St. David's Episcopal Church

"Played bridge in their community room."

"We have a new priest who has brought much excitement and new activity. Come check him.out."

"Beautiful space for making music. Excellent acoustics, good parking, easy access even for people with handicaps"

"Yesterday, I discovered a noon time concert, one of a series of noon time concerts in Syracuse. I have wanted to go just for the sake of checking it out. I wanted to see face to face the person who handed me the program. I wished to hear the organizer stand up on stage and introduce the concert. But I was able to pass on the concerts, great though they looked on paper, until Wednesday, yesterday. The location offered a concert grand and a lovely stage that looked out upon the gardens in winter at St David's Episcopal Church. I noticed a woman running towards the sanctuary door, and I assured her, "You are not late. They couldn't possibly start on time. And even if the show started on time, the director has probably taken a few minutes to say hello and introduce the group". She gazed at my eyes when she paused to hold open the door for me, and I was given pause by the beauty of her eyes. The soprano had a reputation for singing songs in Swedish Finnish and Finnish Swedish, which she knows are ever so slightly different dialects. The pianist had a post on the faculty of the Sibelius Institute. The violinist had been celebrated in all the journals of Finnish classical music, recorded for all the classical music labels in Finland. The program listed work after work composed by Finnish Composers, living Finnish Composers, written just for the trio. The lunch time concert offered for free the same program they'll perform on Thursday at Scandinavia House, a cultural institution in New York City. I had to go to this concert and listen closely, and contemplate my grandparents, Edward and Aino. And I will long contemplate what I heard that soprano sing although I didn't understand a word. In fact, I didn't hear her singing as language but pure song. In the middle of the second work, a party from Brookdale home arrived and were not made to wait until the end of the song. The walkers made noise as assistants put them away. Finding seats in a pew required whispered conversations. A few women needed significant assistance. This would not turn heads in Finland where the rest homes for elderly citizens are famous for their care and comfort. A woman in a red wool jacket kept her jacket on, kept her blue knit cap upon her head and huddled up for warmth so tightly, she looked like a ball of wool. Kathleen Roland-Silverstein sang and sang and sang as if nothing was happening to distract her. I was kept as a child from that language of Finns by well meaning but ultimately mistaken parents. How tragically beautiful my attendance as an ugly American monolingual and dull."

"Lovely service. Friendly people"