Great Conversations: Pastor Jim Preisig

I have been a member of The Summit Church here in Lee's Summit for more than twelve years now. Pastor Jim Preisig is the reason my family and I selected this church in the first place when we were looking for a church to call "home." Pastor Jim is a brilliant speaker. His enthusiasm and passion are boundless and inspiring. Our church is blessed to have strong musical traditions and exceptionally gifted musicians and singers who serve. I know how important music is to Pastor Jim from many of his messages over the years, and I was so very happy he agreed to have a Zoom conversation with me to talk about his personal relationship with music, the role music plays in worship, and many other topics.

I hope you enjoy it! And below are two wonderful quotes Jim shared during our conversation.

“God has given us music so that above all it can lead us upwards. Music unites all qualities: it can exalt us, divert us, cheer us up, or break the hardest of hearts with the softest of its melancholy tones. But its principal task is to lead our thoughts to higher things, to elevate, even to make us tremble…

 

The musical art often speaks in sounds more penetrating than the words of poetry, and takes hold of the most hidden crevices of the heart… Song elevates our being and leads us to the good and the true.

 

If, however, music serves only as a diversion or as a kind of vain ostentation it is sinful and harmful.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the idols or how to philosophize with a hammer

 

If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED

FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

WAS MUSIC

Kurt Vonnegut, a man without a country.

 

Great Artists: A Zoom Conversation with Maestro Jim Murray

I've known Jim Murray since 2005 when he became the Conductor and Music Director of the Heritage Philharmonic. I have played the violin in this orchestra for more than 20 years now...man, it's hard to believe it has already been that long! Jim took over for another great conductor, Jack Ergo, who occupied the podium for 25 years prior to his arrival. There are so many wonderful things about Jim, but what stands out to me is how much he truly loves music. It's not just his job. Maestro Murray is also the Conductor and Music Director for the Northland Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City. And if that isn't enough, he also teaches music at the Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods. I have linked his bio below.

Maestro Murray and I have talked for years about doing an interview for my blog. Well, we finally got it done. Here is the first of what I hope are many conversations.

http://www.heritagephilharmonic.org/music-director--conductor.html

Saying Good-bye to AnnaLou

 

We said good-bye to a very special person last month...my great aunt, AnnaLou Parker. She was my grandmother's sister. AnnaLou was born in 1929, meaning she was 13 years younger than Mary Quinn. They were very close, and had many things in common, including a love for music. Her daughter Jan, whom I am closest too of her 4 children, shared this list of songs that AnnaLou loved. During her lifetime, she played the piano and sang. She was THAT person who lit up a room when she walked in...a light of laugher and love. My Dad was very fond of her, and they had a special bond. She and Jan came to his funeral in 2006. I know he saw her there from above and smiled.

So to pay tribute to her, I will be listening to these wonderful hymns and thinking of her in Heaven. I love you AnnaLou. 

Great Artists: A Zoom Visit with John Svoboda

John Svoboda is a guitarist, composer, arranger, teacher, performer, philosopher, coffee aficionado, runner, baseball fan.....he is also my friend. He and his wife, Myra, are a duo known as No Bow Tie, and they are spreading the blasphemy of classical music played on steel string guitars, banjos, electric bass....and God knows what else. John can meld Dvorak with Rush or Mozart with Albeniz. He's like a mad scientist creating musical Frankensteins in his laboratory. But, Mr. Svoboda also plays "legit" classical guitar, loves opera, and can play the violin (yes John, I remember!) He is quite a tornado of creativity.

I am opening this blog up to incorporate the "spoken word." I have a YouTube page where I post music I have recorded. I have done many interviews for this blog in the last 6 years, but the one thing I don't like is the process of transcribing the interview...it takes me forever. So I recorded my Zoom conversation with John and am going to share it here. It is not produced nor edited...I don't know how to do that yet. At one point, I realized my computer was not plugged in, so I had to dive under the desk to find the power chord and plug it back in. But what the hell. It is honest and authentic. I hope you enjoy it.