Welcome to Unitarian Universalist Society East
Sunday Services at 9:00 and 11:00
Music
Music plays a huge part in our worship and in our community, and there's room for everyone to participate in our music programs. Many talented individuals take part in our services individually, in groups, in singing circles, and in choirs. Whether it's leading hymns, participating in choirs, playing piano or guitar, or even gifted professional musicians providing spirited musical themes, everyone can play a part. Our music director, Mary Bopp, with help from a very active music committee, plays a key role in all of the musical offerings that take place at UUSE.
Mary Bopp
Music Director
Mary has served UUSE since 2015, after over 30 years as a professional full-time musician in New York City! An award-winning artist, Mary brings more than hymns and classical composers' music to our services. She is also an improv-magician to many, directs our choir with her unique creativity and adaptability, and brings a variety of professional artists to perform at services and more! Mary is a beloved inspiration to us all.
Choir News
Music Reporting
The Music Report lists all of the music performed at UUSE Sunday Services during the reporting period Starting Tue Oct 01 2024 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) today is Tue Jan 21 2025 06:15:03 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
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"Listen to the Voices" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, October 6, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Listen to the Voices"
- written by Holly Near
- and recorded by Joe Madar
- New video by Dan Thompson and Jeannette LeSure
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #112 "Do You Hear?"
- Words: Emily L. Thorn
- Music: William Caldwell's Union Harmony, 1837
Offertory Music ---------------------
- "The Silence Between the Notes"
- by Mary Bopp
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #391 "Voice Still and Small"
- Words and music by John Corrado
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"All That We Let In" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, October 13, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Autumn Town Leaves"
- by Iron and Wine
- Jenn Richard, guitar and vocals
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #298 “Wake Now My Senses” (verses 1-3)
- Words by Thomas Mikelson
- Music: traditional Irish melody
-
Offering Music ---------------------
- “All That We Let In”
- by the Indigo Girls
- Jenn Richard, guitar and vocals
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #318 “We Would Be One”
- Words by Samuel Anthony Wright
- Music by Jean Sibelius
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"Ageism" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, October 20, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Autumnal"
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #1007 "There's a River Flowin' in My Soul"
- Words and Music: Rose Sanders
Offering Music ---------------------
- "How Could Anyone"
- by Libby Roderick, arr. by Mary Bopp
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #1028 "The Fire of Commitment"
- Words: Mary Katherine Morn
- Music Jason Shelton
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"Ancestor Day" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, October 27, 2024
Prelude and Calling the Quarters ---------------------
- "To the Four Directions"
- Music by Mary Bopp
- Words adapted from Joan Goodwin's "To the Four Directions"
- Sandy Johnson, vocals
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #103 "For All the Saints"
Offering Music ---------------------
- "Faded in the Sun"
- by Lilly Coleman
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #52 "In Sweet Fields of Autumn"
- words by Elizabeth Madison
- music by William James Kirkpatrick
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"America the Beautiful" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, November 3, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- Americana I: "Fantasia on America the Beautiful"
- Music by Samuel A. Ward
- Mary Bopp, piano
Song ---------------------
- #1009 “Meditation on Breathing”
- By Sara Dan Jones
Offering Music ---------------------
- Americana II: "Fantasia on Themes from Aaron Copland”
- Mary Bopp, piano
Closing Song ---------------------
- “America the Beautiful”
- adapted from Katherine Lee Bates
-
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"America the Compassionate" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, November 10, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Spirit of Life"
- by Carolyn McDade
- Mary Bopp, piano
Opening Song ---------------------
- “For a World Made Whole”
- Music by Mary Bopp
- Words by Josh Pawelek
Song ---------------------
- #1053 “How Could Anyone”
- By Libby Roderick
Offering Music ---------------------
- "O Mio Babbino Caro"
- by Giacomo Puccini
- Eric Rosenberg, saxophone
- Mary Bopp, piano
Closing Song ---------------------
- #95 “There is More Love Somewhere”
- African American Hymn
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"Building a Consensus Community" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, November 17, 2024
Song ---------------------
- "Ju
- by Matt Falkowski
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"Joyful Thanksgiving" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, November 24, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- “When I See You”
- By Linda J. Smith Koehler and Rissa Moore
-
- “Open My Eyes to the Miracles Around Me”
- By Abigail Spinner McBride
-
- “Gratitude”
- By Ina Hata
-
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #349 “We Gather Together”
- Words by Robert E. and Dorothy Caiger Senghas
- Verse 3 by Rev. Josh Pawelek
- Music by Adrian Valerius, arr. by Edward Kremser
Offering Music ---------------------
- “Praying for Time”
- By George Michael
- Will Alexon, vocals and guitar
Song ---------------------
- “We Give Thanks”
- By Wendy Luella Perkins
Closing Song ---------------------
- #128 “For All That Is Our Life”
- Words by Bruce Findlow
- Music by Patrick Rickey
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"Evening Vespers Service" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 2, 2024
Music ---------------------
- Kristen Dockendorff, flute
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"The Present of Presence" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 1, 2024
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #16 "‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple"
- Words: Joseph Bracket
- Music: American Shaker tune
- Chris Crossgrove, piano
- with Sandy Johnson, vocals (11:00 A.M.)
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- Winds Be Still, #83
- Words: Richard S. Kimball
- Music: Samuel Sebastian Wesley
- Chris Crossgrove, piano; Sandy Johnson, vocals (11:00 A.M.)
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"On Being Present in the Dark Season" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 8, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
- Mary Bopp, piano
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #89 "Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life"
- Words by George Herbert
- Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Music ---------------------
- #1059 "May Your Life Be as a Song"
- Words: Jim Scott
- Music: Yuri Zaritsky
Offering Music ---------------------
- "Largo" from Harpsichord Concerto in f minor
- By J.S. Bach
- Mary Bopp, piano
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
- Words, Latin c. 9th century, trans. composite base on John Mason Neale
- Music adapt. by Thomas Helmore
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"Dona Nobis Pacem" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 15, 2024
Gathering Music ---------------------
- Holiday Favorites
Prelude ---------------------
- "Sun Arise"
- by Helen Yeomans
- UUSE Choir
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #235 "Deck the Hall With Boughs of Holly"
- words: traditional Welsh
- music: old Welsh carol
Music ---------------------
- "The Christmas Wish"
- by Danny Akken Wheetman
- UUSE Children's Choir (11:00 a.m.)
- "Jingle Bells"
- UUSE Children's Choir (11:00 a.m. only)
Offering Music ---------------------
- "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
- by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
- Dorothy Bognar and Mary Bopp, pianos
Music ---------------------
- "Carol of the Bells" by Mykola Leontovich
- Arr. by Peter Wilhousky and Dan Thompson
- "Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow"
- Trad. Spiritual, arr. by Greg Gilpin
- UUSE Choir with Dorothy Bognar, piano
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #388 "Dona Nobis Pacem"
- words: traditional Latin
- music: traditional canon
Postlude ---------------------
- "Live in Peace"
- by Helen Yeomans
- UUSE Choir
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"On Being Present as the Sun Returns" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 22, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Darkness Into Light"
- by Mary Bopp
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #1063 "Winter Solstice Chant"
- words and music by Phillip Palmer
Offering Music ---------------------
- "Fantasia on Greensleeves"
- Ralph Vaughan Williams
- Anhared Stowe, violin
- Mary Bopp, piano
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #226 "People Look East"
- Words by Eleanor Farjeon
- Music: traditional French carol
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"Silent Night, Holy Night" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 24, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- "Christmas Time is Here"
- by Vince Guaraldi
Offering Music ---------------------
- “O Holy Night”
- based on a poem by Placide Cappeau
- music by Adolphe Adam
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"Lessons from 2024" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, December 29, 2024
Prelude ---------------------
- “Brazilian Sleigh Ride”
- by Percy Faith
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #346 “Come Sing a Song with Me”
- words and music by Carolyn Mcdade
Song ---------------------
- “Years May Come, Years May Go”
- Words and music by Andre Pope and Jack Fishman
- and Jenn Richard, guitar and vocals
Offertory Music ---------------------
- “Footprints in the Snow”
- by Claude Debussy
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- “Just As Long As I Have Breath”
- words by Alicia S. Carpenter; music by Johann G. Ebeling
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"On the Road to Positivity" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, January 5, 2024
Gathering Music ---------------------
- Rob Laurens, vocals and guitar
Prelude ---------------------
- "You Are Welcome Here"
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #1009 "Meditation on Breathing"
- by Sarah Dan Jones
- Martha Larson, piano
Offering Music ---------------------
- "From the Light of Dawn"
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #212 "We Are Dancing Sarah's Circle"
- Words by Carole A. Etzler
- Music: African American spiritual, c. 1750-1875
- Martha Larson, piano
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"Telling Our Stories" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, January 12, 2025
Prelude ---------------------
- "A Story With No Words"
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #1008 "When Our Heart Is In a Holy Place"
- Music & words by Joyce Poley
- Mary Bopp, piano & Jenn Richard, vocals
Offering Music ---------------------
- "The Story"
Music ---------------------
- "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- #128 "For All That is Our Life"
- Music by Patrick L. Rickey
- Words by Bruce Findlow
- Mary Bopp, piano and Jenn Richard, vocals
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"The Stories We Inherit: The Stories We Pass Down" -- UUSE Virtual Worship, January 19, 2025
Prelude ---------------------
- "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"
- By Thomas A. Dorsey
- Eric Rosenberg, Saxophone
Opening Hymn ---------------------
- #153, "Oh I Woke Up This Morning"
- African American spiritual
- Eric Rosenberg, sax
- Bob Janes, drums
- Mary Bopp, piano
Offering Music ---------------------
- "Come and Go With Me"
- African American spiritual
- Eric Rosenberg, sax
- Bob Janes, drums
- Mary Bopp, piano
Closing Hymn ---------------------
- "We Shall Overcome"
- African American spiritual
- Words adapted by William Farley Smith