Since its inception in 2008, Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Sugar Land has been committed to the arts as an expression of God’s grace for all to enjoy. In our inaugural Heart for the Arts concert launched in February 2023, we included classical music by Brahms, Elgar, Piazzolla, movie music from China, and metaphysical poetry by George Herbert reflecting the diversity in the church, in Sugar Land and beyond. We represent what is global with our local community good in mind.
Glocal = Think global, act local
The Heart for the Arts Concert is a glocal experience. It brings the arts – with classical music as the through line – to our doorstep. The musicians performing at the concert reflect the diversity of the U.S. I am a second-generation Korean-American born and raised in the northeast. Our special guest musician is a second-generation Taiwanese-American who lives in NYC. In fact, all of the musicians have some connection to NYC, one of the most diverse cities in the world, and we’re bringing musical taste from around the globe to our backyard. The concert is one hour and 15 minutes long where we’ll harness the eternal optimism of Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata, unlock the supple and sensual sounds of Fauré, and send you dancing to the Slavonic Dances by Dvorak which contains strains of the Ukrainian dumka.
Dumka (думка) is a Ukrainian word meaning "thought" or "opinion." It is also a musical term referring to a type of Slavic folk ballad, often with melancholic and contrasting lively sections. The musical form became well known through Ukrainian and Polish composers, such as Mykola Lysenko and Frédéric Chopin.
The musical selection is a confluence of how humans have flourished through the ages from East to West. Every time we play music we bring to life the spirit of the composer and the vitality of the human spirit.
Our Heart for the Arts Concert happens only every two years. Unlike Apple Music or Spotify, we don’t play the same music twice and never the same way. This is also a special year in the church. In ancient biblical times, a Jubilee year was every 50 years, following seven cycles of seven-year sabbatical cycles. It was the year for the land to lie fallow and for each Israelite to return to their ancestral land and to their people. Debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and land was to be returned to its original owners. St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome only opens its door during the Jubilee year which inspired the artwork for our Heart for the Arts flyer.
For our 2025 Heart for the Arts Concert, we will explore the dimensions of love from C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves. How familial love (storge), friendship love (philia), and romantic love (eros) serve as training grounds for charity love (agape) to grow. We hope you come and enjoy the free music curated glocally in this special Jubilee year just for you.
Warmly,
Sarah Han Kuo