Join us for First Unity’s special Sunday service music for the month of June, 2022, featuring performances by leading members of the St. Louis musical community. June’s schedule is as follows:
Sunday, June 5, 2022
Robert Nelson, vocals with Eric Slaughter, guitar
Robert Nelson is one of St. Louis’ busiest and most popular jazz singers. He is an extraordinary artist whose golden voice is a unique blend of standard jazz tones similar to Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman. Mr. Nelson writes, records, and performs music, and works as a consultant for the Heal the Arts Jazz Initiative.
Eric Slaughter is one of the nation’s finest jazz guitarists. He has worked with everyone from David Sanborn, Houston Person, and Donald Harrison to St. Louis legends Oliver Sain and Willie Akins.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Alan Ferber, trombone with Jody Redhage Ferber, cello
The astounding husband and wife team of trombonist Alan Ferber and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber make their First Unity debut.
Three time Grammy-nominated trombonist, composer, arranger Alan Ferber has been called “one of the jazz world’s premier composers and arrangers for larger groups” by All About Jazz NY. Jazz Times magazine describes Ferber’s compositions as “inspired and meticulous” and the L.A. Weekly deems him “one of the premier modern jazz arrangers of our time.” For the last seven years, he has been recognized as one of the leading trombonists of his generation in Down Beat magazine’s International Critics’ Poll and Readers’ Poll. Ferber was the recipient of a 2013 New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America, funded by the Doris Duke Foundation. Since 2011, he has been an Adjunct Professor of jazz studies at New York University’s Steinhardt School.
Jody Redhage Ferber, passionate advocate of creative new music and chamber music, is “a new music dynamo…Redhage is cultivating a growing repertoire of indie art song that breaches genre boundaries and makes for stirring listening” (MusicWorks magazine). Praised for her “exceptional technical command” (Steve Smith, Night After Night), Redhage Ferber has premiered over 100 works, including almost 30 that she has commissioned for her voice, cello, and electronics from some of today’s most talented composers. An active composer herself, she writes mainly for chamber jazz ensemble Rose & the Nightingale, and co-arranges and performs new repertoire for the unique instrumentations of cello/voice, trombone, & drums/percussion with her husband, Alan Ferber, and his twin brother, drummer Mark Ferber. As a multi-style cellist, Redhage Ferber is a busy recording session player and a mainstay performer on several groundbreaking scenes, contributing to the ever-increasing 21st century blur of musical boundary lines.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Deborah Sharn, vocals, and Steve Schenkel, guitar
Deborah Sharn has been singing in St. Louis for many years and is a guest vocalist at various places of worship each Sunday. She is also an actress who has worked with the Black Rep, New Line Theatre, The New Jewish Theatre, and the Mustard Seed Theatre. Winner of two JUDY Awards, Deborah has performed her cabaret show, “An Evening With Deborah Sharn,” several times at the Kranzberg Art Center to sold out audiences. By day Deborah is the Company Manager for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.Steve Schenkel is the guitarist and orchestra manager for the Fox Theater, guitarist for the Muny Opera and the St. Louis Symphony, and a freelance jazz musician. Steve has a Ph.D in Music from Washington University and a Masters Degree in Religious Studies from Webster University where he has served as an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies for 16 years. He recently retired after 37 years at Webster University, where he founded the Jazz Studies program, the Webster Jazz Concert Series, and the Jazz Studies/Music Technology program. He taught music, media, and religion since 1980 and is now a professor emeritus. His music is heard nationally on the PBS program “Breaking Bread,” as well as by millions of visitors each year in the multimedia show under the Gateway Arch. Steve now serves as the Music Director for First Unity Church of St. Louis.
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Michelle DeFabio, violin, and Steve Schenkel, guitar
Michelle DeFabio received her violin performance degree from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music in Illinois. Her first CD entitled “A Gift of Hope” raised money for the construction of an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico. In 2005, Michelle and her husband, Gary, an accomplished pianist, released their first CD entitled “Waiting for You” dedicated to Sophie, their adopted daughter from China. Michelle completed her Masters in Teaching at Lindenwood University in 2008 and is currently teaching strings in the Parkway School District.
Steve Schenkel is the guitarist and orchestra manager for the Fox Theater, guitarist for the Muny Opera and the St. Louis Symphony, and a freelance jazz musician. Steve has a Ph.D. in Music from Washington University and a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from Webster University where he served as an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies for 16 years. He recently retired after 37 years at Webster University, where he founded the Jazz Studies program, the Webster Jazz Concert Series, and the Jazz Studies/Music Technology program. He taught music, media, and religion since 1980 and is now a professor emeritus. His music is heard nationally on the PBS program “Breaking Bread,” as well as by millions of visitors each year in the multimedia show under the Gateway Arch. Steve now serves as the Music Director for First Unity Church of St. Louis.