International Havana Jazz Festival
We were very excited to arrive back in Cuba, this time to
enjoy the famous jazz festival and to learn more about the Methodist Church in
Cuba.
So, first, the Jazz Festival: The dates were December 15-18, 2011. There was a lot of excitement in the city and
large crowds at the performances.
Late afternoon and evening concerts were held in a couple of different theatre venus, then jazz
groups continued to perform over the city until “all hours.” We attended the evening programs at the
Teatro Mella (Mella Theatre). These
concerts featured a number of jazz groups each evening. Musicians and groups were from Cuba, of
course, but also from other countries, including Europe, Asia and the U.S. The event featured world class jazz, and this
year the theme featured jazz in relation to classical music. The final concert at the Mella Theatre featured
a 40 piece Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra, and the last performance that evening was
a magnificent presentation of “Rhapsody In Blue.” Maestro Frank Fernandez was featured as the
pianist.
Following the evening concerts in the theatre, we attended
ongoing jazz music at our hotel each evening.
These presentations were an official part of the festival.
The quality of the music was outstanding. It was a thrill to be there and to share in the
festival and to hear and see amazingly high quality musicians perform. I (Don) was able to video the music that we
heard, and the recordings turned out quite well. There is also some music from the festival on
UTube.
We have a few pictures in addition to the video (which I
cannot seem to add to the blog).
Crowds on Havana walking streets, including people who were in Havana
for the Jazz Festival
Our friend, Alan Schuyler from Roberts, Montana was with us in Havana in December.
At this point we were relaxing on an afternoon and, of course, listening to some live music.
Don & Nancy enjoying the afternoon in Havana
Evening jazz performance
Pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and his combo performing at the Mella Theatre.
Standing ovation and long applause for the conductor, the featured
pianist, and the orchestra at the conclusion of the "Rhapsody In Blue" at the end of
the final concert of the 2011 Havana Jazz Festival
Chuco Valdez, famous Cuban pianist and chair of the festival organizing committee.
Valdes is Cuban, but he lives in the U.S. most of the time.
Colorful jazz festival poster
Sweet sounds of the trumpet....
Roberto Fonseca and his fantastic Cuban jazz combo
Jazz music - and crowds of people to listen
Another festival poster
Proclamando las maravillas
que Dios esta haciendo en la Isla...
Proclaiming the wonders that God
is doing in the Island.
This sign or similar signs, can be seen in various places
around the country. At this point over
90% of the municipalities in Cuba have a Methodist church or a Mission
Community that includes preaching and other activities. The Mission Communities are started
with the intention that they will transition into an organized Methodist
Church. Though there were tough times
during the early years of the communist era, free religious participation is
now much easier. Thus, a lot of people
are taking advantage of this opportunity to join, or at least attend, a
Christian Church. The Catholic Church is
still the largest denomination, but the Methodist Church has been growing at
the rate of about 10% a year for more than a decade. Over 60% of the new members are under the age
of 35!
The Methodist Church in Cuba was born in the 19th
century, the result of the work of Methodist missionaries, mostly from
Florida. Though the Cuban church is now autonomous,
i.e., independent, it remains closely related to the United Methodist Church in
the U.S. and elsewhere. Many United
Methodist churches in Florida have a sister church relationship with a Cuban
Methodist church. It is now easier for
the church people in Florida to have regular contact with Methodists in Cuba as
well as offer support in a variety of ways.
Groups of 15 to 20 persons frequently travel to Cuba to meet with
pastors and lay people, to attend district meetings and other special
gatherings. Sometimes a group goes as a Volunteer in Mission group to help with a needed project in Cuba.
Since there is not much in the news about this sort of
subject, we want to give at least a bird’s eye view of this dynamic and
positive, indeed exciting, “happening” in Cuba today. On our visit to Cuba last December we had the
opportunity to visit one of the many Methodist churches located in Havana. We attended the University Methodist Church
that is near the university in Havana.
This church has a membership of about 2,000 (and is not the
largest Methodist church in Havana) plus participating constituents. The church sanctuary was completely full for
the worship service when we attended. Plus, their
fellowship hall in the basement was full as well – with a large video screen
enabling those people to share in what was happening. Seats were reserved for us and for Don’s
brother, Ray, and our friend, Alan. The
pastor had also arranged for a lay person, Rudolfo, to sit with us and
translate parts of the service. We were
surprised that a United Methodist pastor from Angola was also visiting. He, and our group, were introduced and given
the opportunity to speak briefly. We
later learned that the Cuban Methodist Church has a small number of missionaries
serving in Angola.
The worship service included a lot of music. They had a Cuban style band that played, and
the people sang, and danced, and smiled with joy. The music was certainly Christian in content,
yet it maintained the musical spirit of rhythm and movement that we encountered
all over Cuba. The service included a
sermon, of course, and some moments in which the pastor recognized and individually blessed
persons recovering from surgery or other illness or who were facing
surgery. It wasn’t over dramatized but,
rather, was supportive. The minister read a remark
that was made by the Cuban bishop in a talk in the U.S.. He said that the people come to church to
worship, that it is a vital time of the week when there is a strong sense of
community and belonging. He said that
the people will stay for 3 or 4 hours without hesitation – week after
week. The service that we attended was 4
hours long.
Here are a few pictures:
Ray & Don in front of the University Methodist Church
in Havana
Close up of the Methodist Church
The church sign
The bell tower and cross on the top of the church
The church altar
The sanctuary is filling up for the service
The pastor is blessing a young child who was to be baptized in
the near future.
Two young girls enjoying the worship service
Another young Methodist - with Mom
Bishop Pereira of the Cuban Methodist Church
District Conference in Havana - Bishop Pereira is presiding
The Camaguay District Conference
Methodist musicians
Nuevitas Methodist Church at worship
A bit of drama during a Methodist worship service
Worshipping Methodists
Drama at a Conference Women's Assembly
Another Havana Methodist Church - and the pastor and his family
Alan and Rodolfo, translator during worship and
guide around parts of Old Havana. The are standing in front of
a large mural that depicts life from the past.
At the airport - waiting for our first flight towards home
Ready to board our Airbus plane of the Cuban Airline.
Goodbye, Cuba, at least for now.
