UUC IS PROUD TO HOST

The National UU Musicians Network Conference – 2007

Heritage OP

Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz,

The national conference of the UU Musicians Network (UUMN) is coming to UUC, July 31 to August 5, bringing 200-plus church musicians together for a week of learning, professional development, resource sharing and wonderful musical time. The conference theme is “The Voice Of Justice”, celebrating the many ways that music is a powerful vehicle for our social justice message.

ABOUT THE FEATURED MUSIC: “Sources,” a new UU cantata, is a celebration of the diversity which is at the heart of our denomination's identity, and is a powerful vehicle for reaching out with our UU message. The cantata is a seven- movement work for chorus, piano, string orchestra and percussion. Music is by Jason Shelton and words by Kendyl Gibbons. This performance will feature 200-plus singers!

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL MUSICAL GUESTS: Heritage O.P. brings you sound rich in ancestral tradition with a vision for a better world, a world of harmony. This world of harmony is everyone’s heritage. Heritage O.P. is an acoustic percussion and vocal ensemble that fuses the rich cultural traditions and diasporal rhythms from Africa, South America and the Caribbean – with African American tradition and modern musical trends. Their sound is contemporary with a strong beat and positive lyrics designed to uplift, inspire, and move the listener to dance. Heritage O.P. has a vision to heal and unite, believing that music is truly the “healing force of the world.” Heritage O.P. knows the drum can cause all hearts to beat as one.

A Community-Wide Outreach Event, August 4

You’ll want to come and bring all your friends for an incredible evening of music and a powerful social justice message on Saturday, August 4, 7:30 p.m. at UUC in the Octagon Arts Center, when our UUC music program hosts 200-plus singers with orchestra, special musical guests and our UUC favorites, New York City-based world music percussion quartet Heritage OP, and a keynote address from the Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, recently retired as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. From the refugee camps of Darfur, Sudan, to the poorest villages in India; from the prison cells of Monrovia, Liberia, to the business suites of Hong Kong to Louisiana’s death row, Dr. William F. Schulz has traveled the globe in pursuit of a world free from human rights violations. During his twelve years at Amnesty, Dr. Schulz led missions to Liberia, Tunisia, Northern Ireland, and Sudan and visited other places as diverse as Cuba and Mongolia. He was tailed by Tunisian secret police and threatened with assassination by Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. His appeal for reconciliation of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland brought tears to the eyes of then Prime Minister David Trimble. All of this prompted the New York Review of Books to say in 2002, “William Schulz…has done more than anyone in the American human rights movement to make human rights issues known in the United States.”

You won’t want to miss this amazing, one-evening-only event – spectacular music and a powerful message that will stir every heart. Plan to come – and bring your friends! It’s a FREE COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENT – don’t miss it!