The Lakeshore Chamber Singers

Two months ago I was asked to be a member of the Lakeshore Chamber Singers. Almost two years ago (A month after I moved to Detroit) I did an audition for the choir master at Christ's Church in Grosse Pointe. I never heard anything from him until now. (So sad because now I am moving) Anyway, he has put together a group of 16 singers to do concerts every month. We are performing our first concert this week and anyone who would like to come is invited. It is free, and it will be a quality performance worth attending!

Friday April 10th at 7:00 at Christ's Church on Grosse Pointe Blvd. just north of South High School.
We will be performing: A Passion of Heinrich Schuetz, Four motets by Poulenc, Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure, and the Faure Requiem.

Just about all of the singers know each other from their music backgrounds at Michigan State in Ann Arbor. It has been 4 years since I have sang with professional singers in a paid gig like this. It has wet my appetite once again for how much I love classical music and love to perform. I want to try to explain this feeling in a way that my husband can relate to. ( Dave and I like to make analogies between sports and music.)

Those of you who know my husband know that he LOVES, (I mean LOVES) soccer! When I met him he was a die hard soccer player. I fell in love with him with his long socks, black cleats, and dripping wet hair. Our first few years of marriage Dave played A LOT of soccer. Now, he has to go much longer periods without playing, and finding competitive people to play with can be even harder. But, when he gets out on the field, I know he feels like he is at home. He gets so excited. His hands clinch into fists, he jumps up and down again and again before he goes on the field, and the smile on his face is as if he is 10 years old again. He gets a rush and doesn't even realize how much he missed it until he is sprinting full speed making a fast break. That is Dave. I LOVE this about him. It is such a turn on to see my sweet and shy husband transform into an aggressive and ferocious animal out there on the field. The only sport I have this much passion for is skiing, but I am not even sure if my love for skiing can top Dave's thrill to run full speed.
That was a long and descriptive way to express what it felt like to be among singers again. I spent 8 years dedicating hour after hour and day after day to the life of a musician. I was surrounded by music majors with each waking moment. Those of you who know me would not think of me as a quiet, shy, passive person would you? Well, in a room full of singers, I was one of the most "to myself" and "quiet" people. The reason is because singers are seriously a breed of their own. They fight for the spotlight, they are drama, drama drama, they can't ever get enough attention, they are diva's, they are competitive, they can be ruthless behind your back, they are off the wall hyper and extremely LOUD people. With all that said, I love them to death.
So last week when I had my first rehearsal, all those memories came flooding back. There are few things more fulfilling in the world than to sing at the top of my lungs in a room full of amazing voices. I can not describe the emotion and power of singing with a full voice with absolutely no restraints as high as my vocal cords will take me. I feel beyond grateful for the talent that I have been blessed to develop. Just as Dave feels at home on the soccer field, I will always feel at home when I am singing.
(This may be the cheesiest blog ever, but I don't really care. La, la, la, la, laaaaaaaaaa!)