One Last Time, In the Room Where it Happens

For someone as in love with the arts as I am, Chicago is a great city to live next door to. I love that it's just a quick car or train ride into the city to see a vast array of high-quality professional shows. And, as often as time and circumstances allows, I greatly enjoy taking advantage of my proximity.

There's a particular show that's been here in town for nearly three years (it's awesome that the Chicago theater scene is such that it can hold the big shows for that long).. It's a show that has been a favorite at our house almost as long. There may be occasional tell-tell signs:

Hubby and I got tickets a couple years ago (had to buy them nearly a year in advance... the waiting was soooo painful!!).. but it was worth the wait and Hubby and I loved it. 

So... my love of the show has splashed onto my kids. They both listen to it frequently and enjoy it. My big guy has been asking to see it for a while... but he is just seven and a three hour musical play is a long time to sit and be quiet. So, Hubby and I demurred. However, when I heard that the show was leaving Chicago in January.. we decided to spring for some tickets for him for his birthday in October. 

We bought them some months ago (though, not nearly so long as that first wait), well before the birthday. But finally the birthday arrived and he unwrapped them... He was veeeeery excited! However, as the day of the show drew nearer, he had a nasty cough. 

In the week leading up to it, he missed a couple days of school. We were all really worried his cough would be too bad to let him go to the show. However, we all were praying and the Lord was merciful and we felt really blessed that his cough was all but gone by that Saturday afternoon. 

And so we went! I got to go one last time and Townshend got to be in the room where it happens! He did so well! and he loved it. 

There was a little excitement when I forgot my credit card and had to figure out how to ransom the car from the parking garage after the show, but we sorted it out (another tender mercy) and we got to drive home. 

It is Done!!

So, that silly music organization project that I've been working on for ... well, forever, is done! It's been nearly a year, but here we are.

In my last check in, I'd gotten the boxes of music home to my house (it's easier access my garage vs. the locked closet at the church). So, I had to figure out how I was going to organize and label them, but eventually I figured out a system that made sense.

Once they were all alphabetized and organized by topic, I slapped on some labels and they were ready to go back to church!

I had a little help with transport:

Then, into the library they went! It feels great to have it all in there. All that's left is to update a couple labels and print out and index and voila! a fully accessible music library for the ward. 

Now, to find a place to donate the rest of the boxes of music (still in my garage) that didn't make the cut......

Crazy Project Update

So, in the background of all the hustle and bustle that is life, on my backest burner, there's been this ongoing random music-sorting project from church. Some time ago, I made incremental progress worthy of being blogged about (here). This week there was some more, exciting and new, forward motion.

Prepping things and getting ready to jump in..

There'd been a significant slowdown in my ability to find time on Sundays to get into the AV closet since my last post. My librarian friends were looking, with ever-increasing longing, at the potential space being taken up by the unsorted filing cabinets (wishing to move a couple TVs and things out of the library itself) until finally we got together and brainstormed possible ways to get things moving again.

Success!! All the carts fit inside now. Woo!

We explored a few options and, finally, we settled on roping in the Young Men and giving them a service project... in one evening, we'd systematically empty out the cabinets into boxes, toss out the cabinets, then move the boxes to my car to be transported somewhere more easily accessible to me (my garage), leaving the AV closet more able to hold all the various carts of AV equipment. A definitive WIN all around.

And so it was done.

A bit daunting? Yes.... but, it's good! Now I can get at these boxes any time I want to, which greatly increases the chances that the project will indeed, one day, come to a positive and final conclusion. But, with all my Christmas deadlines looming, these boxes will probably be cooling their heels until the new year, at very least. Still, forward is forward no matter how slow.

Sorting through a Crazy Collection

In the LDS church, pretty much every job (or calling) - from bishop to usher, is done on a voluntary and regularly rotating basis. For the most part, it all goes fairly smoothly but, every now and then, things get a little silly.

I forget exactly when but, a couple of years ago, I was asked to head up the church choir. This was a calling I was actually really excited about; I enjoy singing and looked forward to picking out songs and seeing what we could make happen. However, just 6 or 7 months in, they asked me to do another job. I won't lie, I was bummed; even for our regularly rotating system that was a quick turn-around. However, truth be told, they didn't actually fully release me from *all* my music duties.

Our ward building has been around a long, long time. And, as they are wont to do, things accumulate over time... especially in the church library. Simultaneous to my choir directing stint, new librarians had been called and they came in fresh and full of vigor, and decided to clean house. Unsurprisingly, this was an enormous and long-term project. As I was the resident music person, they asked me to sort through the musical materials, so I got to get a taste of the project and a sideline seat to observe the general proceedings. 

Way back, when the musical reigns were being handed over to me, the previous person told me about the various tools and materials that would be at my disposal. She also mentioned a rumor that there was supposed to be a huge catalog of choir music available to be used... somewhere... in some closet. I asked around and went exploring in various closets, but I never found this magic cache of music or even anyone who could verify its existence. And, eventually, I concluded that it was just a mysterious legend.

However, our fearless librarians - in all their moving and shaking, unearthed this legendary treasure trove: Three filing cabinets holding more than 350 sets of songs were found, hiding in the back of the AV closet. And me, since I had already been working to sort through the couple shelves in the library and was familiar with the project (despite having moved on to a new job), I got the pleasure of sifting through all the things and determining what should be kept or donated/recycled.

It was a crazy collection; a mishmash of bunches of genres. No one seems to know where it all came from, but it reads like a collection from a long-time choir teacher that was bequeathed to the local church. Who's to say if there was a weeding-out process applied before the music came to rest in the depths of the AV closet, but there were a great number of things that seemed oddly suited to an LDS church setting.

The good news was that, somewhere along the line, someone had compiled a list of all the songs in all those file drawers. This made things much more manageable to sort through. For my first run through the list, I looked up unfamiliar titles on YouTube to see if I could find any recordings of the songs to help in the sorting process.

Not everything was on YouTube, but I managed to find a good number of them and give them a listen...

Some old, folksy songs (non-religious): like this, this, this, this and this, though this one's based on the bible..

Some fun ones that aren't exactly Sacrament meeting friendly: like this, this, this and this.

Sooo many show tunes: like this and this and this and this and this, and this, for just a taste.

Some old, sacred master works that aren't exactly suited to Sacrament meeting. Things like: this one, and this, this, this and this

Some gorgeous but insanely difficult things that, with the general approach to choir that the LDS church employs, would likely never be used. Some of my favorites: this, this, this and this

And so many, many more. It was an amazing collection!

Since I've been given sole ownership of this project, I get to make the unilateral decisions on everything. I'm still working through it. Now that the listening part is done, I'm going back through, slowly picking away at things in my spare time, but eventually I'll get it all sorted. Some is for keeping, but much of it is destined to be donated to the local public library in hopes that these vast collections of choral works would finally get to see the light of day and be put to good use.

A fascinating project; for sure my strangest church job yet. I doubt I'll see the likes of it again.

Soaking in the Nostalgia

Way way back, when I was in high school, a good friend introduced me to the musical, Les Miserables. He actually introduced me to a few musicals which I came to love. So, when I come to love a musical - when it grips me and doesn't let go, I will immerse myself in it; listen to it over and over and over 'til every nuance is memorized, then, read the book it's based on, watch it (when possible), maybe even get myself the sheet music.

Back in 1995, Les Miseables celebrated their 10th anniversary with a Dream Cast Concert that aired on PBS. That was back when there were VCRs and I recorded the concert on a tape and watched it over and over. (I may or may not have even written a letter to PBS thanking them for airing such a great concert). I eventually ended up with an official copy of the Dream Cast Concert on VHS that I loved dearly.

Last Christmas, a movie version was released. I didn't go see it in theaters, but I heard wildly contrasting reviews from folks I knew who had seen it. I was a little worried, but stuck it in my Netflix queue anyway. This past weekend I watched it. Oi oi oi.

The first act wasn't soooo bad; the story-line is a little less dramatic, and Anne Hathaway did a lot to carry the weaker parts... but things got pretty painful by the end. I may or may not have stopped the movie a couple times to look up on YouTube the songs from the Dream Cast Concert to cleanse the palette.

Overall, it was pretty bad. It left me wishing I had a copy of the Dream Cast Concert on DVD (it's totally going on my wish list this year). But, in the meantime, hooray for YouTube having the entire concert available for streaming and enabling me to sit and soak in the fond memories of friends from years gone by:

Getting Musical

So, way back in April, a good friend of mine invited me to go to a piano concert with her. Though I'd never heard of the artists who'd be playing, my friend recommended them highly. A YouTube search pulled up several of their songs, tickets were a good price and so I thought, why not?

This was going to be an evening concert, about an hour away from home, so I'd be gone for Townshend's bedtime hour. Not a huge deal, Hubby is a great daddy and more than competent.. but Townshend still isn't interested in bottles and barely drinks from sippy cups, so bedtime without milk was likely not going to be a popular idea with him. Still, back in April, I told myself there'd be plenty of time to get him drinking from a cup. Townshend had other ideas.

playing the first set

As the night of the concert drew nearer, I got more nervous 'cuz Townshend was still so not into drinking from anything plastic. I felt a little bad knowing Hubby would be having a rough night while I was off playing, but Hubby was supportive and encouraging and the tickets were purchased, so it was on. Besides, it's good to get out and recharge your batteries; gotta take care of me so I can come back and better be able to take care of things at home. So, I went.

playing the second set

It was a really fun evening. My friend and I stopped at this great little Mexican restaurant before the show and were tickled to discover there'd be live music to accompany our dinner. Then, the concert was great fun. The music wasn't exactly what I typically listen to, but the performers were lively and greatly entertaining and I enjoyed hearing their music; it was a really nice time. My favorites were this one (though the piano at our concert was WAY better) and this one.

playing an improv duet

And, when I got home,  Hubby had successfully gotten the baby to sleep (he's got a magic touch and excellent music selecting skills). So, I'd say that my first evening away went well!

posing with Michele McLaughlin

me, Scott D. Davis and my friend with the grand idea that started it all!

And, after having listened to all that piano music, a couple nights later, I was feeling inspired and sat down to revisit this one choral piece I've been composing. I've had the vocal lines finished for a while, but I'd gotten stuck on the piano accompaniment. That night I sat down, I sketched out nearly all of the piano line. It still needs a little fine-tuning but it was so exciting to see it start coming together!

Clearly, this just means I need to go out more often!

Songs of Christmas

Now that it's actually December, I let myself acknowledge the local radio station that plays only Christmas songs from November 'til New Years. I like many of the songs they play, especially the classics like this, this and this, but sometimes I wonder at what gets classified as a Christmas song. Who knew this was a Christmas song? Or this or this?

Thinking of what is considered a Christmas song gets me reminiscing about, way back in college, when the music school put on a Holiday Festival every year. It was a massive production; all the choirs, orchestras and band members crammed themselves onto the not-very-large stage and put on a 2 or 3hr show, five times in one weekend. It was a huge smash with the audiences; tickets sold out every year, several months before the concert.

Notwithstanding the commercial success and enjoyment of these concerts, for those students participating, it was a weekend to dread. Not only did the singers stand on risers the entire length of each concert (reminding ourselves not to lock out knees so as not to pass out), we sang the same material year after year. By my senior year, I was ready to be done with the whole Holiday Festival nonsense.

All that being said, there really was some great stuff performed! One of my favorites was one called "Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree". An odd title, I know. It's a song by Elizabeth Poston using a poem from an anonymous poet. I love the song and I love the lyrics, but I'm not sure it really qualifies as a Christmas song. Here are the lyrics, you decide:

Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fuit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree

I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree

Still, Christmas song or not, it's beautiful!

Nighttime A Capella

Turns out that motherhood, while really nice in many ways, is not synonymous with sleeping. I find that Townshend and I regularly see many hours I've not been so well acquainted with since I was in college. Though, on the up side, to make up for the lack of nighttime sleep, my working from home allows me to get more naps than a kindergartner. So we do ok.

One thing I have noticed about my little son is that he is already a fan of music. If he's upset, nothing calms him down as well as someone singing to him (especially his daddy). So, I've taken to singing lullabies to him in the middle of the night to encourage him to go back to sleep. And, in those times when I'm too sleepy to sing to him, I'll play him some soothing tunes and sometimes go on YouTube to find new ones. That is how I stumbled onto this sweet song sung by an A Capella group:

Sweet.

The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long

Last weekend, a friend of mine invited me to go with her to a Sound of Music sing-a-long. I've loved the movie since I was a kid and have always heard that sing-a-longs were fun (terribly nerdy, but super fun). Plus, this was pretty much the only weekend this month that I didn't already have full-up of other stuff, so I jumped at the chance to go.

If you imagine to yourself that this would be an incredibly silly event, let me just say: however ridiculous or hilarious you're thinking this it might be, the real thing undoubtedly lived up to your imaginings and then some. It was fantastic!

As we entered the theater, they were handing out little bags of props: little cards to coincide with songs, a swatch of fabric for when Maria has the revelation about the curtains, a cluster of Edelweiss to swing back and forth at the right time, and finally, a little confetti popper for when Maria and the Captain first kiss.

the kids who dressed up

And of course, the movie wouldn't be complete without a costume contest. Some people really went all out!

the adults who dressed up

It was a blast! I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who's a lover of The Sound of Music!

Home Concerts of Amazingness!

Way back in the day, people would invite talented musicians (e.g. Mozart) into their homes to share their talents and offer entertainment. In those times, people played on harpsichords and piano fortes and carried their instruments from house to house.

However, nowadays, it seems to be the reverse. This past week, my Hubby and I were invited by a talented musician to come to his home to hear him share his talents and offer entertainment (thus saving him from carrying his instruments around). He's got three big organs in his living room and a keyboard for when other people join in. There are bunches of speakers mounted on the wall, so you know this guy is serious.

Turns out, this gentleman gives big concerts every month in his home (with lots of other jam sessions throughout the week). Since it's the week before Thanksgiving, he played several Thanksgiving hymns and invited all in attendance to sing along. There was also jazz and Gospel, Country plus a bunch of other genres. It was amazing!!

I found a few links to videos of him playing on YouTube which I have included here for your enjoyment:




We are so going back for the Christmas concert!

Mad Trumpet Skillz

Over the 4th, we were all hanging out and my brother's trumpet got introduced to the mix.. much hilarity ensued (much to my parents' poor dog's dismay)... hehe.

Seems it was a good idea that I didn't go into playing the trumpet... I make a much better vocalist!