Happy Easter!

I had the great honor of singing "Long As I Got King Jesus" at Middle Collegiate Church's Easter service. It always brings me to joy to make beautiful music with the Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir!

Monette Returns to Pangea Thursday 2/23

Hello and welcome to 2023! I hope it's begun sweetly for you.

This Thursday I am delighted to be singing with Monica Passin’s trio, Monette, at Pangea in New York City! Sherryl Marshall and yours truly add close harmonies to Monica’s richly layered original songs.

Pangea is an intimate and wonderful supper club in the East Village with a nice menu and a well stocked bar. Best to come with an appetite!

Thursday, February 23, 2023
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Pangea
178 2nd Avenue, New York, NY

A few seats are left, so be sure to buy your tickets in advance!

https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/70634

There is a $20 minimum per person (food or beverage).

Tickets at the door are $25 (Cash Only)

Note for those who prefer to remain masked in public spaces: Pangea has said that they will happily box up your cabaret dinner to-go so you can still enjoy the night of music with us!

Come out for dinner and music before temperatures plunge! We hope to see you there!

xx,

Deborah

Holiday Greetings and Goings-On

Hello good people,

I hope you are well.

It has been a little while, so I wanted to reach out and extend my seasonal salutations!

2022 is rapidly coming to a close, and with December comes many fab traditions.

In my music teaching world, the Singing Seniors had their Winter Recital December 9th at Lenox Hill Senior Center at St. Peter's Church. Our illustrious band this year was made up of great local players: Paul Pimsler on guitar, Booker King on bass, Jonathan Peretz on drums, and our preeminent accompanist Clare Cooper on piano.

This is our eighth year of Singing Seniors (twenty-three sessions!), and it is always a delight to round up the Senior Center community for some musical entertainment. Our set list this year was L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, It's A Good Day by Peggy Lee, Let 'em In by Paul McCartney and Wings, God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Wah Watusi by Mann & Appel, ('Til) I Kissed You by Don Everly, And I Love Her by Lennon/McCartney, and, to honor the season, the classic Christmas song Winter Wonderland.

As many of you know, our beautiful Middle Church burned to the ground two years ago (December 5, 2020). Gospel choir has been migratory since then, singing wherever we land, primarily at East End Temple every Sunday at 11:45 am. Thank you Rabbi Josh for the Sunday use of your beautiful Synagogue! This year Middle has been invited to hold our Christmas Eve service at Marble Collegiate Church, with Dr. Rev. Jacqueline Lewis leading.

Christmas Eve Service 9:00pm
Marble Collegiate Church
1 West 29th St at Fifth Ave.

The extended McCarthy family are coming together this weekend for our annual Pollyanna Luncheon. It is a fun day filled with kids' gift exchange, dessert swap, caroling and a sumptuous buffet lunch!

This will be our first time back together for the Pollyanna since 2019. Some things never seem to change but other things certainly have.

For instance, rapid tests are encouraged.

In honor of my family's tradition, here is the very charming video of "Merry Christmas To You" to celebrate the season. I wrote the song, inspired by our family Pollyanna gathering. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. The incomparable Johnny Jake produced this video. Thank you again Johnny!

The Caroling Carolers will be meeting again this year under the Washington Square Arch on December 22nd at 6pm. Hosted by dear friend, Terre Roche and friends, it is always a beautiful and well attended public event. Bundle up and come on down!

One more joyful piece of news: my Eye to Eye partner, Julian Marshall, has recently released a beautiful new work titled "The Angel in the Forest." This philharmonic piece he composed and debuted in 2010 is at last widely available for listening.


https://orchid-music.lnk.to/angel

The work has been added to the Spotify Classical New Releases playlist (with over 660,000 subscribers) and the New in Classical playlist on Apple Music, which is thrilling for all involved! Congratulations, Julian!

And from me: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, and a healthy, peaceful, and restorative New Year!

Love,

xxx,

Deborah

September 11, 2001: Twenty Years Later

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001, I offer this video as a small gift to my New York City community, inspired by Eye to Eye's song “Fly Now.”

xxx,

Deborah

LYRICS
Technicolor morning, summer just gone
New shoes on, schools begun
The human hum...

Came without a warning
Sudden change morning doves
left their towers and flew away

Full flight, low hum
Shadow across the sun
Steel melts to liquid, fountain of glass

Fly Now

Whether it's a calling or different drum
Some folks think first of all
To help someone

Technicolor morning, no different pace
Shower and shave and for some
A lasting embrace

Daughters and girlfriends
and moms and wives
Brothers and fathers and sons and husbands

Hearts melt together, fountain of souls

FLY NOW

Whether it's a calling or different drum
Some folks think first of all
To help someone

P.S. after the Inauguration

Reporting from the other side of the Inauguration with great relief and gratitude -- here's a slightly revised version of Patrick Mulcahy's choir caroling photo from my last post, as edited by my friend Riqi Vélez.