Gilroy’s own talented composer and musician, Allen Douglas, has
been on a roll lately. Not sesame nor pumpernickel, but a creative
roll that has led him to write nearly one song per week for the
past year.
Gilroy’s own talented composer and musician, Allen Douglas, has been on a roll lately. Not sesame nor pumpernickel, but a creative roll that has led him to write nearly one song per week for the past year. He credits divine inspiration for changing him from mere club-hopping musician to prolific composer. Allen premiered his latest composition, “God Sent An Angel” for a wider audience Sunday evening. A number of people from Gilroy made the trip to the Metropolitan Community Church on Eureka Street in San Francisco to witness the installation of Allen’s daughter as the new music director there, where she will be responsible for planning music for five different church services a week. Having just obtained her Master’s Degree in Organ and Harpsicord from Mills College, Grace Renaud gave her father the ultimate Father’s Day gift.
Of all the music in the world, she chose to perform his music for her debut and arranged two of his compositions for her awesome choir and musicians. In a tour d’ force, arrangements of his “Angel” song and “Though I Shiver, I’m Not Shaken” were performed by a 30-voice choir that raised the roof. From the first chord, people sat up in their seats and paid attention. Several Gilroy High School students and their leaders were among the visitors who went up to San Francisco to hear Allen’s beautiful music. Grace and the other musicians created a performance of her father’s songs as they have never been heard before, replete with a new dynamic range and the force of enough voices to build to high crescendos and yet possessing enough control to soften a phrase to a delicate pianisimo. As Allen played the piano and Grace sang with him, they looked across at each other and smiled, and you could hear in the harmony of that moment, how much father and daughter truly appreciate each other’s gifts. What father could have asked for a better Father’s Day than that?
As this lively congregation enveloped us in music, I felt myself becoming braver. Strong voices sang uninhibitedly all around me, and I suddenly had the realization that if I joined in, no one would mind, no one would single me out or hear me individually all that well. As the notes began rising up and out and over my neighbor’s head, it brought the realization of just how much the decisions I make are framed by fear. Being with these people freed me up to sing as loudly or as softly as I felt like. When you are freed from fear of self-consciousness and worry about what others might think, it makes you realize how much more you might be able to accomplish. How much potential is not being tapped into because we worry too much? In the words of Allen’s song, “Though through the night, I tremble. You send the light that we resemble. … Now, at dawn, I awaken; And though I shiver, I’m not shaken.”
Coming in the near future: internationally honored concert artists, Jim and Jean Strathdee, have agreed to pay a visit to Gilroy. The date is still being worked out; the past year has been a tough one for them: Their son Michael committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. We are truly honored to have these talented song writers come to our community as they go out into the world to continue to share their message of unity and peace. They will perform from the over 400-song repertoire they’ve composed, and their music is sung by faith communities on five continents, offering a message of unity and peace.
