Staying in Toronto after all.

Will be hopefully singing lots and lots.

This Saturday, Jubilate Singers presents “A World in Canada”, a collection of Canadian composers’ works that hint of their ethnic origin. I have a small solo.

And before that, singing for a small fundraiser.

After that, singing for a thanksgiving mass of a newly ordained priest.

Life is good.

Back from real-life. This self-promotion thing has gotten me really feeling at a glut for social media. How do those kids do it?

And while we’re speaking of self-promotion, got a tiny gig tomorrow!

It’s so easy to make the music thing all about you, when really it’s not. So here’s to hoping that we get to connect and touch lives. Let no moment pass unsavoured and unturned.

In other news, cause I’m very concerned about this kind of stuff, the Vatican Insider has published excerpts from Pope Benedict’s writings on the church’s stance on same-sex marriage. Let it be known, it has not changed (of course it hasn’t). I must commend the transparency the Vatican is showing in having a news site at all. Private documents will be private documents for one reason or another, but just looking at the article on Vatican news leaks makes me rejoice, not because of the dire subjects of the news leaks, but because of the transparency. Keep it up, boys…er, men, whoever you are.

And, Obama administration is being sued for the HHS mandate. That is all. 

I know these are contentious issues. Please don’t shoot the messenger.

I don’t know what to do with my time now that I have no choir rehearsals for Pax Christi…September is so very far away! I have so thoroughly enjoyed working with this choir and getting to know the choir members. All so different yet united by one love, one score. When Stephanie Martin held that huge red Elgar aloft, high above her head, and everyone at Koerner cheered, I don’t think I could have felt prouder for myself.

I think that this probably is one of those experiences I can look back on and say “that was the time when I knew I want to do music for the rest of my life.”

This weekend, Pax Christi will be performing Elgar’s The Kingdom. It is a mammoth of a work, for lack of a better word.

I wish I could say how brave I was in tackling this oratorio, but I remember too well the feeling of being in rehearsal with shaking knees and butterflies in my stomach. Aside from Brahms’ Requiem, I can’t say I have sung anything so massive. I was terrified of everything: the high notes, all the notes, sounding bad, sounding good, sticking out, not being supported enough…

Nevertheless, I pulled through. The notes are learned and I hope, sung with aplomb. My sound and confidence grow in tandem.

However, looking back on the last four months, what strikes me is not that I did all this. The amazing thing is that the whole choir did all this. A hundred or more “I”s pulling together to make something so magnificent sound so good.

Sitting at “the Con” (as Yorkies so lovingly call it) two days ago, I was a bit glazed over. I was still terrified (I wonder if that ever really goes away) but also amazed and stunned. The room was lit and the warm light bounced off the wood. The Michael Lee-Chin crystal was visible past the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a beautiful venue to rehearse in. Sitting where I was, I was just left of center of the back wall, facing the conductor. The trumpets were to my left, the strings to the right. The soloists at the far right-hand corner near the door. The room was filled with bodies and instruments and books, yet at the drop of that magical baton, trumpets blared, bows sawed furiously across strings from the highest decibels to the faintest, most plaintive pianissimo. And of course, we sang. Duelling melodies joined to make harmonies expand and retract. Lines soared to the heights to drop down gently, and again. Instruments sang to each other, voices echoing their melody. It’s amazing when you think of how everyone has one book, with one set of notes; just a small job to do.

So this is what it feels like to be part of something big.

I was hoping to come up with something very scholarly and intelligent about Elgar in this foray into The Kingdom. But I have nothing smart to say. What I learned has nothing to do about harmonic structure, or meaning or book-knowledge. What this experience has given me is the feeling of community, and music-making at its best, and I couldn’t have asked for a better lesson.  

1. There’s a couple of musical goings-on this weekend, which makes for a happy camper me.

2. Jubilate is singing with Proyecto Altiplano this Saturday at Hart House! Andean music, huayno and Chilean dancing will be seen by all! We’ll be performing an interesting cantata. It’s a bit dark in content and tone…

3. Have I already mentioned that Pax Christi will be performing May 6? I can’t believe I haven’t! Well, if you’re so inclined, come to Koerner Hall at 3:00 and hear Elgar’s The Kingdom, a rarely-heard masterpiece (I use the latter word in no uncertain terms). The Kingdom is succinct yet heartfelt, with many layers of meaning woven into the musical texture. There is intelligent use of motifs, a full-fledged orchestra, baritone Roderick Williams from England is coming…we choristers better be good.

4. Something I found on my youtube wanderings: sounds like a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and mid-90’s fem alt-rock. In a good way.