Gary, here’s the song I wrote for Jann.

         Incidentally, the music was written during a service at Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church. Our intern then was Rachel Anderson, a native of New Hampshire. She was speaking on village and community, and was referring to her fellow NewHampshirite, school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, on the tenth anniversary of the Challenger shuttle disaster.
         The song, composed during her remarks, was originally titled, “Requiem”.  A recording of it by the Cal State, Hayward Chamber Singers was played at a subsequent service.
         In attempting to write a song for Jann, I found that, even after writing the entire lyric, the song resisted me.  I thought of “Requiem”, and decided that Jann’s song really wanted to take on another form, and so I adapted the lyric to fit the music.  The result is what you hear here.
         Gary, my thoughts go out to you. Your loss is deeply felt throughout the MDUUC and Contra Costa theater communities and beyond.
         I dedicate this to her, with much affection.

                 Daniel Zwickel ben Avram

For Jann

Like a flow’r, its petals unfolding,
a Rose, in its blooming,
she grew into herself, became Jann.

Now we hold her in our hearts,
the gifts she shared with us,
enriching all our lives.
Now you live within us,
ever present, giving joy!

Amen, blessed be. Peace.

Music and lyrics by Daniel Zwickel ben Avram, “for Jann” was recorded on June 5, 2007 at Ohlsonic Stuidios in Oakland, California.  The singers are Jim Hale, Angie Doctor, Kathleen Hollingsworth and John Paddock, who comprise four-fifths of the award-winning a capella group, Clockwork.   For Windows users (sorry, I can't vouch for Macs), you may download the mp3 by right-clicking on: for Jann and selecting ‘save target as’. If you have any trouble, my e-mail address is (please convert to e-dress format) ‘Daniel at PeaceHost.net’.

Copyright © 2007 by Daniel B. Zwickel, all rights reserved. Anyone may download and share this song, as long as it is not for profit. Singers wishing to perform it may download the PDF document.