Another gift

I know I've mentioned how much I love music.

Well, I've now been to two meetings regarding the organization of a new chorus. It's starting to look really good! I will be the audition coordinator for the auditions being held in August for the CCS. Interested parties will call me for an appointment. I will schedule three people every fifteen minutes. They will rotate between three adjudicators and be tested briefly on range, pitch, aurel skills, sight reading, ability to learn a piece quickly, ability to hold a part in a group, etc.

Everyone on the "board" (for lack of a better word) is really great. One lady is a real go-getter with great organizational and leadership skills. She knows what needs to be done and doesn't let anyone forget about it! I like her A LOT. I will refer to her as A.K. She is the concrete thinker that our abstract director needs to keep everything lined up. We haven't had a printed agenda for either of the meetings we've had, and it was funny how the topics and info jumped and circled around. A.K. went home and typed up minutes for the meeting without being asked, putting the needed discussion points in bold print. I really appreciate her efforts. I'm going to see what everyone thinks of having a printed agenda for the next meeting.

My next big question is WHAT ARE WE SINGING???????? The conductor has a lot of possible music in mind, but won't announce any of it until he hears what turns up at the auditions. I'm chomping at the bit waiting to see. He said motets are always a good thing to start with. Whose? Brahms, Bach, Mozart, Vaughan Williams? The suspense may just kill me.

Okay, no it won't.

But it might.

My church friend is writing a cover letter to the newspaper to announce/introduce/advertise the group. It will go in the paper in July. We will also have flyers, ads, and announcements all over town and at all of the churches a little closer to audition time. She's also helping A.K. get corporate sponsers to help cover initial expenses.

The director and the other adjudicators' expectations for audition turn-out aren't very high. They said they were thinking about possibly 30 members in the choir. I hope they're happily surprised and we can do some really BIG pieces with a BIG choir. Then again, maybe he just wants to do small chamber pieces with a really skilled group. I'd be sooper-dooper happy with that, too.

We're planning an all day retreat to practice music and get to know one another in September. We'll have sectionals in the morning, lunch, and then a full group rehearsal in the afternoon. I can't wait! Our first performance is tentatively set for November 15, 2009.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity! Singing wonderful music with a choir is a real necessity for me. I will always be indebted to my friend from church who kept asking around and making contact with the right people. She's so good at social networking. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have been invited to be part of this planning process, and likely wouldn't have heard about the group after it had been organized. I never thought I'd say this, but there may actually be a downside to not getting the overly liberal newspapers with all the city ads and announcements.

Then again, that's what neat friends with better social skills than I possess are for.