Today was the choir concert. For those of you who don't know, this is my first year as an LN choir student, and that was my first choir concert. The choir I am in is called Chamber singers, and it is a 24-person a capella group comprised of juniors and seniors. We are looked up to by the rest of the choirs, and the top of the ladder for non-show choirs. (Hip Street and New Dimension top the show choir ladder.) Anyway, I watched my brother for two years having an incredible experience in Chamber, and this year I wanted to be in it. I tried out, and to my great surprise and joy I made it.
Which brings us to tonight. The first concert. Now, one of the remarkable things about Chamber is our self-motivation. We decided we were going to come early to work on music, and we actually all showed up. Two of our songs were both a cappella and undirected, so practicing them by ourselves is just as good as with the director, in fact better. So we were working on these in the choir room.
Now working on an undirected piece is a singular experience. A lot is done by feeling. You feel when to cut off, when to crescendo. You communicate it with eye-contact. So here we were, just singing our parts and looking at each other, and it started to sound amazing. And we realized that the freshmen and sophomores and everybody really was watching and listening. And finally, when we sang our last note, there was silence, and everyone broke into applause. The concert hadn't even started yet.
In discussing this event later with various singers, we all had the same experience. We remembered when we were on the other side, watching the chamber singers of years past get together, undirected, and just start singing. We remember thinking "Wow. They are so amazing. We could never do that." And now, here we are. Chamber. And those same thoughts are going through those heads like a great circle.
So that was Zen moment one. Then there was the rest of the concert. It's like a blur now, looking back with tired eyes, but there were other moments. Incredible moments. And I know that this is just the beginning of what we can be. Choir is a wild ride, and I'm loving every minute of it.
