Palm Sunday
The procession begins, and what follows it.
March 29, 2026
Programming notes for Palm Sunday at UCC Keene, featuring Debussy, Monteverdi, Leonard Cohen, and John Tavener’s setting of William Blake.
An ongoing record of the music programmed each Sunday at the United Church of Christ in Keene, New Hampshire — composers, pieces, bulletin notes, and, as they accumulate, recordings. The programming is adventurous on purpose: the church has built a culture of listening that supports unusual repertoire, and this archive exists to document the work as it happens.
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Peace is not stillness, it's a current.
March 22, 2026
Programming notes for the Fifth Sunday in Lent at UCC Keene, featuring Jubilation Bells, Sharon Nelson’s piano mashup of Beethoven and Francis, and Edward MacDowell’s To a Wild Rose.
Fourth Sunday in Lent
The circle turns, the summons returns.
March 15, 2026
Programming notes for the Fourth Sunday in Lent at UCC Keene — Sacred Circles — featuring Ringers on the Square, Joni Mitchell, John L. Bell, and Paul McCartney.
Third Sunday in Lent
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
March 8, 2026
Programming notes for the Third Sunday in Lent at UCC Keene, featuring Satie, Piazzolla, Leonard Cohen, and a congregational postlude of ‘Down by the Riverside.’
Second Sunday in Lent
A time to weep and a time to laugh.
March 1, 2026
Programming notes for the Second Sunday in Lent at UCC Keene, featuring Thom Yorke, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Sylvia Dunstan’s Hymn of Covenant.
First Sunday in Lent
A time to kill and a time to heal.
February 22, 2026
Programming notes for the First Sunday in Lent at UCC Keene, featuring Ringers on the Square, Pete Seeger, Hildegard von Bingen, and Paul Simon.
Transfiguration Sunday
God's bright splendor hides him from view.
February 15, 2026
Programming notes for Transfiguration Sunday at UCC Keene, featuring Couperin, Debussy, Pachelbel, and J. S. Bach’s Toccata in C minor.
A Sermon in Music
From chains to freedom, from dungeon to light.
February 8, 2026
Programming notes for a Sermon in Music Sunday at UCC Keene, featuring Duke Ellington, Thomas Tallis, Oscar Peterson, and the music of the Civil Rights Movement.
Choose Love. Always.
Seeing the world as wonderful does not require ignoring its brokenness.
January 25, 2026
Programming notes for a service on choosing love, featuring René Clausen, Bill Withers, Jester Hairston, and a postlude on ‘L-O-V-E.’
Martin Luther King Sunday
Justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
January 18, 2026
Programming notes for Martin Luther King Sunday at UCC Keene, featuring Bach, African American spirituals, Thomas Dorsey, and Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom.
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