New Song: Come (A Prayer of Hope)

Yes, dear readers. You get not one, but two posts today... basically because I'm super excited to announce that I've finally finished a new song!

Wow, has it been a long time since I was able to announce that! The last song I completely finished was back in 2008. Graduation from the university, getting married, having a baby, life just somehow happens in the blink of an eye.

But I knew that in His time, another one would come. I have to admit, I do have 6 or 7 sheets of paper with lyrical works in progress on them... a verse or two here, a chorus and bridge there. Works in progress that I will someday return to, when the winds change and inspiration beckons.

The back story for this new song is unlike any of my others. I wrote it specifically for a funeral. Not for a specific funeral, mind you, but specifically for a funeral.

That has lately been a large part of how I contribute to my little family's financial stability. I play piano and sing for funerals. Dreary, you say? Somber and altogether unpleasant? Ah, but I beg to differ.

I have the distinct and unique privilege of being a fly on the wall on two of the most momentous days in a person's life: their wedding and the funeral of a loved one, be it husband, wife, mother, father. I am very humbled to offer what I can to make these days as beautiful and appropriate as possible.

I in a small way contribute to their joy on their wedding day, and I hope I alleviate a small portion of their sorrow on that funeral day, when they say their earthly farewell to someone well loved.

And so I got to thinking that I would like to write a song of hope, of comfort, and of compassion specifically intended for people in mourning. The Lord knows our every sorrow, and carries our cross with us. He holds every tear in his Hand, and counts them precious. We must give to Him our sorrow, our heavy burdens. We must come to Him with our weariness. Coming into His presence, feeling His tender love, our crosses become a bit easier to shoulder, knowing that we do not walk alone.

For His joy is our strength; His peace is our shelter; His love is our guide. He lifts us from the threatening flood and shields us from the weapons of our foe. His tender touch floods us with mercy and healing. He loves us more than we could ever know.

So we must always come to Him.

I hope to have a recording of this new song done soon. Jonathan always tells me that it's so good to get things done while they are fresh, while you are still riding the wave of excitement and adrenaline that inspiration provides. Thank you all for your love and support.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

+amdg+

New Lease on Life

I'm excited to launch a new template for this lovely blog. It had to be done.

I feel as though every few months, I get this urge to change. Usually it bursts forth in a crazier-than-normal cleaning frenzy, that usually lasts late into the night and produces bags of garbage and/or donations for Goodwill. I call it my need to de-clutter. Definitely not a bad thing (although Jonathan sometimes runs for cover as I break out the 409, Windex, and my hardcore cleaning gloves...).

Well, this time that urge evinces itself in the need for renevatio, or rebirth of this blog into a new creation. So Behold... THE NEW TEMPLATE FOR 3M (that is, Music, Ministry, and Motherhood)!

So refreshing to have something new to look at. Amazing how a simple change can launch a whole new spurt of creativity... still waiting for the spurt... ok, I'll just have to make do with what I've got.

But I do have some creative progress to report: a MUSIC UPDATE at long last!

For the past few weeks, I've been hard at work with a previous un-tackled musical challenge. A gentleman contacted me and asked if I'd consider putting music to some words he'd written. The song was about the Sign of the Cross, and he wanted a light and catchy melody for 5th/6th graders to learn and be able to sing along.

I rose to the occasion and accepted the challenge. I thought to myself, I'm fun, I can do light and catchy... and thus the St. Andrew's project began.

I must say, I'm pleased with the outcome, and as I sat in the St. Andrew's parish office yesterday, observing 3 cute ladies tapping their feet and humming along, I knew that I'd hit a musical home run. The gentleman too was pleased with the musical adaptation of his words (and being a lyrical composer myself, I know that lyrics are like children - you want to give them the best appearance possibility to present to the world). I was grateful that he was happy.

But it was a new and challenging experience to work with someone else's words. I have an organic process for writing music: it involves a flash of divine inspiration, furious scribbling down of lyrics, humming melodies in my head as I write, and then sitting at the piano for a few hours banging out the finished product. It's quite another thing entirely to put a melody to someone else's creation.

But I was excited to try something new, something different. I have my own style of playing the piano and of writing lyrics, and working with Dr. Macedonio's words gave me insight into a different lyrical style. I enjoyed it tremendously.

He was so pleased, he gave me a second set of lyrics to start working on, a Christmas lullaby!

I feel as though I've ascended to a new level of artist - one that involves paid commission work not unlike Michelangelo or Raphael... ah, but I have still so far to climb to reach those heights!

But it's an honor just the same, to be asked to give new life to words, to give them rhythm and movement.

Feel free to listen here, on my music website. On the right side, there's a music player titled "Let It Be Done To Me," and the track is titled "We Love To Sing."

God bless you all, and thank you for your support!

+amdg+

"God Is Her Songwriting Partner" Article

This article was written a few months before I graduated from Franciscan University. It was featured in the National Catholic Register. Joseph Pronechen is a wonderful man and a terrific interviewer. It was a pleasure working with him and communicating something that is such a part of who I am - my passion and love for uplifting and Christ-centered music.

Original article located here.

God Is Her Songwriting Partner

BY JOSEPH PRONECHEN

April 6-12, 2008 Issue | Posted 4/1/08 at 12:11 PM

Not once during the 13 years she studied piano in Fort Myers, Fla., did she think of composing a song — but when a friend suggested she try, Gabriela Martinez wrote a whole CD’s worth. That led to the recording of “Light Unto the World,” a set of original religious songs available at GabrielaFrei.com.

Today, as a 22-year-old senior at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio), from where she will graduate this spring with a degree in Humanities and Catholic culture, Martinez is putting together her second album.
Martinez composes in a meditative, lyrical style and sings in a clear soprano. She has given concerts in Florida and on-campus coffeehouses, and acts as student group leader of the music ministry at Steubenville. She spoke about her songs, music ministry and goals with Register staff writer Joseph Pronechen.

When did your interest in music begin?

For as long as I can remember I always had a passion for music. My mom tells me I was singing before I was speaking. I studied piano for 13 years. That grew out of being homeschooled. My mother was very good about plugging us into a lot of different things that we all excelled in. For me this was not only classical piano but also singing.

Do you have any help in composing your songs?

If I think "I’m going to write a song today," I can’t do it. It’s a humbling thing because I have to be present to the Lord. It’s really his work. He sits down with me and we write the song together. It’s cooperation on my part. I share with the Lord in this active writing of a song and creating a piece of music.

How did your first songs come to you?

I had a car accident when I was 16, and one of the songs stemmed from that experience. It’s called “Why God?” I was asking, “Why did you let this happen? Why do I experience all this pain and sorrow?” — and then realizing in the midst of the pain He’s right there with me, carrying the burden and sharing the pain, showing nothing is too hard to handle. A lot of my music has grown from the experiences through which the Lord has taught me something. And a lot has stemmed from experiences I have had on my walk with the Lord and the words that he has spoken to my heart that have been a grace and blessing to me.

Your songs are quite personal in their details yet universal in their themes.

They spring from my heart and the encounter with the Lord in the depths there. It’s a vulnerable thing because I share the deepest parts of my heart with others. In a lot of ways, these are the words He has spoken to my heart, and I can’t keep them to myself. They’ve been a blessing to me, but I have to share them with the world, to keep speaking the good news of peace and joy. For example, I wrote “Transfigure Me” on the feast of the Transfiguration. Sometimes I wonder, “How could I have written this?” The Lord stepped in and wrote the song along with me, knowing exactly what I needed to hear and continue to need to hear. He’s doing the work of perfection and transfiguration with me every day.

What are your favorite subjects and themes?

Trust, surrender, abandonment to his love. “The Present Moment” grew out of my experiences studying in Austria. It was a semester in learning how to surrender, especially from my need to have a plan with all the ducks in a row. The Lord used that semester to teach me how to abandon myself entirely into his hands. We can make plans for five years down the road, but the gift the Lord has given us is this moment right now. We have to surrender the need to have it all figured out. We have to trust in the Lord and know whatever He has planned for the future is perfectly suited for us.

Your two Marian songs bring this out, too. What’s the story behind “Fiat”?

I wrote that song after my family had the blessing of going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While I was there I meditated mainly on the union between the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart — “Not my will but yours be done” in the Garden of Gethsemane, and “Let it be done to me according to your word” at the Annunciation.

In the last part of the song I’m asking both Our Lord and Our Lady to help me have the ability for that same Yes, embrace it and accept that mission or role, whatever it is, because nobody else can do the work only I can do. That applies to everyone.

Tell me about your pro-life song that has moved listeners.

I wrote “Let Me Live” specifically for my first pro-life concert two Christmases ago. It is a conversation between the unborn baby in its mother’s womb and the young mother herself. Both are crying out to the Lord in fear and desperation: “Is there anyone listening to me? Do you hear the cry of the brokenhearted? … Please, Lord, let me live.” The mother doesn’t want to give up her child, and the little one is crying out, too. We live in such a culture of death that more and more is ready to hear this message of hope and life.

Tell me about your music leadership at Franciscan University.

There’s no more beautiful use of music than in the liturgy of the Mass. I try to do a blend of the traditional hymns and the more contemporary praise-and-worship songs. I came from a more traditional church back home, but I also fit into the praise-and-worship [category] because my family has had a charismatic prayer group for as long as I remember.

What are your plans after graduation?

I would like to see what opportunities and doors the Lord has for me to walk through. I would love to sing full-time and keep writing and recording and develop a ministry to hurting hearts to let them know the Lord is waiting to shower his love on them.

There can be no greater blessing than doing what you love for who you love.

Staff writer Joseph Pronechen

writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.