There are places we simply drive past.
They aren’t a second thought because their prime function is housing people that worship in a way different from us.
Even though many call Central United Church, located at 628 Ouellette Avenue, their second home, many of us know it as the neighbour to Shoppers Drug Mart on the corner of Ouellette and Wyandotte.
A lot of these places feel like closed doors to us. Closed by our own lack of curiosity, or closed by our self-imposed restrictions.
The Open Doors Campaign, organized by church council member Dan Bryant, is a series of musical events aimed at trying to keep the church’s doors open by raising money from these concerts.
My blogger-friend Victoria Rose told me that she’d seen a concert there recently and it had been exquisite.
A Welsh tenor named Gwyndaf Jones, friend of Bryant, played there January 29th for $10.
Above: Gwyndaf Jones
That sentence might not hold any meaning for you, until you understand the phenomenal acoustics in Central United Church.
He didn’t use a microphone. He didn’t need one. If you watch the video tour below, you’ll see the majestic space, and imagine the sounds effortlessly flowing through it. He was joined by violinist Besnik Yzeiri, Sandra A Miller Radvanyi, and Alde Calongcagong on piano.
The idea of music taking place in a building that’s 104 years old is extraordinary to me. So much so that I plan on taking a closer look at the building itself in a future Salt & Roses segment with Neil Helmer. The 60-year-old pipe organ that can be seen looming over the altar is so prominent, it’s hard to look at it without imagining it calling to the heavens.
Bryant assures me that the intention of the church, (known to many as “What church?!) is going to hold a few organ recitals in 2010, which will be open to the public as part of the Doors Open Campaign. That alone has skyrocketed my interest. Also planned is a folk music series, aimed at getting an entirely different music-appreciating crowd inside of this audio giant.
The display sign out front will be displaying the next music event when it’s solidly booked in the church’s calendar. I will, for sure, be at the first organ recital. Maybe I’ll see you in this century-old, architectural, acoustic, heaven-sent building for some transcendent entertainment.
To inquire further about the church or their events, before the Salt & Roses episode highlighting this building comes out, go to http://central.mnsi.net or e-mail central@mnsi.net.
Yet another genuinely precious, mostly unknown, event-series in downtown Windsor. Tell someone this exists. Share this link with them!
And if you have a place you’re curious about downtown, and you’d like me to shine a light on it or the workers, or the owners, or the residents…send me an e-mail.
Tags: Alde Calongcagong, Besnik Yzeiri, blog, Central United Church, Dan Bryant, Doors Open Campaign, downtown, dwbia, Gwyndaf Jones, Ontario, pipe organ, Sandra A Miller Radvanyi, tour, tourism, Victoria Rose, Windsor, WO
I used to go to Central when I still lived in Windsor. It’s a great little church. Very cool of you to blog about this.