Thoughts from last night's performance of (about two-thirds of) Handel's Messiah in no particular order...
1. Singing "Thou Shalt Break Them" with a "clothespin on your nose" is HIGHLY inadvisable. It may result in much of the choir and orchestra turning around to attempt not to laugh and the audience to stare in bewilderment. Also, it is painful. When it comes to extreme nasality: Just say no!
2. The group has grown. It was so enormous (100 was the program count) that there were not enough chairs and a handful of the basses ended up sitting in the pastor's lounge behind the organ and slipping in to stand next to us sopranos for the choruses. I've missed singing with a good group of people but having some great basses next me was an extra treat. Especially since...
3. Thanks to some rearranging after my solo, for the last chorus and the second time we sang the Hallelujah Chorus, I was right next to Erik who was one of my best friends in high school... with our former choir director on his other side. Talk about a blast from the past. It was like being in AC Choir all over again. The only thing we needed was our friend LaKedria singing "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" with us :-D
4. (Actually from rehearsal on Monday) A fire engine drove by. And, yes, this time it really was a fire engine ;-) "Glory to God"
5. There are reasons that "The Trumpet Shall Sound" is typically played on a piccolo trumpet. While I am sure there are people who could play it fantastically on a regular B-flat, the two trumpet players we had.... could not. To put it nicely. It was a hot mess. I kind of felt bad for the soloist (my high school choir director) because it seemed to be throwing him off.
6. There were some really fantastic high school kids singing solos. In particular, "The People That Walked In Darkness" -- honestly, the kid's breath support was unreal. One almost had to wonder if he was circular breathing.
7. I've learned my lesson: always bring water out with you if you're not sure about an intermission. By the beginning of Part 2, I was getting drier than dust and it didn't help my solo ("If God Be For Us"). I managed to get through it and it could have been much worse, but it also could have been much better. Even so...
8. Here's a really shocking tidbit: If someone has an summa cum laude degree in voice performance, there is a good chance that they can sing decently. Which my former choir director might have known ahead of time had he ever come to either of my recitals in Ohio (high school senior recital or the one I gave this summer -- both of which he claimed he was coming to) and heard me sing (or, I don't know ... cast me in a musical in high school) before this. The hug and shocked approval that I got from him was amusing. I often say that all of my music teachers have gotten me to where I am today. Most of them, thanks to their support and encouragement (my hs voice teacher, all the SHU profs -- huge shout out to MH who is most directly responsible for my still pursuing music) but this man because he pushed me to succeed simply to prove him wrong. That I AM a musician and DO deserve more than just two chorus numbers in a musical my senior year of high school. [rant over :) ]
All in all it was a good evening.. so nice to be singing real rep again and with a good chorus!
Showing posts with label Steubenville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steubenville. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Babies don't come from bubbles ... or do they?
Warning: controversial topic ahead... read at your own risk. Honestly, this is the type of thing I would like to write about all the time (well, all sorts of religious and moral topics). BUT, I also love to write about random other stuff that's going on in my life so these tend to be few and far between...
As I mentioned in the last post, I spent this past weekend on the campus of Franciscan University attending the Defending the Faith conference. Most of the talks were excellent and it was wonderful to be surrounded by so many other faithful Catholics. One of the highlights (aside from Mass and Adoration!) was a workshop by Mark Hart. The topic was "The Gospel according to 'Glee'" and he was discussing the strong sexual messages presented by the media in popular culture and the ways these messages affect children and teens. It was a great talk.
One thing that he said really struck a chord with me. So much so that I went up afterwards to thank him for saying it.
Rachel grew up in a town much like Steubenville in a very Catholic family. She's the oldest (about my age - out of school, etc.), has a bunch of younger siblings, and they were all homeschooled at some point. Although I've never discussed this topic with any of her siblings, she and I have spent plenty of time dissecting thoughts on the Catholic meaning of sexuality. She tells me that "everything [she] ever learned about sex came from [her] friends, the internet, books, or a youth group type event (including Steubenville conferences)." She has no recollection of her parents ever telling her anything on the topic. I don't mean to condemn Rachel's parents, as I know they are lovely people who did/are doing the best they can with their children. I only wish they would see how important parents can be in influencing their children. Luckily for Rachel, she has been blessed to learn plenty about the Catholic teachings on human sexuality. And - perhaps even luckier - she has never been in a situation where those teachings were strongly tempted. But, was it fair for her parents to ignore the topic and hope that she would "learn what she needed" at a Steubenville Youth Conference or something similar?
I know of other families who have not been so lucky. Another friend "Beth" (again, name changed) struggled with remaining chaste with a boyfriend in college. While I do not know what (if anything) her parents told her, she was under the impression that if this boy was going to pressure her to go further than she wanted to, he would do so verbally. When the situation actually arose, there was much more pushing of the envelope physically rather than verbose nudging. And this girl wasn't even raised in a Steubenville-like bubble.
In a similar situation, there are stories of Steubenville-homeschool-raised adults who are married and have kids whose birthdays fall less than 9 months after the marriage of their parents. Again, I can only speculate (and freely admit that I have no personal experience similar to this with which to compare) but I can't help but wonder how much their parents spoke with them about chastity. Or if they had so little practical information (beyond "Don't have sex until you're married") that it was incredibly easy to find themselves sliding down a slippery slope with little hope of catching themselves.
It seems that the bottom line is something to the effect of: kids will be catechized by something. This includes moral teachings just as much as "strictly" faith-based ones. By our very nature we have an intense curiosity about human sexuality. If parents don't step in and catechize their children, at some point, something else will. It doesn't matter how much of a "bubble" you create around them, it will happen. Yes, I'm sure those aren't easy conversations to have -- Mark admitted that he's not looking forward to speaking with his daughters -- but as he said when I spoke with him after the talk "we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable." Why would a parent want to leave something this important up to someone else to teach their children about? ESPECIALLY, when what these particular parents would like to impart on their children is so completely foreign to what most of the outside messages are saying. Or, to state it another way... I'm incredibly honored to be quoted by my dear friend, Dani, numerous times in her facebook quotes. One of these is: "If you can't even type the word sex, you probably shouldn't be having it." I would add a corollary: "If you can't talk to your kids about sex, perhaps you shouldn't be having them."
AND... as an added bonus: Don't ask me what to say or how to say it to your kids (I don't have any yet so I don't have to worry about that for a good long while!!) ... this kid makes some great points and his blog in general is well written and enjoyable to read.
As I mentioned in the last post, I spent this past weekend on the campus of Franciscan University attending the Defending the Faith conference. Most of the talks were excellent and it was wonderful to be surrounded by so many other faithful Catholics. One of the highlights (aside from Mass and Adoration!) was a workshop by Mark Hart. The topic was "The Gospel according to 'Glee'" and he was discussing the strong sexual messages presented by the media in popular culture and the ways these messages affect children and teens. It was a great talk.
One thing that he said really struck a chord with me. So much so that I went up afterwards to thank him for saying it.
"It's not an option not to talk to your kids about sex."Now, (hopefully obviously as this was at a FUS conference) he wasn't talking about promoting contraception or waiting until you're out of high school or "in love" or something "typical" like that. But this is a message (talking to your kids) that is just as important in Steubenville as it is anywhere. On Saturday evening, there was a student talking about why everyone should donate to the university. One thing he mentioned was that the "Steubenville bubble" is a myth. Maybe that's easy to say as a student from out of town who was not homeschooled in Steubenville. But I can say with very real conviction that the "Steubenville bubble" is not an urban legend. Take the example of my friend "Rachel." (not her real name)
Rachel grew up in a town much like Steubenville in a very Catholic family. She's the oldest (about my age - out of school, etc.), has a bunch of younger siblings, and they were all homeschooled at some point. Although I've never discussed this topic with any of her siblings, she and I have spent plenty of time dissecting thoughts on the Catholic meaning of sexuality. She tells me that "everything [she] ever learned about sex came from [her] friends, the internet, books, or a youth group type event (including Steubenville conferences)." She has no recollection of her parents ever telling her anything on the topic. I don't mean to condemn Rachel's parents, as I know they are lovely people who did/are doing the best they can with their children. I only wish they would see how important parents can be in influencing their children. Luckily for Rachel, she has been blessed to learn plenty about the Catholic teachings on human sexuality. And - perhaps even luckier - she has never been in a situation where those teachings were strongly tempted. But, was it fair for her parents to ignore the topic and hope that she would "learn what she needed" at a Steubenville Youth Conference or something similar?
I know of other families who have not been so lucky. Another friend "Beth" (again, name changed) struggled with remaining chaste with a boyfriend in college. While I do not know what (if anything) her parents told her, she was under the impression that if this boy was going to pressure her to go further than she wanted to, he would do so verbally. When the situation actually arose, there was much more pushing of the envelope physically rather than verbose nudging. And this girl wasn't even raised in a Steubenville-like bubble.
In a similar situation, there are stories of Steubenville-homeschool-raised adults who are married and have kids whose birthdays fall less than 9 months after the marriage of their parents. Again, I can only speculate (and freely admit that I have no personal experience similar to this with which to compare) but I can't help but wonder how much their parents spoke with them about chastity. Or if they had so little practical information (beyond "Don't have sex until you're married") that it was incredibly easy to find themselves sliding down a slippery slope with little hope of catching themselves.
It seems that the bottom line is something to the effect of: kids will be catechized by something. This includes moral teachings just as much as "strictly" faith-based ones. By our very nature we have an intense curiosity about human sexuality. If parents don't step in and catechize their children, at some point, something else will. It doesn't matter how much of a "bubble" you create around them, it will happen. Yes, I'm sure those aren't easy conversations to have -- Mark admitted that he's not looking forward to speaking with his daughters -- but as he said when I spoke with him after the talk "we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable." Why would a parent want to leave something this important up to someone else to teach their children about? ESPECIALLY, when what these particular parents would like to impart on their children is so completely foreign to what most of the outside messages are saying. Or, to state it another way... I'm incredibly honored to be quoted by my dear friend, Dani, numerous times in her facebook quotes. One of these is: "If you can't even type the word sex, you probably shouldn't be having it." I would add a corollary: "If you can't talk to your kids about sex, perhaps you shouldn't be having them."
AND... as an added bonus: Don't ask me what to say or how to say it to your kids (I don't have any yet so I don't have to worry about that for a good long while!!) ... this kid makes some great points and his blog in general is well written and enjoyable to read.
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