Music with a Conscience: MAJIC series boasts ‘eclectic offerings’ of concerts, strives to benefit ‘Heartside Neighborhood and beyond’

With a lineup that includes Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, Steve Hilger and series-starter Ralston Bowles, Bethlehem Lutheran Church at the edge of downtown Grand Rapids showcases local music and visual art.

 

Grand Rapids’ Bethlehem Lutheran Church has a few new musical tricks up its sleeve for this year’s MAJIC Concert Series.

But the mission remains the same.

“The name says it all: Music and Art for Justice in the Community (MAJIC). We get to hear great musicians, often in ways we can’t hear them if we encounter them at Founders, say, or in a larger space,” said Sheryl Iott, music director at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 25O Commerce Ave. SW.

“Along with the eclectic offerings of the music, the art is varied, interesting and thought-provoking, often but not always providing an eloquent social-justice backdrop to the third mission of the series, which is to help support the people of the Heartside Neighborhood.”

Started in 2007, the series has provided more than $35,000 in concert donations to the Heartside Fund, Hill Music Together (formerly Heartside Music Together) and the Coalition to End Homelessness.

Officially kicking off Friday with a performance by award-winning Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Ralston Bowles, the church’s 2015-2016 concert season will showcase a variety of musical and art offerings with a goal of providing “high quality arts programming in West Michigan, while helping the economically disadvantaged in the Heartside Neighborhood and beyond.”

In addition to Bowles — who will perform acoustically Friday with musicians Eric Engblade, Robby Jewett and Fred Willson — this season’s lineup features handbell ensemble Embellish on Dec. 11, Michigan folk music icons Seth Bernard & May Erlewine on Feb. 12, The Steve Hilger Band on March 11 and tenor John Bragle (with Iott on piano) on April 8.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING MUSIC AND ART EXHIBITS, SUPPORTING ‘GOOD WORK’

Accompanying each concert is a rotating art display which can be found at the church during performances as well as during regular business hours. A diverse list with thought-provoking themes, this year’s art pieces include such works as “reDiscovering the Grand,” a piece by Jason Rutter and Nate Abramowski, showing various environmental landscapes of the Grand River, Anal Shaw’s “Street Photography from India,” and “The Space Between Us,” a compilation of digital drawings that represent “a juxtaposition of privileged and impoverished children,” by Deborah Rockman.

Concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and usually consist of two 45-minute sets; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is a free-will donation (with $10 recommended). After covering show expenses, the church donates 100 percent of donations taken at the door to local organizations with a focus on social justice.

“It’s an honor to perform for a series that brings arts education to the area and supports the economically disadvantaged,” Bernard told Local Spins. “We’ve been hearing really positive things about this series for a lot of years and are thrilled to be a part of it. We are always looking for ways for our work to support other good work happening in Michigan and this is certainly one of those partnerships.”

For the annual MAJIC series fundraiser in October, Grand Rapids’ folky, banjo-spiced Blue Water Ramblers “serenaded” attendees over small plates and desserts at Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters, with the event garnering “a little more than half” the amount needed to fund the entire series. Donations to the series can be made online here, or email majicblc@gmail.com for more information.

The series has hosted a bevy of top-notch regional artists over the years, including Karisa Wilson, An Dro, Potato Moon, Fauxgrass, Drew Nelson, Neil Jacobs, Gwenneth Bean, Wisaal, Diane Penning, Andrew Le, Chain of Lakes, Knock on Wood, Jukejoint Handmedowns and many more.

Iott said the series has been “a universally positive experience,” and hopes people see that the concerts are a way for the community to get involved with helping those in need.

“It’s better than handing someone a dollar out your car window,” she said, “as the money we raise helps people pay bus fare to get to a new job, or buy work-appropriate or work-required clothing, or pay a copay for an important prescription.

“It’s also an opportunity for us as a community to get together routinely and share a cultural event and experience.”

Get more information about the series online at bethlehmchurchgr.org.

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC