By
Dan Harper in
General Assembly 2011 June 25, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Late Saturday evening, I sat down with Nick Page and Jeannie Gagne, and asked them what they saw as the major cultural changes facing Unitarian Universalism today. Jeannie Gagne is a composer and UU musician, as well as Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music. Nick Page is a UU composer, songleader, and he conducts the Mystic Chorale and other vocal ensembles.
“The huge epic battle” in Unitarian Universalism, said Page, “is between those want to feel something, and those who want to think. And the other battle is liberal fundamentalism, where people believe that they are right, and everyone else is wrong. That’s dangerous, and it could kill the faith.
“Musically,” he continued, “I see things moving away from classical [music] in a way that I don’t like. It is possible for churches to absorb a purely Africentric music program, which is false unless you are an Africentric community. It’s dishonest, and it doesn’t honor our [classical music] past.
Continue reading Music and cultural change in UUism