Recently I have witnessed so many musical events that have been taking place in our community. Among them, the Cedar Valley chapter of the American Guild of Organists hosted “January Jubilee” last month.  The event was mainly to encourage and support part-time church musicians, including our local musicians.  Over 40 people, including some people from nearby cities and other states, participated.  The organization will have another big event, “Pipe Organ Encounter”, in June.  This time it’s for our young organists in the next generation.

Our church, First Presbyterian Church, has also been adding meaningful musical contributions to this community.  During the last several years, our annual Spring Concert has been a good example.  We will have our 5th Annual Spring Concert on Sunday, May 8.  The program will be Vivaldi’s “Gloria”, Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy”, and Mendelssohn’s short chorale from his magnificent “Hymn of Praise, Symphony No. 2.”  This time we will invite all local singers to form a community choir, and a guest pianist, Associate Professor of Piano, at the University of Northern Iowa, Dr. Dmitri Vorobiev, will join us for “Choral Fantasy.”

The music program of each church in a community cannot be successful by its own efforts only, and the same rule also applies to the musical activities at each school, from kindergarten to university level.  As one body has many parts working together for its healthy life, we all need to work together to promote culture in our community.

I hope we will keep witnessing the flourishing of our musical activities, so that we can enrich our lives.  I would also be more than happy if our church, First Presbyterian Church, was continuously a part of this movement in our community.