There are many ways to enjoy music at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, both as listeners and participants. At our Sunday morning services, congregational singing is accompanied by the organ, piano, or even djembe or ukulele. Guest musicians are frequent and include everything from solo cello, flute choirs, and recorder ensembles to singer-songwriters in the folk tradition, jazz a capella groups and rock bands. Our adult choir practices weekly to present music at one Sunday celebration a month. A larger choir is also formed for the Community Christmas Eve Service.

Beyond Sunday services, there are other opportunities to make music for and with each other. The Music Team collaborates with the Religious Education Team to sponsor regular Coffee House/Open Mic nights. The Unitarian Universalist Ukulele Union (UUUU) practices sporadically, but joins together for community events like the annual Ithaca Festival Parade and PorchFest.

Music Team

The mission of the Music Team is to provide a variety of high quality music for Sunday Celebrations and to encourage and facilitate musical participation from the church community. If you have ideas for musical events or would like to inquire about joining the team or planning musical events, contact music@uuithaca.org.  

Stephanie Ortolano, Music Director

Stephanie Ortolano became certified in organ performance through the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese in her teens while she was the organist for St. Joseph’s Church in Lee Center, NY, studying with Bruce Smith and Stephen Best.  Since then, she has played for a variety of churches in the Ithaca and Boston areas as she was attending college and graduate school.  She was also the accompanist for the Cornell University Chorus for several years during her undergraduate days, when she also studied with University Organist Annette Richards.  Most recently, she was the organist for the Episcopal Church at Cornell.  Professionally, in 2015 Stephanie completed her doctoral dissertation in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition, with a focus on iron nutrition in young children in Senegal.  Occasionally she is able to put her passions for great organ music and international development together into concert formats, such as “Bach in a Boubou,” which helped raise funds for the Ousmane Sembene Library in Yoff, Senegal.