Music at First Unitarian
Music is a beloved and integral part of our services. Hymns are selected not only from the traditional Sing the Living Tradition and its supplement, but a Spanish language counterpart, and our own “red hymnal” How can we keep from singing! which was published by First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles in 1968.
A special part of the service is dedicated to a musical soloist, either from the pianist, guest musicians, or members of the congregation. Twice a month this slot features the First Unitarian Choir, led by Nathan Fratzke.
Join Our Choir
The choir rehearses every Wednesday from 7:30pm to 9:00pm in Channing Hall, and an hour before specified Sunday services. All are welcome to join regardless of music experience or literacy, though regular attendance is expected.
Recent repertoire includes everyone from Tallis and Palestrina, Mozart, and Lauridsen, as well as a wide variety of contemporary and traditional styles. Special performances include a collaborative M.L.K. Day service with other Unitarian choirs, and Music Sunday, a June service which features the choir and soloists in lieu of a sermon. After Music Sunday, the choir goes on hiatus for the summer and resumes rehearsals in mid-August.
Personnel
Travis Reynolds, Music Director
Travis Reynolds is a composer and pianist currently based in Los Angeles. Travis received his Bachelors in Music from The Boston Conservatory, where he was hired as a staff pianist his senior year. He currently serves as music director and pianist at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Los Angeles, in addition to being an active teacher and accompanist. His compositions have been performed by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, Lynx Project, Calliope, Soundry, and members of both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Engagements and honors for 2021-22 included the premiere of the choral work Hobbes, the Cat, a finalist for the NYC Piano Composers Symposium at Columbia University, winner of tenor Gregory Wiest’s call for scores for his song cycle Birds Gone South, and an upcoming album release and publication of his art songs through the Lynx Project and New Music Shelf, respectively. This season Birds Gone South will premiere in Munich in the fall, and his art songs are slated to receive numerous performances across the country, including the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, University of Alabama, Lewis University, Merkin Hall, and the Kennedy Center.
Nathan Fratzke, Choir Director
A native of Wilton Iowa, Nathan Fratzke is a conductor, pianist, vocalist, composer/arranger, teacher, and creative. He currently serves as Choir Director and facilitator of the Jam Group, the community cover band, at First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles (UULA). Outside of UULA, he regularly collaborates throughout Los Angeles as a pianist and vocalist with a wide range of musicians, from singer/songwriters to hip-hop artists, and is a member of the pop/rock band Sound Siren. He also shares piano offerings in collaboration with breathwork practitioners, spiritual practitioners, and healers to assist in creating nurturing spaces for those in need, and at various types of services and ceremonies. He offers private lessons and coaching in piano, voice, guitar, (western) music theory, and creative direction.
He holds firm to the notion that we are all here to help each other in the ways unique to us. He brings to the collective a coherent field, significant musical prowess and beauty, alignment-based joy, and an open heart.
He completed coursework for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music at the University of Southern California in 2020, and holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri (Columbia), and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Wartburg College.