LEWISTON — Greg Boardman has a way of getting “caught up” in music ministry.
Recently, between classes at his day job teaching orchestra in Lewiston, Boardman listed a number of church organizations where he’s been involved musically.
For the past two years at Trinity Episcopal Church, he’s performed during Sunday services while curating its weekly music series called “Oasis of Music.”
It’s been growing in popularity — both in attendance and among musicians.
The weekly series, taking place Wednesdays, is unrelated to any church service. Boardman described it as “an offering for the community, for folks to come in and forget about everything else for a half an hour.”
It’s that idea that keeps Boardman involved in music ministry.
“Every place I go I kind of get caught up in music ministry, which I love,” he said. “Music is just a very natural way for me to express what can’t otherwise be expressed.”
He said most experiences in life can be seen and touched. But he said no matter the outlet, most humans find ways to express “what can’t be seen” or the “invisible and secret part of life.”
“Music is a very personal expression of that for myself,” he said.
Boardman is a multi-instrumentalist. He mostly plays cello during the Sunday services at Trinity, but he also plays violin, viola, bass and guitar. He’s been teaching orchestra to elementary and middle school students in Lewiston since 1994.
He said music is a staple across all religions, calling music “a gift that’s been offered to humans to exploit for healing purposes.”
Oasis of Music is held at Trinity Church, 247 Bates St. in Lewiston, each Wednesday. Admission is free, with donations accepted.
The series runs from September to May and features artists from the greater L-A region performing vocal and instrumental music of all types, including folk, jazz and classical.
Boardman said the growth of the series has been “gratifying” to watch over the past two years.
“It’s a nice feeling of generosity and appreciation meeting there,” he said, “for the audience as well as the performers.”
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Greg Boardman performs at Forage Market on Sunday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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