For all inquiries about the Music at the Point concert series, contact Stan DeWitt, Minister of Music, at stan.gracefirst@gmail.com.

MUSIC AT THE POINT CONCERTS ARE PARTIALLY SPONSORED BY

Our 2024-25 Season:

MAGIC STRINGS (Ukrainian Balalaika)
POSTPONED TO MAY 10, 2025, 7p

Founded in 1995, Magic Strings is building a reputation as a unique, dynamic, and accomplished group of musicians performing on traditional instruments from Eastern Europe. These include the domra, a string instrument with a thin, fretted neck and round body first appearing in written records at the end of the 15th century; the balalaika, a triangular-bodied instrument well known to Western audiences from the film Doctor Zhivago; and the bayan, a member of the accordion family popular in Ukraine. The repertoire ranges from traditional Eastern European songs, original compositions, and well-known classics.

Saturday, November 30, 2024, 7pm
STAN DeWITT (Songwriter, Storyteller)

As host for Music at the Point and Minister of Music at Grace First, Stan is no stranger to our series’ audiences. But Stan also has a rich story to tell about his adoption, life, career and the discovery of his birth family, that is told in his recent book, Sacred Work. In this special engagement, Stan will retell that story in storytelling and in song, a story that will move and delight you.

Stan is an acclaimed conductor, songwriter, singer, guitarist and composer. Before coming to Grace First in 2003, he was the Assistant Director and Youth Music Director at First Congregational Church, Long Beach. He was the Artistic Director for Zephyr: Voices Unbound, has sung with numerous small choral ensembles, including DeAngelis Vocal Ensemble and L.A. Schola, and sung throughout the United States, Italy, Ireland and Australia. He has recorded recorded seven albums, culminating with his collaboration with drummer and producer Derek O’Brien to create Silver Bullet: A Rock Opera, that premiered onstage in February of 2020. He is also currently a producer with the Sound Ministry Gurus production team

Sunday, January 26, 2025, 3pm
ERIC CHING QUARTET (Jazz)

Eric Ching is a jazz drummer and composer currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He plays music with a tremendous amount of purpose and is infinitely creative in the way he manages color and shape. With his compositions, he aims to explore new territory while channeling the spirits of McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Kenny Garrett. His pieces all have a searching quality where he isn't quite sure what he's looking for, but he'll know when he's found it. He yearns for the unexpected and his songs gradually unfold like a Tarantino movie.

Sunday, February 23, 2025, 3pm
CHRIS MURPHY (Fiddle)

Chris Murphy grew up in an Irish-Italian family near New York City, surrounded by the disparate sounds of his neighbors’ traditional music: Italian mandolin songs, pulsing Latin rhythms, and bracing Irish rounds. Eventually falling under the spell of late, great multi-instrumentalist David Lindley (Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan) Murphy went on to explore Turkish and Indian music at Bard College, and studied composition at Boston’s prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. Since then, Murphy has hypnotized crowds in more than forty US states, done extensive tours of England, Belgium , and The Netherlands, and amassed a breathtakingly deep catalog of over 500 works. His over fifteen original albums—including 2023’s brilliant “The Road & the Stars”—boast A-list players from the Tom Waits band, Wilco, X, The Desert Rose Band, Elvis Costello, and the Buena Vista Social Club.

Sunday, March 16, 2025, 3pm
TWANGUERO (Guitar)

While described by the press as a “fire breathing guitar hero” or nicknamed “Spain’s King of Twang” by Guitar Player, 2013 Latin Grammy winner Diego García goes for a more poetic phrasing to define himself: a 3-in-1 guitarist deeply in love with his instruments – which he secretly calls “his ladies”. Renowned for his fingerpicking technique, incredible versatility and distinctive ‘twang’ sound, his music is an unusual fusion of classical Spanish guitar, Latin rhythms, country, rockabilly, jazz…and even surf music.

Sunday, April 27, 2025, 3pm
DANIEL MANOIU (Piano)

Daniel Manoiu is an award winning pianist, composer and organist based in Southern California. Originally from Romania, Daniel has won numerous awards, including first prize at the Rovere D'oro Piano Competition in San Bartolomeo, Italy and third prize at the AMSA World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, OH. He has performed at world class venues, including Carnegie Hall, the United Nations and the Kennedy Center. Daniel has written original music for films and shows featured on Amazon Prime, and STARZ, and is an active composer and music editor for film and TV. Daniel earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami, and now holds the position of Principal Musician for the dance department at University of California, Irvine. Prior to coming to Grace First, Daniel served as a pianist and organist for Poniciana United Methodist Church in Miami Springs, FL, and for Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Sunday, June 1, 2025, 3pm
LISA SANDERS (Singer-Songwriter)

Lisa Sanders is an electrifying harmonizer. Her heartfelt songs are genuine with deep meaning and conviction. A musical style that can only be described as a soulful country blues, her genres include folk pop, gospel, rock and jazz. Writing, singing and producing from her heart in nearly every genre for over three decades, Sanders continues to make an impact in the musical world.