According to the writing prompt, today is World Choral Day and we should write about choir-y things. I've been trying to think about how I'd possibly sum up my experience as a singer. I've been singing my whole life (like most of us I think), though most of it has been singing in funny voices while a make dinner. I love singing. I love seeing what sounds my voice can make. I love imitating other folks' singing styles. I love singing "straight"- just the way the composer meant the music to sound. I loved singing in a choir, melding my voice with that of others', creating something beautiful and whole. I think perhaps most of all I love singing with my daughter, hearing her beautiful, sweet voice combine with mine, now deeper and containing more vibrato than it used to.
I started singing in choirs as a young kid in church; my dad was the choir director for a while in one of the many churches we attended in our nomadic life as a military family. As I grew and began questioning the existence of a god and the teachings vs. the realities of the Christian religion (and frankly all the other ones too), it was the music that I could still enjoy. I don't believe in a god or the supernatural, but I believe voices lifted together create something truly magical.
The last choir I sang in was in college. I enjoyed the difficult music we sang, and I remember feeling the high of the choral experience after practice. I've been so disappointed that the only choirs in my area are religious or meet on nights that I can't make work, so it's been put on the back burner 'til someday. When I see my sister sing with her group Vox Music (only via YouTube, unfortunately), I am reminded that I need music for myself. In the meantime, my daughter sings with Rainier Youth Choirs in the Consonare group, and watching her progress as a singer has been gratifying. Maybe someday I really will find a group in which I fit.
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I should really look at the prompts here before posting my daily entry, because this was a perfect prompt for me. I've loved singing and choral music for a long time. Like you, I sang a lot in church, and like you I'm no longer a believer. Yet, there's still something I love about the music, especially around Christmas with all the carols. There were a couple years, when I lived in Rhode Island, that I was able to sing in a couple very good community groups, one of which was specifically a caroling group. Now, though, I don't live close enough to a large town or city to have those sorts of opportunities.
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding the right group down the road!