Join us for First Unity’s special Sunday service music for the month of May 2022, featuring performances by leading members of the St. Louis musical community. May’s schedule is as follows:
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Brian Clarke is perhaps the most beloved New Thought musician in St. Louis. He is most recently the recipient of the St. Louis Magazine “A-List” Award as Best Vocalist and Best Musician.
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Carol Schmidt, Adjunct Professor of Piano at Webster University, is a graduate of Webster University, having completed the MM in Jazz Studies/Piano Performance and the BM in Theory/Composition. At Webster University, she teaches classical piano and other music-related courses, and she maintains a very active life as an educator, composer and musical director. Schmidt has served as director of the Webster Jazz Singers, and as a faculty member for the International Summer Jazz Academy in Krakow, Poland. As a current faculty member of the Webster University Jazz Camp, she conducts piano master classes, performs with the Webster University Jazz faculty, and directs a six-person combo.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Webster University faculty member Dr. Ruth Price has performed across the nation. Her playing has been described by the Boston Globe as “…never less than first class and a balm to the ears. An accomplished performer, teacher, and clinician, Dr, Price teaches piano at Webster University in Saint Louis. In addition to maintaining an active private studio, she is an avid researcher and writer on the subject of piano music, specializing in performers’ analysis. Her book, Right Before Your Eyes: A Fresh Approach to Interpreting a Piano Score, was released in August 2015. Her innovative presentations on behind-the-scenes aspects of music and performance inspire teachers, students, and general audiences. She also enjoys creating interdisciplinary arts experiences, collaborating with painters and art historians, and pairing classical music with children’s books.
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Pianist and vocalist Mitzi MacDonald performs at numerous churches, peace events, pubs, coffee houses, outdoor concerts, and special events. She has opened for authors Alan Cohen and Neal Donald Walsh at Westport Playhouse and has performed at The Sheldon Concert Hall with CD release concerts.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Adrian Walker is the concertmaster of the Fox Theater Orchestra and former member of the St. Louis Symphony. His musical background includes the following. Violin Performance, Eastman School of Music, Graduate Courses, SIUE; replacement violinist, Saint Louis Symphony, 20 years; concertmaster/soloist, Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis, Bach Society and Masterworks Chorale Orchestras; Violinist for Broadway’s An American in Paris first national tour; conductor/teaching experience, Kirkwood School District, and also the districts of Ferguson-Florissant, Parkway, Webster Groves, Jennings, Most Holy Trinity Catholic School, Blossom Wood Day School, conductor- Cameron Youth Chamber Orchestra; faculty, Interlochen Arts Camp, Strings in the Mountains Music Festival, Southeast Missouri State University; instructor, University of Missouri Rolla, Saint Louis Symphony Community Music School, Webster University Community Music School, Mozingo Music, Music and Arts, First String Violin Academy, and Gateway Music Outreach
Performing for over three decades before audiences across the US, Wendy Lea has excelled in the multiple roles as a conductor, clinician, teacher, and chamber musician. Her education and development were greatly influenced by teachers Tiberius Klausner, John Korman, and Gladys Lang. She currently performs as Associate Principal Violist in the St. Louis Municipal Theatre Orchestra and violist with Chamber Players of St. Louis, Inc. Ms. Lea has recorded six CD’s with Laclede Quartet and arranged the music on four of those recordings, Laclede Quartet Plays Andrew Lloyd Webber, West Side Story & Gershwin Encores, With One Look, and By Request.
Anna Lackshewitz, viola
Anna Lackschewitz, violist, received her Bachelor’s of Music and Master’s of Music from the Juilliard School. After finishing high school at age 15, she studied at the Conservatory of Music in Freiburg, Germany, where she performed with the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Her first love is chamber music. She has studied with members of the Juilliard, Manhattan, New York, Guarneri, and Tokyo String Quartets and performed chamber music concerts in the US and Europe. Freelancing in New York she played for orchestras, choruses, opera and Broadway musicals as well as commercial music. Since coming to St. Louis Ms. Lackschewitz has been a soloist with the University City Symphony and has played principal viola of the Fox Theater Orchestra and the Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis, among others. She continues to freelance and perform with the Cardinal Quartet.
Alvin McCall, cello
A member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra since 1994, cellist Alvin McCall was previously Principal Cello with such ensembles as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Prism Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Jupiter Symphony, and the Naumberg Orchestra. McCall also served as Assistant Principal Cello with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra (of which he is still a member), the New York Chamber Symphony, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, and Caramoor Festival Orchestra. Besides these appointments, he was also a member of the New Jersey Symphony and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. An accomplished recitalist and chamber musician, as well, McCall is the founding member of the McCall-Deats Duo. The Duo has recorded both the Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich sonatas. He has also performed chamber music with fellow SLSO members at the Sheldon, Piper Palm House, Summerfest, Innsbrook, and other local venues. As a soloist, he has appeared with the University City Symphony, Virginia Philharmonic, Moscow Academic Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the SLSO.