Here we are again. The start of another performance season. New folders filled with new music. New people sitting next to old friends. New challenges. New successes.
I begin each new performance season with anticipation and excitement over the possibilities. I've been a choral music educator since 1979, earlier if you count my college experiences. And I still find it a thrill and an awesome privilege to make music corporately with other likeminded individuals. What a rare thing it is to labor together in rehearsal to create something. Oh, sure. Others have sung these same pieces; but no one will have the unique opportunities we will have to make it with the people sitting around us. Each one of them brings their own unique story to the music. And the music allows us to give voice to our stories.
So, as we start the year together, think about the words in A HYMN FOR ST. CECILIA:
"Sing for your loves of heaven and of earth, in words of music, and each word a truth; marriage of heart and longings that aspire, a bond of roses and a ring of fire"
