Stories Behind the Songs

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Songs from Amidon/Stearns Musicals
From 2001 - 2009 Peter Amidon collaborated with Stephen Stearns creating four original musicals for Brattleboro's New England Youth Theater.  Stephen wrote the script and Peter composed all of the... Read more...
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What they are saying about Amidon arrangements
I found my way to your choral works because I was looking for high-quality, interesting music suitable for our scaled-down size and UU theology. I've been completely delighted by getting... Read more...
Jennifer Wide
The Story Behind "The White Goddess"
Listen below:Free download - pdfs/mp3 - White GoddessTwo hundred friends and family gathered under the tent outside the Guilford Community Church on a hot Saturday, June 25, 2022.  After a... Read more...
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Star Harmony 2025
  an astonishingly beautiful retreat center astonishingly beautiful retreat center on a small island off the NH coast. You can walk around it in an hour, just an hour by ferry from... Read more...
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Land on the Shore – a journey
Becky Tracy, Zara Bode, Keith Murphy, Peter & Mary Alice & Stefan Amidon perform: Land on the Shore Maybe forty years ago I first came across this remarkable recording of... Read more...
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Alouette Iselin's "Solstice Song"
Solstice Song by Alouette Iselin Mary Alice and I have been singing Alouette Iselin's "Solstice Song" for thirty years or so. Alouette is a New Hampshire-based therapist and singer and... Read more...
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O Mary, Where Is Your Baby - a Christmas spiritual from Louisiana
O Mary, Where Is Your Baby - a Christmas spiritual from Louisiana In 1980 Mary Alice and I purchased "The Second Penguin Book of Christmas Carols", a small paperback edited... Read more...
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Amidons' musical settings of scripture
We have a tradition at our Guilford Community Church UCC of arranging and composing songs as needed for our services.  Here are eight of the musical settings of scripture: seven... Read more...
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Arrangements for Advent and Christmas
Here are some of our Guilford Community Church Choir favorite anthems for Advent and Christmas: Watts Cradle Hymn words by Isaac Watts - traditional American tune "RESTORATION" Watts Cradle Hymn... Read more...
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Two Winter Songs for Children
Here are two winter songs for children that Mary Alice and I have sung for a long time that I turned into simple choral arrangements that are now available on... Read more...
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The Story of Eli, Eli
Eli, Eli The Short StoryThe Hebrew poem "Eli, Eli" was written by Hannah Szenes in 1942, and was set to music by David Zehavi in 1945.  I sang it with... Read more...
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The Story of "Bright Morning Stars"
August 26, 2021Bright Morning Stars The Short StoryI arranged this traditional Appalachian spiritual for the Guilford (VT) Community Church UCC Choir in 2006.MoreI met Mary Alice at the weekly Tuesday... Read more...