paul cienniwa - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T06:35:06Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/paul+cienniwaReligion Notes: St. Paul’s marks 30 years of musichttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/religion-notes-st-paul-s-marks-30-years-of-music2018-02-28T14:57:55.000Z2018-02-28T14:57:55.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960777279,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960777279,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960777279?profile=original" /></a><em>Paul Cienniwa will play Bach’s Art of the Fugue on the harpsichord at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Janis Fontaine</strong></p>
<p>Music at St. Paul’s will celebrate its 30th season with a performance of J.S. Bach’s Art of the Fugue and an anniversary gala reception at 3 p.m. March 18 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. <br /> Paul Cienniwa and Michael Bahmann will perform with harpsichords. A reception will follow. <br /> “Music is an outreach,” Cienniwa said. “It’s a gateway drug to bring people to church. Music can touch people who aren’t religious. It’s a spiritual experience.” <br /> Tickets are $20 (suggested donation) at the door. Admission is free for ages 18 and younger. For more information, call 276-4541 or visit <a href="http://www.stpaulsdelray.org">www.stpaulsdelray.org</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Run or walk to fight hunger</strong></span><br /> St. Mark Catholic Church of Boynton Beach will be among the congregations to sponsor teams when the Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach hosts its annual Hunger Walk/5K on March 10 at Ocean Avenue Amphitheater, 129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach. <br /> The walk starts at 10:30 a.m. and travels about a mile and a half to the beach and back. Last-minute registration for the walk is free, but a suggested donation of $20 or nonperishable canned food items is suggested at registration, which begins 9:30 a.m. Teams and runners should register at <a href="http://www.cccgbb.org">www.cccgbb.org</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Scholarship program</strong></span><br /> St. Mark Catholic Church’s Council of Catholic Women will hold a bake sale on March 10 and 11 and an Easter plant sale on March 17 and 18 to raise money for its scholarship program.<br /> Female students planning to attend Catholic high schools can apply for a scholarship by April 1. Applications are available in the church office. Call 734-9330.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>A conversation about race</strong></span> <br /> On Feb. 21, the Church of the Palms began a five-week series of “dinner and a conversation” nights to open a dialogue about ways to heal the divisions in society, specifically “understanding overt racism and more subtle examples, both personal and systemic, that infuse our language, attitudes and culture.”<br /> The leaders use a board game called “Breaking It Down: Towards E Pluribus Unum,” developed by the National Center for Race Amity and released by WHS Media Productions. The game is designed to create a safe space to learn about and discuss issues of race and race amity. <br /> The game isn’t a competition. Instead, it encourages and assists people in talking in a nontoxic manner, and to have safe and sage conversations. Sometimes the smartest answer is “I don’t know,” and the game provides a non-judgmental place to say it. The game is appropriate for preteens through senior citizens, although there is a separate kids’ version. <br /> Dinner is a light potluck supper at 6 p.m. followed by conversation at 6:30 at the church at 1960 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Call 276-6347 to sign up. <br />Candidate introduction<br /> The nominating committee at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach will present its candidate for associate pastor to the congregation at 11 a.m. March 11 at the church, at 33 Gleason St., Delray Beach. A special congregational meeting will follow. For more information, call 276-6338 or visit <a href="http://www.firstdelray.com">www.firstdelray.com</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Lower your car insurance</strong></span> <br /> St. Mark Catholic Church will host a course for older adults, Coaching the Mature Driver, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 21. The class, which can help drivers reduce insurance costs, will be in the St. Clare Room at the church, 643 St. Mark Place, Boynton Beach. The cost is $15. Bring a check payable to DOTS, lunch and a beverage. To register, call Barbara at 732-1416 or 512-6407.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Ongoing programs</strong></span> <br /><strong>Beer, Conversation & God:</strong> Pub Theology meets at 7 p.m. March 6 (and the first Tuesday of each month) at the Biergarten, 309 Via De Palmas, No. 90, Boca Raton, and at 7 p.m. March 15 (and the third Thursday of each month) at Barrel of Monks, 1141 S. Rogers Circle, No. 5, Boca Raton, for conversation, fellowship and open discussion of mostly theological topics. For more information, contact Pastor Marcus Zillman at mzillman@fumcbocaraton.org or call 395-1244; <a href="http://www.fumcbocaraton.org">www.fumcbocaraton.org</a>.</p>
<p><strong>The Interfaith Café:</strong> Join the theological discussion from 7 to 9 p.m. March 15 at South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach. Light refreshments will be served. The meeting is free, but donations are appreciated. The Interfaith Café meets the third Thursday of the month, and volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of duties to keep this program going. For information or to volunteer, email Jane@Aurorasvoice.org.<br /> <br /><em>Contact Janis Fontaine at janisfontaine@outlook.com.</em></p></div>Finding Faith: Music brought organist to God — and Delray Beachhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/finding-faith-music-brought-organist-to-god-and-delray-beach2017-05-03T13:30:00.000Z2017-05-03T13:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960714899,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960714899,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960714899?profile=original" /></a><em>Paul Cienniwa, who starts June 1 as St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s music ministry director,</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>says ‘music can touch people who aren’t religious. It’s a spiritual experience.’</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photo provided</strong><br /></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Janis Fontaine</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> Never underestimate the power of music. Paul Cienniwa’s skills as an organist brought him to the church: Playing organ paid his bills when he was a struggling student and, in fact, organ-playing paid a lot better than the minimum wage he made in a sheet music store. <br /> Music also brought Cienniwa to God. “The music converted me,” said the newly hired director of music ministry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach. <br /> But first, music brought Cienniwa east. Born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, Cienniwa earned a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University before moving to New Haven, Conn., to attend the Yale School of Music. He earned a master of music degree in 1997, master of musical arts in 1998 and, finally, a doctorate of musical arts from Yale in 2003. <br /> Now, after two decades in New England, Cienniwa is on the move again and he is thrilled. The position at St. Paul’s seems tailor-made for the gregarious Cienniwa, who starts work June 1. <br /> “It’s overwhelming and wonderful and I can’t wait,” he said by phone from Fall River, Mass.<br /> Cienniwa’s career in New England sometimes had him in the car for four hours a day, with his hand in pies in Boston, Providence and places in between. <br /> He had been serving as chorus master of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, directing the chorus at Framingham State University, lecturing at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and teaching piano at the Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. <br /> He also played organ and harpsichord regularly with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. He performed on a weekly radio show at WERS 88.9 FM in Boston. <br /> Cienniwa and his wife, Jacqueline Maillet, a middle school music teacher, were ready for a change. But Cienniwa said potential employers were often intimidated by his full plate. Until he met the leadership at St. Paul’s. “They got it,” Cienniwa said. <br /> But there was one more hurdle. Cienniwa’s wife of just three years had three adult children and a grandchild living in New England, and he didn’t want to ask her to leave them. He didn’t have to. She told him, “Go for it. It’s perfect for you.” <br /> She will join him here.<br /> Taking on the position of music director at St. Paul’s is like taking on a mantle.<br /> Cienniwa is following a legacy left by Dr. Keith Paulson-Thorp, who served as the director of music ministry for more than 10 years and expanded the popular concert series originally founded by Stuart Gardner. <br /> Thorp introduced jazz concerts and klezmer, which brought more people to the church, and founded La Camerata del Re, a consortium of South Florida musicians who perform with instruments authentic to the time period of each piece.<br /> Now Cienniwa will add his flavor to the program. <br /> “I plan to move quite slowly,” he said. “Music is an outreach. It’s a gateway drug to bring people to church. Music can touch people who aren’t religious. It’s a spiritual experience.”<br /> One thing he does plan to do is start a children’s choir. “It’s the No. 1 thing I want to do,” he said. “I want to engage children in the religious experience. And if I can get kids and carry them through their teenage years, what a wonderful thing.” <br /> <br /> <em>Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.<strong><br /> <br /></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-3">Hear Cienniwa play at St. Paul’s Church</span><br /></strong> Paul Cienniwa will perform his first South Florida concert, French Sweets on harpsichord, at 3 p.m. June 11 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. The program will include suites by Francois Couperin, Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean- Philippe Rameau. <br /> Cienniwa is looking forward to his first performance here. “My duty to the art is to be as good as I possibly can and leave the rest up to the audience,” he said. <br /> Tickets are free. <br /> Info: Call 278-6003 or visit <a href="http://www.stpaulsdelray.org">www.stpaulsdelray.org</a>.</p></div>