Musicfest

What an epic day!

This morning, we lead the worship team at St. John's York Mills for a vibrant service blending our contemporary sounds with the traditional tones of the organ and choir.

After a short break, we returned back to the church for Musicfest. (I posted a photo earlier this week showing Gerald in rehearsal.) 3 handbell choirs, 1 vocal choir, 1 organ, 1 keyboard, and our Worship Team joined forces to create 90 minutes of summer fun in the midst of our gray and rainy spring.

We opened the 4pm show with a Santana inspired version of "Let the Sun Shine In." We formed a jazz quintet to play Gerald's gorgeous arrangement of Gershwin's "Summertime." Gerald and I shared vocals, and Tim lifted the song with his sax. Gerald and the men of the team formed "The Beatles" and played with the handbells on "Here Comes the Sun." The band-meets-handbells combo was a challenge, but the results were fantastic. Later in the program, we beefed up the band with a few more singers and players and rocked the house with "Wipeout" and "Summertime Blues". We closed the show with a reprise of "Let the Sun Shine In," took a short break, and did it all again at 7pm.

Tonight marked the 20th Musicfest. It originally started as a handbells event. Early on, Monika and I were invited to sing a duet or two, and over the years, it's become a family friendly event that incorporates all the musical talents of our church, raises money for great causes, and provides a relaxing afternoon for the people of our community.

I'm so proud of the work our team did for this, and now, I'm ready for a few days sleep!