Music Ministry


The Music Ministry at Unity Teaneck is praising God with two Services every Sunday. The nine o’clock Service features Spiritual Voyage, Unity’s musical ensemble: Sandra Billingslea, violin, Katie Cosco, piano, Jessie Fisher, keyboard, Dave Tancredi, drums, and Vanessa Spencer, bass. The Eleven o’clock Service features an array of soloist, and our choir. Each Sunday features a different soloist, duo, trio, and Inspirational, our choir.

It is wonderful to praise in the variety of musical genres God has provided us through each individual’s gifts and divine understanding. At Unity Teaneck, we celebrate those differences. We play and sing all kinds of music. Classical, contemporary Christian, gospel, Latin Christian, spirituals, religious jazz, rapp: name the style and we praise God with it. We even play blue grass on occasion, because that’s what we hear in our inner-ear and it fits. We pray this variety helps everyone connect with the Spirit within. We realize music can be the door into the inner-sanctum where Spirit dwells in each of us.

This spring, we were blessed with soloist Beverly Withers, (Metropolitan Opera soprano), Robin Norris, (Apollo Theatre Award Winner), the dynamic duo of Syemea Walker and Timothy Thomas, (Unity favorites), Dave Tancredi, and Walter Jones. We even had a special guest from Japan, a club singer and CD artist, who always wanted to sing with a “Gospel Choir.” She could speak little English, but she was able to sing in English through God’s help and a willing Spirit. We were also honored to have Unity’s own Stevie Spencer featured on guitar. What a Service that was! I thank each of our soloist for sharing their gifts with us.

This summer, we have additional guest including Roosevelt Andre Credit and many more. Be sure to come every Sunday as we praise and worship through our music. Each Sunday holds musical variety, which reflects the variety in our congregation at Unity Teaneck and in the wonderful world God has made for us.

“Lord make me an instrument of thy peace and love.”

July 11, 2009 is the date of our first Choir Workshop, presented by Roosevelt Andre Credit. The workshop is from 10:00-2:00 P.M. We will learn correct breathing, vocal techniques, ornamentation, inflections, vocal dynamics, vibrato, how to use our voice to best advantage, and get the best sound possible from the gift God has given us. Roosevelt will work with us as a group, and individually. He will also distribute etudes and exercises for us to take home so we can continue improving our voices, and we can practice what we learn. The workshop is open to everyone. The fee is $30.00: less than $10.00 an hour. That is a real bargain. Please join us. We will have lots of fun and learn a lot about voice production and techniques!

Spiritual Voyage is planning a concert this fall. Our debut concert opened the Jubilee Celebration in 2007. This concert will feature music that highlights our diverse musical styles. Jesse Fisher, piano & keyboards, has joined Spiritual Voyage since our Jubilee Concert, so we are happy to present him in this unique and inspiring musical afternoon. The date and time will be announced soon.

The Inspirational Choir will also be presenting a concert this fall. The choir, soloist and Spiritual Voyage will combine on this musical afternoon dedicated to Spirit. We are also working on our first CD. It will be available at the concert.

Choir rehearsals are suspended during the summer. We resume after Labor Day. That’s Saturday mornings 10:15-11:50 starting September 12, 2009. If you would like to praise God through song, come join us. The work is hard. It takes time, practice, and a major commitment, but the rewards are great.

“Praise the Lord with gladness. Come into His Presence with singing”

Sandra Billingslea