Friday, November 25, 2011

Singing with Family



Greetings readers!

Another Dessert Auction fundraiser has come and gone and it made me reflect on an interesting fact: It is so hard to leave a choir. Especially a choir or a choir program that you've grown up with. There I was, watching the Cantilon Chamber Choir, the treble choir of my adolescence. In addition to the fact that a choir parent came up to me and asked, "which one [was mine]?" I had a major déjà vu moment--- seeing new faces in the same familiar uniforms, singing the same familiar songs, in the same familiar lobby setting. The faces I know now are not in the Chamber Choir, but in the adult women's choir of the program, Belle Canto. Over the years, many of us have filtered down into Belle Canto. All those years of carpooling, music festivals, music camps, caroling gigs, retreats, workshops, tours and rehearsals with fellow choristers... they've unknowingly become my second family. Though I've been musically spoiled by being in Pro Coro and singing such a high calibre of music with professional singers... it's hard for me to imagine ever leaving my original choir family. Is it holding me back from other opportunities? Perhaps. I did turn down a opportunity to be a choir ringer this year because it conflicted with Belle Canto's Monday night rehearsals. But I suppose it just comes down to the fact that all I want to do is sing. And I want to sing with my family.

I love how singing experiences with Pro Coro have made me a better singer. The continuous challenge that Pro Coro offers is infectious and feeds the irrationally driven side of my character. However, singing in Belle Canto is just good for my soul. I like seeing the ladies every week at rehearsal, catching up on weekly news, helping myself to gourmet cheese platters, and hearing the dirty innuendos from a (unnamed) chorister in the back row in response to ambiguous conductor statements. Choir life is good. Sure, we don't have the musical polish of a professional choir, but that isn't what we are at our very core. I suppose that's the thing with any family, everybody has their individual quirks but you love them just the way they are. While there may be a time in the future when I may need to move to a different city to pursue different opportunities, until that time arrives, I will continue enjoying the present with my choir family.

Until next time readers, send some love to your choir family, and take care!

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