search bar, and you'll find it) but you can also pay at the door.  You will be amazed at the talent, the skills, the stunning virtuosity of these young pianists!   There will be special moments when 8 hands will play on our piano together. (I'm curious to see who the other two people will be. Maybe Kevin and Joanna?) There will be a reception following the concert, and I'm baking something (apple Streus...

Spring is wild and wonderful. It was one of those days yesterday when rain was forecast, and it was cold in the morning, cold and grey. I had my umbrella but left it in the car. I regretted it, saying that it would for sure rain now, my fault! The rain didn’t come, but the sun came out strong instead! We laughed on arrival and laughed as we left. Spring weather here is something about "our home town" that we can bond over; it builds community, like a quirky aunt. When I got home, I had the most amazing afternoon sitting on my deck in the sun, listening to more music and just luxuriating in the feel of the sun on my skin. I took my socks off and pulled my leggings up to my knees. I had a mini vacation. It was only 18 degrees Celsius but it felt like summer. It was a very easy transition from a theme of Home and Family to Earth and Peace. Spring awakens us to the beauty of the Earth, the home we share with everyone everywhere. I’ve been following the news from the astronauts of...

Our spring thoughts went swiftly to thoughts of home, gathering at home for the holidays, and going home. But, we went pretty deep into what home is and where home is. Family, and more specifically for most of us, mother makes home. The Beatles had us thinking about how family isn't always a warm embrace for everyone. People can feel lonely at home when they they don't meet expectations, their authentic selves are not acceptable. This is a big theme in my work on inclusivity in the church. And, we also talked about the landscape of Ontario feeling like home, or how some specific "country roads" will take you home. We marvelled at how songs can mean different things at different times, how we hear different things, and how talking about them makes them so much more meaningful. This is something I remember discussing at my old Book Club, about reading. I wonder if you've had that experience too, a book club. Singing together and then puzzling over the messages and t...