Song

I am looking forward to this Friday afternoon! Because it will be my first Choral practice in years. I auditioned last week, and am joining a mixed voice chorus this semester!!

During the three times I went to bible study this summer, the part I enjoyed most was the singing in between reading psalms. I loved the mixture of different textures of voices around me. And the way when somebody with an especially nice voice sat behind me, I would tingle with pleasure while their voice filled my ears.

So I realized how much I miss singing in a choir.

I sang with the largest choral group at my university during undergrad, and I loved every moment of song during our practices. Twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. I never minded giving up Friday evenings to spend three hours singing. And even though before performing we had to go through an excruciating process of tests and extra practice time, I loved standing on stage under a spotlight, knowing that my voice was carried out with a hundred others towards the audience and maybe one song or two would resonate with them. Classical, new-age, local, international, all songs, I loved them all (well, most of them).

I never had a great voice, nor was any good at sight-reading. But it didn't matter, because singing with a chorus is a collective effort, and I like to think that over the years I slightly improved in recognizing a harmony (not so good at that either yet, but I try).

The audition process last Tuesday left me in a high. Mostly because I was flattered when the instructor asked me if I have perfect pitch after hearing me sing a few notes. But also because I was reminded of how much I enjoy the challenge of listening and singing. There was this test where you had to pick out the top middle or bottom notes from a variety of chords. For some reason, I always got the middle right, but had lots of trouble with bottom (all my years as an alto...).

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this Friday! Meanwhile, there's this piece I came across by the younger generation of my former chorus, which is simple but quite nice: