Holiday Jazz & Reflection Concert

Beach United Church November 7, 2024 No Comments

We are excited to present acclaimed Canadian Jazz musicians Joe Sealy, Paul Novotny and Heather Bambrick on Saturday, December 14th at 4:30pm as they celebrate the season with original songs and holiday favourites. Performing songs off their recent Christmas release, ‘The Man in the Red Suit’, as well as well-known holiday classics, this is not a concert you’ll want to miss!

Click here to RSVP

Entry is pay what you can, with a suggested minimum donation of $10. All proceeds go towards Beach United’s year-round Community Programs.

About our Performers

Paul Novotny
In his 40-year career, Canadian bassist, composer, music producer, author, educator, and innovator Paul Novotny has performed with such eminent international jazz artists as Kenny Wheeler, Geoff Keezer, Cedar Walton, Junior Mance, Jo-Anne Brakeen, and singers David Clayton Thomas, Roger Whitaker, John Findley, Jackie Richardson, Ranee Lee, Aida Lee, Barbra Lica, and Holy Cole. 

A multiple Juno-nominated co-leader with pianist/composer Joe Sealy, Novotny produced five recordings, including Sealy’s 1996 Juno-winning Africville Suite on his Triplet Records label. In addition, he has co-written songs with singers Dan Hill, and Molly Johnson. 

In 1994, he produced singer Carol Welsman’s Juno-nominated recording Lucky to Be Me, which led to a performance at Club Blue Note in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1993, he performed with the Holy Cole Trio at the Japanese Grand Prix Golden Disc Awards as the Trio won awards for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Album. In 2012, he produced, performed on, and released Barbra Lica’s first album That’s What I Do, which debuted at #1 on the Canadian iTunes jazz chart and was released in Japan by Universal Music. 

As a composer and performer, Novotny has created music and sound design for commercials, feature films, television franchises, and video games including: The Canadian Broadcasting Company’s The National (2021) and The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos (2004), Newsworld’s News Now (2005), the (2016) film short Mishka, and the soundtrack for the internationally acclaimed, multi-platinum award winning Cuphead video game in (2017). 

Novotny is on the faculty of Centennial College, Toronto, and the pedagogical educational advisory committees for Neumann, Eventide, The Les Paul Foundation, OekSound, Bettermaker, and Sonarworks. 

Joe Sealy
For more than five decades Joe Sealy has enjoyed a successful career as a musician, actor, composer, music director and recording artist. Tours have also played a significant part in Joe’s career. Some of the more notable ones include: 

  • 6 months on the road with Blood, Sweat and Tears; 
  • 19 concert tour of Africville Suite(including an appearance at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.); 
  • 20 city national tour of Timothy Findlay’s Piano Man’s Daughter(along with Veronica Tennant and Sylvia Tyson); 
  • 2 week tour of Norway and Denmark including a performance at the world famous Jazz House in Copenhagen.

4 Time Juno Nominee and 1 juno Award Winner

All of this work and success has not gone unnoted. Joe is both proud of, and humbled by, the acclaim he has received. Major awards include: a Juno Award for CD, Africville Suite; the Dora Mavor Moore Award for music direction in the Toronto production of Ain’t Misbehavin; and a Gemini Award nominationfor his musical score for the documentary film The Road Taken.

In 2010, Joe was invested in The Order Of Canada.

Heather Bambrick
JUNO-nominated vocalist Heather Bambrick prides herself on being an entertainer through and through.  From her skillful, effortless interaction with audiences, to the variety and breadth of her material, Heather approaches every aspect of her performances with the goal of leaving audiences feeling far better after her shows than before they arrived.  This is why her concerts have been described as what happens when “Ella Fitzgerald meets Carol Burnett at a Newfoundland kitchen party”.

It’s not only audiences who appreciate Heather’s talent.  Critics and industry professionals place Heather on the top rung of the musical ladder.  “Heather hits every right note”, says Mark Rheume of CBC Radio.  WholeNote Magazine calls her “one of the finest jazz singers in this country”, and All About Jazz says her voice is a “paragon of clarity” and that “she’s the real deal in every way”.

As one of Canada’s top Jazz vocalists, Heather has collaborated with some of the best around, including Phil Nimmons, Fred Hirsch, Gene DiNovi, Guido Basso, Anne Hampton Callaway, Carol Welsman, Jackie Richardson, Ian Shaw, as well as the late Rob McConnell and Peter Appleyard.  She’s a founding member of vocal ensembles The Beehive Singers and Broadsway, and has appeared as a guest performer with numerous Jazz ensembles, as well as with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra.

Music for the Soul with Shawna Caspi

Beach United Church October 28, 2024 No Comments

Beach United Church is pleased to present Music for the Soul on Saturday, November 16th at 4:30pm with acclaimed singer-songwriter Shawna Caspi. She will take you through a transformative musical experience in her unique and poetic musical style, drawing energy from shifting landscapes and long drives through Canada and the United States.

Tickets are pay what you can, with suggested prices of $10 or $15. Proceeds go towards supporting Beach United’s music programming and year-round community programs.

Tickets Here

About Shawna

In a world where language is forged as rushed texts and tweets, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Shawna Caspi takes her time crafting lyrics that are poetic and meaningful, often using unusual rhymes and surprising turns of phrase. She delights in nuance and detail – the way words sound, the way they’re shaped, the way they roll around on the palate. Her songs resonate with stories that are relatable, but told in new and unexpected ways.

Shawna spent years on the road playing festivals, concert halls, train cars, backyards, and living rooms, drawing energy from shifting landscapes and long drives through Canada and the United States. Those solo shows and unpredictable tours taught her how to be flexible and resilient in art and in life. Shawna is a skilled guitarist, supporting her warm, clear voice with intricate fingerstyle accompaniment. This is music that makes an authentic human connection, that conveys a sense of closeness, of being understood, of feeling less alone.

Shawna’s latest album, Hurricane Coming, reveals a collection of songs that lie close to the heart, set against a backdrop of colourful and cinematic soundscapes, featuring a talented team of musicians who bring these rich sonic worlds to life. A story unravels – it begins with a breakdown, a vow to leave the past behind, then pauses for reflection, asks questions of trust, comfort, and belonging, follows the search for strands of gold, to conversations with old flames, through the swell of confidence that comes in the course of healing, and ultimately, to the acceptance of love and moving forward.

Hurricane Coming was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year and an Ontario Folk Music Award for Album of the Year, and Shawna’s songs have won awards from Folk Music Ontario and the Songwriters’ Association of Washington. She strives to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable, to empower listeners to come to terms with the parts of themselves and the world that they might find scary, and to look for hope in the dark.

Talking about Money

Beach United Church October 23, 2024 No Comments
2025 Pledge Form

During the Church service on Sunday October 20, 2024, Reverend Daniel Benson sat down here with the church Treasurer, Paul Dowling to talk about the financial needs of Beach United Church. While they acknowledged that it can be uncomfortable to talk about money, it is important for people that support the church and its programs to know what the church needs.

Here is some of what the Treasurer said:

Being Treasurer in a United Church in 2024 is a challenging task. Our big, beautiful building was originally built to accommodate hundreds of worshippers every Sunday; while we have a core group of committed people on Sunday morning, we are quite a small congregation. Although this is the current reality for many churches, it means that our offerings are not enough to meet our costs to maintain the building, and to employ staff to support our worship and programs.

This year, the Beach United congregation approved a budget deficit of more than $150,000. We know that any deficit is not sustainable in the long run; our reserves will not last forever.

Our church strategic plan acknowledges that the church is more than a place of worship. We also see our role as providing programs and supports for people in our community. These programs include: our music programs, environmental initiatives, knitting for shivering children, Queer Youth support, and our support for people that are food insecure. These are all important parts of our Ministry, and it costs money to sustain them.

Our church building also provides a resource to the local community – for weddings, children’s programs, dance, music programs, and meeting places for a range of community activities. Fortunately, these parts of our Ministry have the potential to provide income.

Finally, we contribute to the work of the wider church here in Toronto and around the world through our support of the United Church Mission and Service Fund.

The problem is that the numbers aren’t working right. Our expenses are more than our income –  in fact, quite a bit more. The board is committed to trying to change the equation so that we don’t continue to have a big deficit and in time, can become more sustainable. We need to review all our expenses and ask ourselves whether there are areas where we can cut back. We also need to look at all of the ways we bring in money, including our fundraisers, our income from the parking lot, the EV chargers, grants and room rentals, to see if there are ways to increase our revenue and at the same time to enhance our ability to meet the needs of the community.

Rev. Daniel asked what people in the congregation can do to help?

Paul said that people can offer their ideas and their time to help address our financial challenge. We need fresh eyes and people with life experience to share.

As well, we need people to contribute financially so that a greater proportion of our expenses are met by those of us who value Beach United Church as our community. Our annual budget is about $500,000. Offerings, both in the offering plate and through direct Pre-Authorized Remittance (what we call PAR) provide about $140,000. That is a significant contribution; but we need it to be more.

I am asking people to think about what Beach United means to you and how your gratitude supports and nourishes not just our immediate church family, but our whole neighbourhood and the world beyond us.

We are asking people to look at their circumstances and their contributions, and ask themselves whether they need to make a change.

On Sunday, we will be handing out pledge cards as a way for people to say to themselves and to me as Treasurer, how they plan to contribute in the next year. Your pledge will be confidential. It’s not mandatory, of course, but it will help the church board as we begin to budget for next year and to make plans to become more sustainable..

A copy of the pledge card is available here on the Beach United website.   Please take a minute to share your commitment!

Haunted Stops: a Halloween-themed Organ Recital

Beach United Church September 25, 2024 No Comments

Beach United Church is excited to present an afternoon of spooktacular organ music on Saturday, October 26th at 4:30pm with local organist, Rashaan Allwood. The program will feature ghostly favourites from Liszt, to Messiaen, Bach and more. You’re in for a thoroughly bone-chilling and goosebump-inducing concert experience just in time for Halloween!

Entry is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested minimum of $10. Tickets are not required for entry; you may show up at our doors on the day of the concert.

RSVP here!

Rashaan Allwood

Rashaan Rori Allwood is a versatile composer, performer, and educator known for his interdisciplinary approach to music. With a background in organ, piano, and clavichord performance, Rashaan merges classical, electronic, and world music in innovative ways. He holds degrees in organ performance from McGill University and piano performance from the University of Toronto, and he is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at Western University, focusing on improvisation, multimedia, and contemporary composition. 

His work spans genres, from medieval music to cutting-edge electronic sounds, and he frequently shares his unique interpretations online, blending historical performance practices with modern technology. An active presence on social media, Rashaan connects with audiences worldwide through educational content and creative performances. His research and artistry reflect a passion for exploring the intersections of tradition, innovation, and global musical cultures.

Concert Program:
Allegro Agitato from Mazeppa, s. 100 – Franz Liszt 
Les Anges – Olivier Messiaen 
Fantasia sopra Von Gott will ich nicht lassen – Bert Matter 
Kyrie from Faenza Codex – 14th Century Anonymous 
Halloween Special – Rashaan Allwood 
Allegro Cantabile from Symphony 5 – Charles Marie Widor 
Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach