Sparks from the Fire

Jenny Burton

Photographs by John Johnson

Last night’s WFM Listening Room Series II Opener, starring Margaret Dorn and headliner, Jenny Burton, was a howling success.  The new venue at 63^rd Street and Park Avenue, a magnificent, Greek-columned, magically lit, two-story space of grace was just the place for rich music listening.

One happy attendee was heard to exclaim. “Wow, after the week I’ve had at work, I get to come here and be inspired by all this music!”  Herein lies the raison d’etre.  Here is why we do it.

Our crowd was the biggest yet – a tribute to Ms Burton’s drawing power and magical talent.

An instant and lengthy standing ovation followed her performance with audience just a-buzz with what they had just seen and heard as the house lights came up.

Margaret Dorn

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Jenny Burton

Last fall, as many of you know, Watchfire Music presented a series of Inspirational music concerts here in NYC under the banner of the WFM Listening Room.  Julia Wade, Watchfire Music’s best-selling artist, headlined five of these concerts with various opening acts chosen from a wonderful list of New York talent.

We opened up with three concerts on Central Park at Jenkins House Concerts, an intimate parlor setting in a brownstone just off the park and soon outgrew this lovely, but too small atmosphere.  At that point we moved the last three concerts into Shetler Studios Penthouses to accommodate the audiences that kept coming back again and again and each time bringing more and more friends.

Jenny Burton with Kevin Osborne and Friends closed Series I just before Christmas and sold out two weeks before the performance date.  So we moved the venue to Shetler’s largest venue, Penthouse I, and sold it out in the next 24 hours.  And who says the music business is dead?

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Inspirational music comes in all shapes and sizes, colors and variations.  Last night I had the exquisite pleasure of seeing and hearing, what is for me, the best of it.  A friend won tickets to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and knowing that this noble orchestra is my absolute favorite in the world, invited me to tag along.

I was also the winner and tag along, I did.  Seats were in the Dress Circle, the primo place to sit, for me, because you can look down on the orchestra and see who’s playing what and how the sections work together.  It’s always a visual ballet as well because the movement of the bows alone is worth the price of admission.

Sometimes I would just squint my eyes and make the stage and its players a bit out of focus and it would become a modern moving painting of grace and design scored brilliantly by its composer.  By the time I left the concert I was walking three feet off the ground and emotionally spent, but inspired beyond my imagination.

I am still tingling from the experience as I sit and write some eight hours later.

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This article has been reprinted from an article first appearing in the Principia Purpose, Peter’s High School and College Alumni Magazine in December of 2010.

Peter Link’s music career flowed naturally from his days at the College. After serving under Jack Eyerly as assistant choir director his sophomore year, Peter went on to be its main director until he graduated. “Jack believed in my ability, mentored me, and provided opportunities,” Peter recalls. “I really learned my craft from him!” Peter also directed a College production of Carousel. After seeing it, a parent told him, “If you directed this production, you can make it in New York.” With that encouragement, Peter packed for the Big Apple soon after graduation.

During the next two years, Peter studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. From there, he landed a lead role in the TV soap opera As the World Turns as well as a lead role in Hair on Broadway. “Doing Hair and the soap was an incredible two-year ride as an actor, but I soon found that my real interest was composing for the musical theatre,” Peter says. During Hair he wrote the hit musical Salvation. Out of that score came a gold record that sold two million copies. “This was a whirlwind start for a young guy!” Peter notes.

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It was a very good year for Watchfire Music, your Inspirational music company and on-line music store.  We are grateful to list the year’s accomplishments and positive growth below:

The creation of the Watchfire Music Collection – thematic compilation CDs featuring the best music of Watchfire Music artists.

Send To A Friend – Send the gift of music to a friend along with a personalized seasonal gift card.  It’s easy and quick!

Catch up on Sparks From The Fire – monthly fliers featuring the best of posts from the past month.  Easy to follow and comprehensive.

Accompaniment tracks from our DSM division for vocalists everywhere.

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Christmas in Central Park

Christmas in NYC!  There’s nothing quite like it.  Truly beautiful, but sometimes a bit too much about Santa and not enough about Jesus.  Each year I go back to the same moment years ago when I first wrote this song to try to rediscover the essence of Christmas.

I’ll share it with you now:

Christmas In My Soul

Music and lyrics by Peter Link

It looks as though

There won’t be snow on Christmas

And the holly and the mistletoe

Were sold out long ago

The midtown rush was just a little too much

And this year Santa and his reindeer

Never left the pole

Suddenly it just don’t seem like Christmas

Suddenly it don’t seem so natural

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Closing out the 2010 Series of the WFM Listening Room was Jenny Burton with guest artist Kevin Osborne.  A magical sold-out night indeed!  Actually, we sold out 2 weeks before the gig itself and even had to move the show to a larger venue to accommodate the demand.

As it was, many people were disappointed who thought they could get reservations at normal times.  There are no longer normal times.  Get ‘em early!

You’ll be glad to know that we’re planning many more Listening Room concerts in the coming year with Julia Wade, Jenny Burton and a host of other terrific talent.  Stay tuned.

Kevin Osborne kicked things off in great style.  Accompanied by David Keyes on acoustic bass, Al Fritsch on piano, and ­­­­­­­­­­­Keith Robinson on acoustic guitar, the whole group tore into Orleans’ infectious 70s hit Dance With Me, and immediately got the room rockin’. (more…)

The idea that a chariot of fire would sweep down out of the heavens and carry off a man in a mystical spiritual process called “ascension” has fascinated me since childhood.  When I first heard the story in the Bible of the master Elijah and his devoted disciple, Elisha, probably in Sunday School, I tucked the tale away in the back of my mind for further imaginary consideration on those nights when sleep would not come easy.

Later in life, as I taught Sunday School, I began to study thoroughly the story so that I could best relate it to my boys in the class I taught.  I watched them too become fascinated with the tale and found that the discussions around the story went on for weeks in my classes.  Every step of the experience was questioned and thrashed about.  “What was ascension?”  “Why did Elijah say to Elisha that if he could see him ascend then Elisha might be able to someday ascend as well?”  “Why did Elijah ask Elisha to hold his garment?” (more…)