Unitarian Fellowship Recorder Ladies Concentrate on the Joy of Music

Asking how long the Unitarian Recorder Ensemble has been around leads to a discussion and the final conclusion: no one remembers exactly. One member's time in the group is defined by the fact that her mother, now deceased for three years, used to attend. For another, it's her shoulder surgery that helps mark the time.

In all, they say it has been at least six or seven years since Janet Banerjee and Judy Aydt decided to put the group together, maybe eight. After a couple years they were joined by Inge Rader and one by one grew to 10 or maybe 11, if everyone is available including John and Carolyn Hooker, who sometimes accompany the ensemble with other instruments.

And, thought they call themselves the Unitarian Recorder Ensemble, membership in the Unitarian Fellowship is not required. After all, their newest member is Revital Yona, a visiting Israeli emissary to the Carbondale Jewish Federation.

In her honor, they have added more Jewish music to their repertoire and that means sight-reading music. That is one of the treats of the group, according to Judy. "Where else are you going to get this many people who love to play an instrument and are willing to sight read the music," she said. Most are lapsed musicians in some other form, or adopted the recorder in addition to their other instruments. Judy, for instance, plays piano.

"But you can't take a piano with you everywhere," she said.

She credits Janet with the first idea for the group and Janet quickly chimed in, "And you were willing to follow along."

Janet says her primary inspiration for the group was her love of renaissance music, which is particularly suited to the recorder. That and the Unitarian Fellowship's Folk Orchestra. "They looked like they were having so much that we wanted to get in on it."