Singing to Live

The singing group I’m in, the Sing to Live Community Chorus,  had an extra rehearsal today.  We normally rehearse on Thursday nights but because we have an unusually short period of time to prepare (known, in STL parlance, as “a prep”) for our next concerts in mid-May, we scheduled a Sunday afternoon combination sectional and full-group rehearsal in addition to our normal practice times.

This may sound like extra work, and it certainly was.  But it was also an extra treat.  I enjoy the challenge of learning the music and learning what our director wants us to do with it.  And I enjoy the people, tremendously.  We always have a potluck supper after our Sunday rehearsals, which gives us a chance to just hang out together.  The food’s always tremendous, too.   I waddled home with 2 new recipes.

It’s interesting how a group like this, with a very diverse range of skills and interests, can put something together.   We have some really amazing musicians among us, for which we are all grateful.  We also have some people kind of in-between, like me.  I can read music and am good at remembering what I’ve learned, though I’d never call my voice ready for a solo in Carnegie Hall.  Then, we have people who have little or no musical training or experience; they just want to sing and they have a reason, just like all of us in the group, to support STL’s mission.  They combine heart, effort and motivation and make musicians out of themselves.  I am very impressed.

I also marvel at director Wilbert Watkins’ leadership.  He’s working with volunteers, and he’s working mainly with people who aren’t trained singers.  He is very exacting, but he is also respectful.  Sometimes I even think he’s too gentle, but I don’t quibble with his methods: he always seems to manage to get us all where he wants us to go in time for the performance.  I find the process fascinating, both from the perspective of my own understanding of and comfort with the music and from my perception of how each piece grows on the group as we learn it. 

I usually start a prep kind of disliking at least one piece, but I find they always grow on me as we learn them.  It seems to be impossible not to find the beauty in something as I live with it for the weeks ahead of the concerts.  Wilbert encourages us to think about the lyrics and what they might mean to each of us.  I don’t believe I’ve ever had a choral conductor do that so consistently before.  As it happens, the timing is perfect, as it fits nicely with my recently-begun efforts to be more mindful and in-the-moment.  My singing feels different when I do this – I hope it sounds different to listeners, too.  All of a sudden I really, truly understand why so much prayer has been set to music over the centuries.  From my view, most music IS prayer.

From our “signature song”, called Why We Sing:
        Music builds a bridge; it can tear down a wall! 
        Music is a language that can speak to one and all.

Sing to Live is a major reason why I won’t consider moving away from Chicago anytime soon.  It has become family; both the music and the people are on my mind virtually every day, and I am grateful for the immense richness it -- and they -- add to my life.