Israel Choral Performance Tour December 2016

On December 26, 2016, I flew from New Orleans through Rome to Jerusalem to join Dr. Larry Wyatt (my choral mentor) and friends in his professional ensemble Colla Voce, for a choral performance tour of Israel. It was a VERY lucky trip I was able to join and I used airline miles and hotel points to tack on a vacation after the performance portion of the trip.

I'd been asked to join the tour because I helped premiere the composition Annelies, a striking, poignant, and beautiful work by the amazing James Whitbourn in Prague the year before and I knew the music! The work is on the life of Anne Frank, in her own words.
 
I waited four hours or so at the Tel-Aviv Yafo airport and met up with one of the incoming groups. We then took a train to Haifa where we were staying. 
The next day was in Haifa and was full of rehearsals from 9 AM until the early evening at which point we were about to go crazy with exhaustion and restlessness. We had a good dinner and rested. The next day held some sight-seeing and a concert at the University of Haifa. 
 
From here, we had another concert and were set up with host families. It's been a very LONG time since I've been on a choir tour and in host houses, but it was wonderful! One of my favorite experiences was going to the weekly Shabbat dinner at my family's grandmother's house and observing the final day of Channukah. They gathered around a table where there were several menorahs and lit them while singing several traditional songs. It was such a sweet and joyful time being with them and sure enough, all stereotypes about Jewish grandmothers making you eat - eat- EAT are TRUE!
Here are a few of my FB posts to give you some flavor of the trip:

- YAY! Macchiato because we're between rehearsals! THREE rehearsals for today! Whew! 🎶 It's so nice to sing with this group: a combination of the Colla Voce professional ensemble, six former DMA conducting students, and a few MMs too.

- HAPPY NEW YEAR from the future (from Israel), while watching Russian TV (hence, the Russian below!)

- A few words about 2016: While I know it had its horrific moments, losses, and issues, it was also a year for which I'm especially grateful. I am alive, well, and still in awe and excitement that I'm a postulant for priesthood in The Episcopal Church and am able to pursue this calling with the support of so many! It blows my mind that I'm attending a dream school, Sewanee! I give thanks for the sixcouples I know who married the loves of their lives this year. I'm happy for all the new babies (human or furry or feathered.) Look at all the cool space exploration that happened this year, too. I made new friends in Israel, Pakistan, Qatar, and in school. I finally had a major surgery I desperately needed and while I gained some pounds from doing nothing but binge watching Game of Thrones, I had the extravagant opportunity to do so. I got to hang out with my friends and spend valuable time with those who fill my life with joy. I enjoyed freedom, education, good health and plenty of bad puns 

  
So much good happened this year for me. I'm extremely fortunate and blessed. I hope and pray that 2017 will be filled with hope and increase in blessings for all that haven't been so fortunate and especially for those who suffered loss, war, and strife. I continue to hope for things like world peace and discovering more life out there in our universe. Like these candles, may your flame burn brightly and even be challenged, yet stand the windy night with graceful beauty.I wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(It's 4:46 here and soon we will leave for tonight's concert!) More later

Jaffa

We explored Nazareth, Caesarea maritima, Jaffa, Haifa, Jerusalem, and my host family took me to the city of Acre (Akko, will expound in a separate post). In six days, we gave four concerts and sang with three of Tommer Hessig's choirs. He is doing a FABULOUS job promoting the choral art in his area of Israel. Tommer is involving lots of artistic organizations, training young singers, educating communities, composing, and making beautiful music! It was super nice to catch up with (and meet some) fellow DMA students from USC, hang out with my first mentor, and sing. Ariana Wyatt was out soloist for Annelies, as she was in Prague, and she is extraordinary. Not only a beautifull and demonstrative singer, she is kind, friendly, and brilliant as well as having a good sense of humor.

Caesarea Maritima

Here is the link to my entire photo album for this trip (in case you want to see a few more!)

One of the things I've always admired about choir trips is that they represent a microcosm of the greater community in which you exist almost outside of time. It's almost a shock to me when a tour, even a short one, is over. You get to know people deeply. One of my favorite thinfs to do is to stay awake on the bus whilst everyone is napping or asleep from sheer exhaustion, and stare out the window watching the landscape go by. You learn so much about a country by passing and seeing the everyday occurrences, often overlooked by group sight-seeing treks or overshadowed by people-watching in a touristy area (which can also be amazing). You see the dogs, the trash-lined sidewalk, the beauty of sun setting on a corn field, children playing in yards, birds, diners, street vendors, erosion, construction, fences, and so much more. It's part of that difference between being a tourist and really getting to know a place.
* Acre and Egypt posts coming soon!

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

A Cup of Sewanee

This isn't just ANY ole cup of coffee.... it's a cup of I'M GOING TO SEWANEE COFFEE!! 

Honestly, I can't believe it! I am SO EXCITED and HAPPY! It's almost surreal...it is indeed a dream and lately, I have been catching myself occasionally stopping mid-thought and finding myself grinning and pondering my new journey of postulancy with rapid heartbeats and wonder. No joke that this is a dream of mine. I fell in love with Sewanee: The University of the South in 1988 when I was a senior in Porter-Gaud High School (Charleston, SC) and when I visited, it was my first choice. I had been planning to major in music and something else, not sure what. I was even thinking about keyboard at the time, having had a tiny bit of piano training. I remember I wrote my application essay on mentorship and role models and used Angela Lansbury as my example of success complemented with living. I had been a fan of her roles in fun mysteries and also in Sweeney Todd.
Well, it was not to be yet. I received a scholarship, but it was basically book money. My parents made too much to qualify for most types of loans, yet not enough to afford expensive places such a Sewanee or Emory at the time. My brother was also still at home for a few more years and finances had always been tough. Anyway, I ended up having to go to "the dreaded state school" which, at the time, was a peer-pressured shame at the prep school I was attending. Now, I think anything goes and of COURSE I understood - even at the time - that where you attend college often doesn't matter as much as what you make of it when you're there. So, I wasn't about to go to Clemson (nope!) because I was already a USC Gamecock fan like my Dad so I chose USC. At first, I was rather disillusioned at having my dream swiped from underneath my feet and I didn't know what major to choose or how to like this school. My parents thought I should choose something where I'd be able to make a living so I liked Biology and chose that, thinking I'd become a virologist and maybe could cure the common cold. (Now, actually THAT would be insanely awesome, had it happened, but I like people WAAAAAAY more than petri dishes). After a year, I was hooked on USC and I am a HUGE Gamecock fan!  A bio-pre-med major, it took me almost three years to find my way to music and I was only able to convince myself I could do a music major because....wait for it.....

There was no required recital in the music education track.

What a cop out. Well, not really...I had so much more stage fright then than I do now - even though now I still have a TON. To think that I went from that to eventually getting a doctorate in conducting is a pretty amazing transformation. (I joyfully returned to USC after an MM at Emory!)
So, after a brief time as a French major and a Psychology major (like a month or two each), I came into music and was hooked. I still am. In fact, one of the things that "sold it" in my period of Episcopal discernment was in October 2013, I suddenly realized that I didn't have to give up being a musician. What?! YAY!

I identify with being a conductor and singer now and probably always will to some degree. 

That REALLY opened up my heart!

Now, I felt free and able to hear God's call more clearly and I am SO HAPPY now because I feel MUCH freer to move forward to where I'm being called. My vision of ministry has increased like the outward circles from something dropping in a pond, getting richer and more amazing with each layer and all the while strengthening that innermost layer. I cannot wait to take courses and learn from the faculty and my fellow classmates. 
Formation - I need it! 
Knowledge - I need it!
The beautiful mountain - I need it!
Ohhhhh and there's this: the exciting fact that I received my Sewanee housing assignment yesterday!

More anticipation!!! It's a tiny apartment on the edge of campus, but it has two windows, a nicer kitchen than I have now, and a couple of built-in drawers in the bedroom so perhaps I can sell my dresser, which would be GREAT! It is what I asked for! I can't wait to find out more about it and see exactly what it looks like but I am thrilled to know where I'll be and it makes it all the more real!

Cleaning out my UNO office is also making things super real. I have a TON of stuff, especially books and music. I'm pretty proud that I whittled down an entire 4-shelf bookshelf of choral sheet music to a 1/2 box. That's great for me, considering I have extreme sentimental value associated with 90% of everything. :-) 

I will have to ask at church if anyone has any room in a garage or attic to store some boxes of books for me, but I might be able to stack bookshelves and may be doing that in both the bedroom and the living room. Time will tell.

One thing I've learned that does make me sad is that my position of Director of Choral Activities at UNO is being adjuncted out and there is not any information as to whether or not the position itself is going away or if they will do a search (which I hope they do!), or if it will simply morph into a choral/music ed position once the new School of the Arts is on track and fully functioning with admins in place, financial development, and more faculty and staff. That could happen well and quickly....or it could drag out and maybe happen or maybe not. I must admit, it makes me sad and a little mad too. I worked HARD over the ten years I spent there to build the choirs, the job itself, the budget (I'm leaving the choral foundation account at almost $20,000 which would normally be awesome), and being active in the community so that the choirs were respected. I'm proud to say we combined with the choirs of Xavier, Loyola, Tulane, The Baptist Seminary, Dillard, the Jefferson Chorale, the NOCCA School (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts), and more during my ten years! Still, I know that this is the way of much in academia and also with many music positions on many educational institution levels today. 
While I truly hope that the choral area will rise again and go much further, I recognize it is no longer "mine" and that is very freeing.I know I did my best and did a good job! :-)
Ten years at any place is also quite respectable!
So, all these things are on my mind this morning - mostly giddy excitement though, as I drink from my new cup of Sewanee!

A Choral Director's Death Glare

Seriously, THIS is THE BEST meme I've seen to capture the sentiment all of us choral directors feel when you've been over a piece and maybe even the cutoffs (maybe even a few times)  and someone sings through a cutoff. LOOK UP! HAHA! I found this on FB and shared it and it was confirmed by a startlingly large, yet unsurprising number of my singers that this is indeed my look when this happens!
    

On the way to Salt Lake City!

I'm on my way to Salt Lake City this morning to attend the national ACDA Leadership conference. I'm thrilled to get to go! As president-elect for the state of Louisiana, there is MUCH I have to learn! This training will address some things I've needed to learn for a while now and be helpful forever! Things like meeting organization, bylaws, procedures, etc. Then, there's all the "choral-ness" and meeting new people which is always awesome! I bought the Gogo airplane internet day pass because I'm actually NOT sleepy today.....yet. :-) I also wanted to try out blogging from my iPhone and it looks like I'll have to add links and tags later as it's not user-friendly ----> if one can even do it from the Blogger app. I'm trying to blog more lately. I love it very much, but during the year it's hard to keep up. I have SO many thoughts to write down though, so expect to see many, and varied, posts! 

Here's my current view: "I've looked at clouds from both sides now..." HA!   

I had some tea which made up for the airport PJs not having coffee this morning. Initial descent into Dallas DFW so gotta go, but more from SLC!

Sunrise of the Soul

  

Sunrise of the soul! This is exactly what I feel is happening in my life right now! It's SUPER EXCITING and a bit scary too. Sometimes the butterflies are a-fluttering in excitement and sometimes they're raging a bit fearfully. I feel a bit like I've been living a foggy life....in a manner of speaking....always searching, always unsure of some things...etc. I am quite sure I will continue to live that way and even dare to presume it's sometimes a part of the human condition - to live foggily. (I want to add here that I actually love fog! It can be beautiful!) On some fronts, I am finally feeling like I am seeing the fog clear and in a very joyful way! I FINALLY feel that all of the longings, yearnings, and old tuggings are starting to get stirred up and simmered on a grand stove. I can see that something tasty is being prepared. It's a good feeling because I've been hungry for it all my life! I feel like I'm able to feel God's presence more clearly in my life for the past four or five years and mostly the past three years and even more so the past sixteen months and six months! I have this wonderful life and most things seem exactly as they should be so I'm quite happy, loving, my jobs, and absolutely loving living in New Orleans! I get to sing for some fantastic people, I get to conduct choirs, judge festivals, travel, participate in fun diocesan events, and more. Why then, do I feel like fog is lifting? Why NOW? Well, for many years now, in Milledgeville at First Presbyterian and here at UNO and St. Paul's, the pull to being more involved in ministry has resurfaced. There's a whole spiritual autobiography I've written twice which I won't share here (right now), but suffice it it say that I feel strongly that the pathway is clearing and I am becoming more aware of how God is working in me, my work, and my life. I'm not sure what the outcome of it all will be, but I am trying to stay open to the possibilities and follow where God leads - and trying to have an open heart and mind. I've been in spiritual advising for about a year now and I LOVE IT! It's helped to sort some things out, to consider new ideas and directions, and help me begin a journey to mature into a more sacred life. The best news of the day - God's with me where I am and he's not done with me yet! :-)