The Power of Singing with a Group

Today, I'm taking a break from the serious anxiety-related posts to talk about something very dear to my heart.  Music.

This weekend, I have the honor of singing with 10 other ladies at a good friend's wedding.  Incidentally, these are the same ladies who sang so beautifully at my wedding!  I am so happy to return the favor for my friend, and even happier that she chose the same music as J and I had.  I think she did it mainly for the ease of our singing group, but I am very excited to be singing this music.  Obviously, I picked it because I love it!  I was so blessed to have such dedicated friends who rehearsed many times for our wedding...but it was hard for me that they were rehearsing without me and for me not to get to sing the music.  It is not the easiest music to learn, but I've had fun learning it and singing it with my friends.

There is something otherworldly and supernatural about singing beautiful music with a group of like-minded people.  Of course, singing in general always calms my heart and is fulfilling for me, but I much prefer singing in a group.  In our women's group, we are working to created a blended, uniform sound.  It is certainly a challenge to contribute sound to the group, but not stick out.  It requires listening, singing, and feeling the music in your spirit.  I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true!

In a sense, it is a bit like being part of the Body of Christ.  Each person has to contribute their own time and talent to maintain the balance, but no one person or voice should be heard above another.  The goal of the group is to present something beautiful, with no one person receiving glory and praise above another.  When the goal is for the group to blend, each individual singer has to "die to themselves" (in this case, their own voice and wanting to be heard/praised), and sing for the good of the group.

In any case, I am very much looking forward to this weekend...seeing a friend get married, and honoring her and the Lord by singing beautiful music with my friends.  I can't ask for much more than that! :)

98/365

I guess it takes a lot of different trumpets to make good renaissance brass music!

80/365 Rehearsing

This is my usual Monday night view.

64/365 Standing Ovation

They must have really liked the Monteverdi Vespers

48/365 Church Choir

My typical Thursday night view.

43/365 Sound of Music...Rinse and Repeat!

These tech-savvy nuns are a bit too wordly...they need Sister Berthe to whip them into shape!

42/365 Authenticity

Any takers for the cardboard cross?

41/365 And now costumes...

A nun wannabe (at least we would have wanted her to be!), and a postulant...

40/365 Add the Orchestra...

39/365 The Sound of Music Part II

Captain Von Trapp and the Children

38/365 Nun Practice

...for the Sound of Music, that is.

19/365 Learning a New Piece

13/365 This is confusing!

Maureen attempts to sort out her Rosh Hashanah music.

Whirlwind of Life

Oh hello!  Why yes, I am still living, breathing, thinking, feeling, loving, and planning.  Just still not picture taking. :(  However, I will be getting a new camera verrry soon (hopefully this weekend), and I will try to resume my 365 project.  I'm just considering the month of March a FAIL, and moving on.  Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick bullet point update for anyone who has missed me!

• Oh my, I am neck deep in wedding planning.  Enjoying some moments immensely (cake-tasting and wedding discussion time with J)...and others not so much (emailing and calling vendors with no response).  So far, we have a church, a reception venue, a cake, and a photographer.   I have a dress and shoes.  We registered for gifts.  We still need a DJ, official hotel block, and flowers.  But all in all, I think it is going well!

•  On the topic of wedding planning...I find it ridiculous that it is so difficult to get vendors to respond to emails requesting information.  We're in a recession...and I am a potential source of money!  If you aren't going to respond to a contact form on your website, then don't put it out there!  I even had a hard time getting some people to call me back.  I can tell you, though, that I am not hiring anyone who won't call back.  As much as I hate the phone, it makes me nervous to think I wouldn't be able to get in contact with someone before the wedding if I needed to!

• At the beginning of this month, some of my friends threw us a fabulous surprise engagement party!  I honestly had NO idea it was coming.  It was a fabulous party with many of our favorite people...complete with a piano player, bartender (the very same one who witnessed our engagement!), fabulous food, and valet parking.  I was so shocked when we walked in, that I think I was speechless for awhile!  We were so grateful for such a special party, and all the effort and love that went into it!  I must also confess that I broke my Lenten discipline and had wine.  But, I figured it is the only surprise engagement party I will have in my life, and I would regret not having some of the tasty bordeaux and cabernet that was provided.  I always say that I am not legalistic about my faith...and this was a night to prove it! :)

• We are headed to SC in a few weeks for an engagement party that my parents are throwing for us.  I am looking forward to that as well!

• On a non-wedding note, we sang Bach's St. Matthew Passion this past weekend.  I hope I can write more about this piece later, because it really moved me so much more than I expected.  I was fighting back tears through both performances.  I am normally not one to jump on a musical bandwagon, but I am really quite a fan of this piece.

• I am really excited about Holy Week and Easter this year.  I am loving singing in a church choir again, especially one that performs works from composers that lived 200 years ago or more.  I have seriously missed good choral church music.

• J and I are thinking about buying a house this summer.  An exciting and frightening prospect.

I think that is about all I can fit into a 5 minute update.  Hopefully I'll be back to elaborate more soon...

49/365 O K L A H O M A

Welcome to the place where I've spent 5-6 hours a day/night for the past couple of days.  The chorus I sing with is putting up a production of Oklahoma (the musical).  This scene is from one of our tech rehearsals.  The scene, for all of you musical fans, is the song "Many a New Day".  I actually had a teeny tiny speaking (really just laughing) part in the show.  While somewhat stressful, it's been a fun production, even though we were postponed due to the blizzard weekend/week!

28/365 More Music

I joined a church choir today (actually I joined the church as well).  Here is the stack of music I came home with:

18/365 Hadyn Creation

In case it's too blurry to read...the words are "The heavens are telling the Glory of God".  Not bad words to be singing on a Monday night...

6/365 Bach St. Matthew Passion

Here is our pretty blue St. Matthew Passion score.  Bach at its best.  Let's hope I can learn it and sing it well!

Decade in Review

Apparently, a lame blog year in review is not enough...seeing that I have now been reminded by countless "Decade in Review" stories on TV and the internet that we are closing out a decade.  Is it the 0s?  How do you say that...the "ohs"?  Or the two thousands?  Are we going to the tens?  Anyway, here is my very brief Decade in Review.  Too bad I don't have a picture to post from each year...that would be great!  But would have required a scanner and me remembering before today that we are closing out a decade.  Oh well.  Maybe next decade...

2000:  Y2k happens.  Or doesn't happen...depending on whether you thought the world would end or not.  I spend 2.5 months of the summer in Mexico with Campus Outreach.  Don't want to leave, but must finish college.

2001: I graduate from college, barely squeaking out a Cum Laude honor.  By .01 of a grade point.  I go 6 months without a real job.  September 11th occurs, further dashing my hopes of a real job.  In November, I begin what turns out to be a dead-end-for-me job at a bank.

2002: Turns out to be the hardest year of my life so far that I have learned the most from.  Heart gets broken by a boy, job is slow and not challenging, I am bored.  Life in the "real world" outside of college is hard.  Come to know God more for it, but somehow become bitter, too.

2003:  I discover that I need both athletic and musical outlets in my life, even though I am out of college.  Join a chorus and train for a half marathon.  Two decisions that have made huge differences in my life, even today.

2004:  Heart is broken again, but this time I leave dead-end depressing job at bank and SC (my home for 25 years)...and move my life to Annapolis, MD.  Best decision yet!

2005:  I am a little bit lonely, but am slowly making friends and adjusting to life in Maryland.

2006:  I go on last minute Bulgarian Carmina Burana tour to Florida with the chorale.  Make what I feel sure will (even today) be lifelong friends.  Spend too much money going out to eat and drink with said friends.  Move into Home for Wayward Chorus Girls to save money.  Another great decision.

2007: Run first marathon.  Get new, more likable, better paying, shorter commute job.

2008: Make off-the-cuff decision to sing in the chorus with operetta company in Baltimore.  Meet J.  Start dating J.

2009:  I turn 30 and buy my first diamonds, a pair of earrings.  Spend birthday in New York City.  Fall in love with J.  Train for Goofy Challenge.  Go to the opera a lot.

So that's it!  My Decade in Review...boy has my life changed!  Not quite as drastically as my friends who now are married with 3 or 4 kids, but I am in a different geographic location!  That should count for something.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Yep...it's Definitely THAT Time of the Year Again...

...the time in which I have little to no free time.  Much as I love it, I'm craving a morning to sleep in, drink my coffee, and generally just veg.  Not having that time is my own fault though.  The Goofy training means back to back weekend morning runs.

The past few weeks have been a lovely blur of rehearsals, performances, parties, and running.  I really do enjoy everything I do, I just wish it weren't all crammed into the same time frame!  If I ever decide to train for another long distance race, it will not be during this crazy month of December.  To give you a taste of what I'm up against, let me describe my next 3-4 days to you:

-Tonight: Messiah Dress Rehearsal.  Come home, take relaxing bath, stretch tight hip, go to bed.  Say a prayer for no snow on Saturday.

-Tomorrow: I'm off from work due to a doctor's appointment.  Get up at 6:45 AM (earlier than I do to go to work!), run 11 miles from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM.  Shower, rush to doc appointment.  Come home and get house ready for guests.  6 PM- Parents arrive.  Rush to church for Messiah performance.  Come home immediately afterwards.  Go to bed.  Pray for no snow on Saturday.

-Saturday: Get up at 6 AM to drive to Baltimore for a 5 mile race. Pray for no snow.  Run race.  Drive to NCR Trail.  Run 17 more miles.  Come home and eat food.  Go sing 8 PM Full Messiah performance.  Crash.

-Sunday: Sleep in briefly.  Brunch with parents.  Send parents off to Williamsburg.  Sing 3 PM Messiah matinee.  Go caroling afterwards.  Come home and crash.

I know I often write about how busy I am, but this weekend really takes the cake!  Hopefully I will make it to the other side...and let's all pray for no snow on Saturday since I'll be running 22 miles and also don't want our Saturday Messiah performance cancelled!