Jeffrey and I were very gratified at the turn-out for the March First Friday Fellowship “Family Jam” Beatles Sing-along! So little time, so many songs; too bad we couldn't have sung them all. Maybe our next Family Jam will be a Bob Dylan-Pete Seeger-Woody Guthrie mix-up? Or maybe we can re-visit the Beatles and do some of the favorites we had to leave out this time...”Eleanor Rigby,” anyone?

There are lots of ways to take part in the Music Ministry at First Parish besides waiting for the next Family Jam Session. The next Family Choir Sunday will be April 29, and in the mean time, the Adult Choir is preparing Elisabeth Jas's Auction Anthem choice, “Miserere Mei,” by Gregorio Allegri. This piece is a polyphonic double-choir chant setting of Psalm 51, a reading traditionally associated with Lent and Holy Week. We are rehearsing the “Miserere” on Thursday evenings at around 8:30pm, right after the choir's break. Anyone interested in learning this piece with us may join us then, or on Sunday mornings at 10:05, just after the choir rehearses their service music. We will present a portion of Allegri's “Miserere” during the morning service on April 1; we will also sing it in its entirety during a brief Maundy Thursday service at 7:30pm, April 5, in the Sanctuary.

After Easter (April 8), we will concentrate on getting ready for Music Sunday on May 20, and we'll open choir rehearsals to non-members for those of you who wish to participate but can't commit to joining the choir. This year, our spring music service celebrates the Sun and the newness of every morning. A string quartet will be joining us on several choral pieces, including “Morning Song,” composed by our own Jeffrey Jubenville on a text by Mary Oliver. We will open the service with a special lengthy Prelude for violin and piano, a transcription of Ralph Vaughan Williams's haunting and beautiful work, “The Lark Ascending.”

On Patriots' Day, the Music Ministry will provide costumed strolling musicians to regale those who are lunching in Parker Hall. We're hoping for some men to participate this year! If it's the costume that's holding you back, we hope to have a couple of men's shirts and hats to lend out (and women, we'll have a few mob caps as well).

Finally, on April 19 at Temple Emunah in Lexington, the First Parish Adult Choir will join the Temple Emunah choir in presenting music newly-composed by Adam Jacob Simon in a service entitled “Facing Ourselves: A Holocaust Memorial Service.” We are grateful to Leon Gunther, choir director at Temple Emunah, for inviting us to participate in this touching service.