Markus leads a rally in song on Church Street in Montclair
Markus shares his guitar with a young congregant after worship
Markus was trained as a classical pianist in Germany before studying jazz on a scholarship at Berklee College of Music. In addition, he earned a Master’s degree in choral conducting from the Boston Conservatory. He also completed the three-year Music Leadership Certification program administered by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in collaboration with the Association of Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries (AUUMM).
Markus has conducted big bands, vocal ensembles, orchestras, rock groups, jazz combos, and over 80 musical theater productions, including a national tour of Irving Berlin’s I Love A Piano. He has also lived in four countries, figured out the meaning of life, played keytar in a rock group while dressed in a neon pink jumpsuit, co-founded an opera company, and released two CDs of his piano compositions; his music has been featured on nationally syndicated German network radio and on the album le classique abstrait, published worldwide by Universal Music.
Markus has been serving the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair since 2012. He believes in the power of communal singing, dismantling white supremacy, and smashing the patriarchy.
Sermons
If It Sounds Good, It Is Good
October 6, 2024"If It Sounds Good, It Is Good" — led by the Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael, co-senior minister. Join Rev. Scott as we explore how we understand the world through sound. We hear with our whole bodies, our whole selves, really. And even those who may not hear well, or at all, can still "listen."
Climate Justice Revival
September 29, 2024"Climate Justice Revival" — led by the Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, co-senior minister and the Climate Justice Revival Team. We are reimagining climate justice for a new era and bringing a spirit of revival and renewal to our work. Imagine that it's 2050 and we've achieved all of our wildest hopes for collective liberation. How would our world transform if love was at the center of our climate action?
America’s Real Religion?
September 22, 2024"America's Real Religion?" — led by the Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael, co-senior minister. Referring to A. Powell Davies' book of the same name, the Rev Scott leads us on an exploration of how Unitarian Universalism's theology of truth-seeking and justice-making fall squarely into the best of our nation's history and promise.