Ways of Being Advent

Dear friends,

It's beginning to feel a lot like Advent-- a time when we hustle and bustle to prepare for Christmas with its flurry of adventure and activity.  Our December schedules become complex, and our to-do lists grow to epic proportions.  We rush from store to store to find the perfect gift at the best price.  We race from class to the library to study for our final exams.  We scribble our name hastily on dozens of greetings cards to be sure they arrive on time.  We barely pause for a breath between phrases as we practice day and night for our Christmas performances at school and church.  We speed from gathering to gathering to be certain that we accept the countless invitations from family and friends.  We fill every waking moment and starve ourselves of rest so that we may prepare fully for Christmas.  We stop at nothing to assure that on December 25, our world is ribboned and bowed exactly the way we want it to be.

Sometimes we forget that Christmas is a gift to us-- not a chore for us.   We do not need to put the star up over the manger, but we are invited to come and rest there.  It doesn't matter how much we spend on what we bring, but it does matter how much we care about our gift and its recipient.   As we approach this full, rich time of the choir season, I pray that we each-- and we all-- may find the time we are side-by-side, sharing our musical offerings, as peaceful, hopeful, refreshing times.  We care deeply about our preparation and our practice not because we want to impress someone with our offering-- not because we simply want to live up to some clinical musical aptitude.  We care deeply about our preparation and our practice because we care about our gift and its recipient-- because we know that God has given us vast talents and abilities, and we feel called to share them in their fullest in the luminous music that we will bring to the manger.  When we share ourselves generously and intentionally and give of ourselves freely and sincerely, then we can truly create a space for the spirit to soar.  

In that light, imagine the two possible ways of preparing in the seven days ahead:

To do list to achieve preparation:
1. worry
2. stress
3. obsess
4. strain
5. overdo
6. panic
7. disorient

OR

To do list to enable preparation:
1.  pray
2.  sing
3.  breathe
4.  love
5.  share
6.  rest
7.  focus


May our time together on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon enable us to be open to the gifts of this season of preparation.

• 9:30-- women gather for warm-up in choir room (we will sing LO HOW A ROSE/THE ROSE, the Chinese folk melody MAY THE LORD, MIGHTY GOD for worship; and rehearse some parts of LIGHT OF A CLEAR BLUE MORNING). Please be in your robe and ready to begin at 9:30.
• 11:25  lunch for anyone (regardless of gender) from Abendmusik Chorus or Plymouth Choir in Mayflower Hall
• 11:59 be gathered (no robes) in the back balcony of the sanctuary to sing LIGHT OF A CLEAR BLUE MORNING; women will repeat LO HOW A ROSE/THE ROSE at this service)
• 12:30 rehearsal of Christmas repertoire in the choir room (including
• 2:30 closing prayer

Grace and peace,
TT


Events to enjoy in the community this week:


UNL Chamber Choir concert at Sheldon Art Gallery at 5 p.m. (directed by our friend Therees Hibbard, including our very own Andrew Barber and Zach Vreeman)

Lincoln Lutheran Choir's concert this Friday Dec 3 at 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran at 22nd & Washington (Jane Mehrens is in this group, and Josh Norris is its wonderful conductor!)

First-Friday-ART WALK, including paintings by our very own Charles Muff-- Burkholder basement, 7-9 p.m.
Saturday, December 4th at Barnes & Noble (5150 O Street location)  From 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble will be donating a percentage of all profits directly back to Lincoln High! This a great way to get some of that Holiday shopping done early.   In order for Lincoln High to get credit you MUST either present the voucher or tell the cashier you want your sale to go toward the LHS fundraiser!  You can print the voucher from the Lincoln High website.  (Our Julie Doerr and John Heineman work at Lincoln High!)

Saturday at 5:00-- Lincoln Symphony Orchestra with UNL University Singers at Lied Center (Pete Eklund's group which includes our Bryce, Zach, and Andrew)

Sunday at 3:00 and 7:30 at Kimball Hall on the UNL campus-- Cocoa and Carols featuring all the UNL vocal ensembles (Pete Eklund, Therees Hibbard, and many of our singers: Bryce, Jay, Zach, Andrew, et al)

Thanksgiving for Advent and a new year

Dear friends,

I hope your hearts are full of gratitude this weekend.  We each have so much individually to be thankful for, and, as a group, we have billions of blessings for which to sing praise and thanksgiving!  I find myself very thankful for each of you-- for the gift of your time, talent, and being which you share with all of us in our music ministry.  I am very thankful that we have a pastor and staff and congregation that understand and support what we collectively bring to the worship life of our church.  

This Sunday is the culmination of Thanksgiving weekend, the first Sunday of Advent, and the first day of the new liturgical year. We have the opportunity to be thankful, to begin to prepare for our hope in the gift of Christmas, and to sound praise for the rebirth of another year of tradition and possibility in the life of the church.  Please plan to join us Sunday morning in the choir room at 9:45 a.m.  We have a lot to sing this week-- Lost in the night, Peace (from the set of Shaker Songs), and Jeremy's arrangement of Come Now, O Prince of Peace with strings and flute, in addition to some beautiful Advent hymns.  I look so forward to greeting you all Sunday in the choir room at 9:45 a.m.

With thanksgiving for all you bring to my life and for the blessings of all we will share together in this holy season,
TT

11.23.2010

Greetings from Abendmusik:Lincoln!  

As we approach the new year, we are excited to share with you a new educational experience offered to the musical community.  We hope that musicians from all over our region will come to gather in Lincoln on January 28 and 29 for an excellent weekend of workshops, performances, masterclasses, and reading sessions for singers for all ages and abilities, choral conductors, church musicians, and organists.  Including a Community Sing with the legendary Alice Parker, a performance by the renowned St. Olaf Choir, and community-wide Children's Choir Festival conducted by the American Boychoir School's Fred Meads, the weekend also features clinicians Jeremy Bankson, Peter Eklund, Therees Hibbard, Lindsay Kesselman, Christopher Marks, and Tom Trenney.  All of this, including some delicious catered meals, is available to you for a nominal registration fee.  We are grateful to our Abendmusik donors, especially First-Plymouth Church and Augsburg-Fortress for their generous contributions which help to make this event possible.

For registration materials and for more information about our clinicians and the weekend's programming, please check out:  http://www.abendmusik.org/workshops.html   Registration materials and repertoire for the children's choir festival may be found here as well.  Additional children's choir singers are still welcome to join in the festival children's choir! 

We hope you may be able to gather with us for this special occasion-- to be restored and refreshed for the new year.  Please feel free to share this news with any colleauges or friends you think may be interested in joining us.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail or at 402.476-7565.

Grace and peace, and many blessings in this holy season.
TT

11.16.2010

Dear friends,

I missed being with you this past weekend, but I look forward to gathering together again on Wednesday.  Sopranos-- remember that we will gather at 6:35 p.m.  We will join with our Abendmusik friends, then, until 8:45, then work on music for worship for the last part of rehearsal.  Sunday morning we take part in the Children's Sabbath worship-- including a piece with our wonderful Youth Orchestra accompanying.  It will be another rich, intergenerational experience for our music ministry at First-Plymouth!

We have recently been invited to join with choir members from St. Paul's United Methodist Church downtown for a Thanksgiving Eve worship service there on Wednesday, November 24 at 7:00.  The idea is that we would all gather in the St. Paul's sanctuary at 6:00 p.m. to prepare an anthem.  Jim Keck will be preaching.  I will play the service, and Dr. William Wyman will be guiding our combined choir.   It adds a new, wonderful dimension to this ongoing collaboration between our churches in celebration of Thanksgiving.  I would invite you to reply to this e-mail to mention that you can join us, and/or you can sign up at rehearsal tomorrow evening.  We will need to bring our robes with us for this exciting event.  I hope we can count on the Plymouth Choir to be out in full force to serve the broader church community in an exciting way!  

And, finally, for now, remember to invite your family and friends to share in a nostalgic celebration of the music of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood this Sunday at 4:00 p.m.  It is a free event-- a gift to the community from Abendmusik: Lincoln.  Zuri and I will be singing, joined by both of our children's choirs from Plymouth as well as Tracy Sands, cellist, Maribel Cruz, dancer, and Marc Meyers, a dear friend and a beautiful singer from Detroit, Michigan.  Marc will be singing with us on Sunday morning as well, and I know you will all enjoy getting to know him.  We have recently received the unfortunate delivery of news that Mr. McFeely will not be able to make the trip-- he has been in the hospital for several days, following a fainting spell at a recent appearance.  Our new plan is to tape a get well song to him from our whole audience on Sunday afternoon which can be sent with a card from the Lincoln community to our favorite neighborhood mailman!

Worshiping with a different congregation last Sunday while I was in the Twin Cities tendered me, once again, to a deep appreciation for what is happening here and for the amazing, gracious ways that God is guiding us.  As we approach the holidays and the flurry of these months, I pray that we can all continue to find peace, love, and hope in our time together as the First-Plymouth Choir.

Grace and peace,
TT

11.8.2010

Dear friends,

I look so forward to gathering together as Abendmusik Chorus this Wednesday to begin preparations for our DAWN OF REDEEMING GRACE concert.  As usual, our rehearsals together begin at 7:15, BUT this week, the altos are called before rehearsal so that we can do voice placement.  Since the start time for voice class worked so well, let's meet at 6:35 altos-- this will give us plenty of time to warm-up and then have a break to let the others come in to find their spots.  

Grace and peace, and many thanks for your willingness to share your time and talent in our choir.

TT

11.8.2010

Dear friends,

For decades, children have found affirmation, peace, hope, and love in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.  A visionary, musician, pastor, television personality, and icon, Fred Rogers' life was a gift to many, and his legacy lives on.  Come to share in a conversation about the simple faith of Mister Rogers as we study the profound simplicity of an unforgettable twentieth-century theologian whose pulpit was a children's television studio.  

Everyone is invited to tomorrow (Tuesday) evening's class at 7:00 in the choir room at First-Plymouth Church when we will share some of the writing, music, and inspiration that came from Fred Rogers.   Won't you be my neighbor?

Grace and peace,
TT

11.4.2010

Dear friends,

I am thankful for ALL of the saints who gathered here last night to sing such beautiful music.  What an inspiring service we ALL have the opportunity to sing (TWICE!) on Sunday morning.  Our plan is to meet in choir room at 8:15 a.m.-- totally and entirely, incredibly completely, fully ready.  Remember that you get an extra hour of sleep as we 'fall back' this weekend.  I hope that helps us to spring forward with energy once 8:15 comes!  : )   We will be singing LET PEACE THEN STILL THE STRIFE, O DAY FULL OF GRACE, and the three hymns we practiced yesterday: O God Our Help in Ages Past; I Sing a Song of the Saints of God; and For All the Saints.  What glorious music for our mini-Easter!  : )  The Choristers will join with us as 9:00 and the Plymouth Brass will be with us at both services.  Pancakes will be served between services.  

Then, in the evening, if you have not had enough worship, God will still be happy to have you sing praises at our Taize service at 7 p.m.  I would meet with any of you in the choir room at 6:30 to share some descants and countermelodies and harmony parts that you can sing from among the congregation to inspire the singing of the assembly.  The service is particularly focused on remembering those who have died this year, offering support and healing to those who grieve.

Finally for today, I need to ask you to think ahead for a moment...please e-mail me if you know that you will NOT be here for one or both of the following events.  We are beginning to arrange logistics for the Christmas season, and this advance on information will be so helpful.  

December 19 at 4:00 p.m. Christmas Concert with Abendmusik Concert
December 24 at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve services

Grace and peace to each of you good and faithful servants,
TT

11.2.2010

Dear friends,

What a beautiful day in Lincoln, and I look forward to a beautiful evening with you all tomorrow.  A friend of mine from Birmingham, MI, where I lived before coming here has been out to visit us a few times over the last year.  Her experiences with the Lincoln community and, particularly, with the amazing people from our First-Plymouth Choir, have led her to decide to retire here in Nebraska.  Today she begins her drive westward, and she plans to be with us in rehearsal tomorrow night as the newest member of the Plymouth Choir.  Some of you already know Jennifer, but I am certain that all the rest of you will enjoy coming to know her in the coming months and years.  

It occurs to me that whenever someone new comes among us, our choir can never be the same again.  A choir is not a closed, consistent entity.  It is always a work in progress, a journey in process, an evolution of possibility.  There is a dynamic rhythm to the heartbeat of a church choir family.  Each week we come to choir from a variety of individual worlds, with different concerns and challenges.  Some of us come after an exhausting, stressful day at the office.  Others come from a fun, pleasant time with family or friends.  Sometimes we come because we need someone to lean on, and we can feel God's presence in the music and in the people that surround us.  Sometimes we come because we know someone else will need to lean on us, and we are anxious to return a blessing we have been given.  Sometimes, once we get here and sing, a new piece opens our hearts to hear God's voice in a new way.  Sometimes singing a beloved piece again reminds us of someone we loved singing with or a time in our lives when we were more peaceful and whole.  While no moment can ever be recreated, music can often transport us to well beyond ever-- to a sacred, holy place where there is endless grace and unceasing love.  Those moments come and go, the people who sing with us continually change, and we each change all the time as well.  We don't look the same as we did ten years ago, and our voice doesn't probably sound the same either.  With singing and art, there is really no destination where we ever arrive.  There is an unending, fluid, gracious, full journey of unceasing possibility (which is, honestly, sometimes painful, unexpected, treacherous, and can even seem hopeless).

Some of you have come to share your concerns about how we are faring musically and vocally the last few weeks.  We have had more trouble than usual creating space for the voices around us, unifying our sound with common purpose and passionate clarity, sharing pitch and breath and space and tone.  We have seemed collectively disoriented and distracted, and the usual 'up' our spirits feel from the thrill of singing has experienced an uncomfortable pinch of anxiety somehow.  We had seemed to be on such a steady pace of continual growth, steadily building skills and evolving on-going-ly in positive, holistic ways.  Some of you are asking me why this happens, how this happens, and what we can do about it.  Maybe this is one of those burdens we have to give up to a higher power...but I can at least offer some ideas from my very mortal perspective:

It would be easy to get back together tomorrow expecting that we will probably go out of tune within the first bar of our a cappella piece as we did this past Sunday.  It would be easy to come back together tomorrow and expect that singing with impeccable diction is too difficult when we are just having trouble making a good sound together (and besides, the person next to me is not going to do it right anyways...).  It would be easy for me or Jeremy to get frustrated and say, "What's wrong with you people?" and for us to yell you into tune (or, as happens sadly in many places, out of the room)!  It would be easy for us all to figure out whom to blame that we are not unified and whole.  It would be easy to think we are only as good as we have been most recently and that there is something and someone to blame that doing the right thing is now more difficult and more laden with obstacles than usual.  As usual, though, it's not what's easiest that is best..!

It will be wonderful when we get back together tomorrow and realize that our whole life of singing has prepared us to make the most beautiful possible sound when we take in our next low, cleansing breath and to give sound from our being back to the world.  It will be wonderful when we get back together tomorrow, find our new seats in the choir room, and begin to share pitch and space and hope with our new choir neighbors.  It will be wonderful to get back together tomorrow and to expect that someone will be there who needs to lean on us and that someone will be there to lean on.  It will be wonderful when we get back together and treasure the gift of music-- a gift we both give and receive.  It will be wonderful to be together, and to be fully present-- body, mind, spirit, voice-- to do the holy work we've been given.  It will be wonderful to be a new choir on a new day.  It will be wonderful to expect the best of ourselves and to lovingly encourage the best in everyone around us.   Every day is a new creation.  ENDLESS grace.  Even when we are out of tune, we are loved.  Because we are loved, there is always a chance to be in tune.  : )

It will be wonderful to see you tomorrow.  Thanks be to God for Wednesday night and for the sanctuary that each of you brings and that each of us receives from being the Plymouth Choir.  

Grace and peace,
TT

10.27.2010

Dear friends,

I look forward to sharing the new, rabble-rousing John Weaver psalm and our shimmering, reverent Pilgrim's Hymn in worship on Sunday.  We will meet at 9:35 in the choir room.  We have a challenge of communicating scripture text with a relatively bombastic organ part on Psalm 46.  How can we be heard over the majestic Lied Organ:

1.  Emphasize beginning, ending, and middle consonants-- keep them in the front of your month, and share them graciously and generously.  Do not swallow them.  Project them forward with intentionality and intensity.

2.  Leave a space and clearing before any word that begins with a vowel:  The LorD' /oV' Hosts /iz' /ooith /ahs   This helps the consonants pop, it helps energy emerge from within the text, and it allows the room to sing.

3.  Be intentional about rhythm.  Stay rhythmically engaged throughout the piece-- in both the uptempo and in the soft reflective sections.  Whether we are fast in 7/8 or slow in 3/4 or 4/4 or any combination, we must always be keeping track of linear eighth notes rather than just singing at rhythms and thinking we know how it goes.  A half note is not just a half note, it is alive for 4 eighth notes, 8 sixteenths.  Always be aware of the rhythm inside of everything you sing, even if it seems easy.  Intentionality makes a huge difference rather than just educated guessing or motor memory.


Then, in the Paulus, we have the challenge of singing quiet, prayerful a cappella music.  How can we manage without the majestic Lied Organ:

1.  Improve the pitch as we sing repeated notes-- don't see a line of several F sharps, and sing the first one well and then turn off your brain until the note changes.  Continually spin the breath and find the shape of each and every line, phrase and syllable.

2.  Sing from inside the vowels-- never pushing, even in the forte passages.  Be the vowel.  Spin the breath, stir the sound.  Do not push the breath or force the sound.  Never aggressive, always gracious.

3.  Take every opportunity to be intimate with the text.  How?  Find all the humming consonants, and treasure their beauty.  Find the shape of every word- if it has more than one syllable, which deserves the most stress?, which is the lightest?    Then, find the shape of the larger line-- which syllable is the wave of text moving towards, and from which word is the text receding.  Does the word start with a vowel-- if so, how will I hear the beginning of that word, as a separate pearl on the strand with the previous word?-- elegant, holy space for the spirit.


Do not take for granted the responsibility, challenge, and opportunity we have this week to share scripture about Almighty God's power to move mountains, then to pray to O Almighty God of unceasing love, O unceasing love and endless grace, O endless grace.   May we use everything we have experienced before to enable us to offer our best this week...and the week after that...and the week after that...unceasing...endless...O!

Grace and peace,
TT

10.24.2010

Dear friends,

Thank you for the part you all play in making each weekend a special one here in Lincoln.  These last few days have been full of amazingly diverse, yet deeply connected, events.  Friday, after gathering with friends to launch our community-wide sweater drive in the morning at a local bank, I was blessed to sing with ABENDCHOR, the Doane College Choir, and the Lincoln Symphony in a beautiful program of Vaughan Williams at our local university.  Saturday, I attended a very engaging workshop on global music for congregational singing at Southwood Lutheran Church.  That evening, I had such a wonderful time hearing the SING AROUND NEBRASKA concert downtown at the Lied Center with 150 fifth and sixth graders enthusiastically singing music from all over the world.  There were also representative choirs from four Nebraska colleges sharing music as well.  Then, this morning we shared in some of the abundance of musical creation that comes from own community-- thanks to Jack Rinke.  Finally, many of us participated in the (marathon) Welsh hymn-sing, where our First-Plymouth choir and brass welcomed another rich musical tradition into our midst, crowned by the premiere of another of Jeremy's glorious arrangements.  There were people who were part of Friday and Saturday morning, or Saturday night and Sunday morning, or Friday night and Sunday night-- musical and cultural worlds overlapping, uniting, collaborating, sharing, unfolding.  I feel so thankful to be a part of all of this-- I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for all the ways that our First- Plymouth family is involved in the broader community, and how blessed we all are with so many opportunities to serve and give.  How much we all can learn and grow through all of this that we share in together!  Thank you for opening that gift, for being open to that blessing, and for being part of such an amazing journey.  

Take a deep breath, relax, and rest well, my friends.  Please double-check your calendars to see if you would like to be rewarded with one of these free meals (dinner for eight) coming up soon to kick back and enjoy some time with some of the amazing people who travel with us in the Plymouth Choir.

October 26 at 6:30 p.m.
November 13 at 7:00 p.m.
January 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Grace and peace to each of you, good and faithful servants!  : )
TT

10.21.2010

Dear friends,

There is a lot of excitement in the air these next few weeks, and I hope you are able to take advantage of the many wonderful opportunities that await us.  Just to review, here is what is ahead these next few weeks for Abendmusik and First-Plymouth.


Friday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m.-- Kickoff of Abendmusik's community-wide MISTER ROGERS SWEATER DRIVE at Westgate Bank main branch, 6003 Old Cheney.  I wonder how many sweaters the Plymouth Choir can contribute?  Let's hope for 200!

Friday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall at UNL-- ABENDCHOR joins the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra in two beautiful works by Vaughan Williams, and the Symphony plays Beethoven's familiar Symphony V.  

Sunday, October 24-- we will sing for 10:30 worship (warm-up in choir room at 9:45): Gaelic Blessing- Rutter; In paradisum- Rinke (women).  If it's possible, women, to practice this piece a few times on your own before Sunday, I know that we will all feel more confident and prepared to share this beautiful music in worship.  In addition to what we sing, we will enjoy hearing more of Jack Rinke's beautiful music played by our Summit Strings, oboist Bill McMullen, French hornist Alan Mattingly, and, of course, our wonderful Jack.

ALSO Sunday, October 24-- we will sing for the 3:00 Welsh Hymn Sing (warm-up in choir room at 2:30): we will sing (on our own) two familiar hymns, then join the assembly in singing a host of other Welsh hymns.  We will wear red, white, and green tops-- no robes.

Wednesday, October 27-- Rehearsal as usual at 7:15, with women's voice class beforehand at 6:35.  Please be sure you finish your homework-- copying in markings from the blog for your personal score of O DAY FULL OF GRACE (www.firstplymouth.blogspot.com)

Sunday, October 31-- sing for 10:30 service (warm-up at 9:30 a.m.): Weaver- Psalm 46: Paulus: Pilgrim's Hymn

ALSO Sunday October 31-- Silent Film: Phantom of the Opera with improvised organ score by Tom Trenney on the Lied Organ.  Tickets can be purchased atwww.abendmusik.org, or contact Becky or Jeremy in the office.


In addition, sign-up is underway for guests to attend Dinners for Eight.  If you have yet to sign-up, please consider doing so.  This is a good opportunity for us to get to know one another better.  The available dates are below.  Please just e-mail to let me know as many of these dates that would work for you, and we will get you lined up with your hosts and other randomly selected guests!  If you have already communicated with me on this, thank you!

Tuesday. October 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 14 at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 15 at 6:30 p.m.


Grace and peace, and many thanks for the numerous ways you contribute to the life and ministry of the First-Plymouth Choir and Abendmusik: Lincoln.  It is a true joy to be serving with you.
TT

10.18.2010

Dear friends,

 

I just watched the video on our church homepage from How Great Thou Art, and I can't help but leap to my e-mail once again to thank Jack, Jeremy, Evan, Zuri, and each and every one of you for being willing to broaden the reach of God's love in your sharing and singing of HOW GREAT THOU ART yesterday.  For many, that was a step out of a comfort zone (composer included, as I understand it!  I also don't see Jeremy swing all that often, and I've got to confess to really enjoying it-- he's pretty good at it.  I plan to send this to ALCM ASAP :)  ).  It is often when we step out of our areas of particular comfort that we can grow, where we must trust, and where we can be changed.  That's what I learned when I stepped away from a beloved community to come to Lincoln, and I continue to be so thankful that God is continuing to provide opportunities for each of us to be messengers of hope, peace, and love through the ministry of First-Plymouth Church.

 

How Great Thou Art, indeed, and how great you all art as well.  Thank you for being the Plymouth Choir.

TT

10.18.2010

Dear friends,

 

I missed being with you for your spectacular services yesterday, and I look so forward to being back on the hallowed Nebraska soil after a few plane rides this afternoon.  I have had a beautiful week with sounding light, but I am very happy it's time to come back.

 

We have four invitations so far for dinner in our Dinners-for-Eight program, and I want to begin gathering guests.  As you may remember, these events are designed to be as random as possible so that different small groupings from within the choir will have an opportunity to spend some time together.  Choir members are invited to bring a significant other along as well.  The way it works is, you just let me know which of these times is possible for your schedule-- choose as many options as you can so that we can accommodate as many people in as we can.  We will confirm in a few days which evening you will dine and offer further details as the anonymity and randomness disappears!  : )

 

Saturday, October 23 at 6:30

Tuesday, October 26 at 6:30

Saturday, November 20 at 6:30

Saturday, January 15 at 6:30

 

I look forward to hearing from you hungry people soon.  Many thanks, in advance, to these hosts and hostesses and to the additional hosts and hostesses soon to come.

 

Grace and peace,

TT

10.7.2010

Dear friends,

We are cruising through our season and have a brief opportunity to catch our breath this Sunday.  The UNL Men's Chorus will sing for worship here, so we can enjoy worshiping from among the assembly this weekend.  Here are a few reminders of other information to consider:

1.  Next Wednesday we will continue voice class for women from 6:35-7:05 p.m.  It was so exciting to see so many eager sopranos and altos last week, and I hope that we can continue to take advantage of the gift of Donna's wisdom and energy.  

2.  There are markings on the blog for you to copy into your O DAY FULL OF GRACE score.  Please do this by Wednesday, if possible.  www.firstplymouthchoir.blogspot.com   Your individual efforts here will make our rehearsal time together much more efficient and fulfilling.

3.  This Sunday, October 10 is the Chili Cook-off.  Many thanks to John Reinert and Stephen Talarico, in particular, for their leadership, and thanks for the many volunteers from among the choir for your part in planning and preparing this fun event.  If there is a chance you can attend to enjoy this fun fundraiser, please come along.  I will be heading for one of my chamber choir weeks in Michigan following worship on Sunday, so I will be sorry to miss being here with you for this. 

4.   Would anyone be available for a Dinner for Eight gathering on October 23 at 6:30 p.m.?  If so, please respond to this e-mail as to whether it would be you or you and a guest coming to the meal.    More details will be forwarded then, eventually, but we will remain anonymous and random for now!  : )

5.  The Welsh hymn sing (gymanfa ganu) (which Lori McAlister spoke about last night) is coming up on Sunday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. here at First-Plymouth.  Our choir has been invited to sing two short pieces and to participate otherwise in the assembly's singing which should be beautiful.  In addition, your friends from the Plymouth Brass will play, and we will sing a new setting by Jeremy Bankson of the beloved Welsh hymntune CWM RHONDDA (God of Grace and God of Glory).  Zach Hurst will play harp, and I will play a few organ improvisations on Welsh tunes as well.  It should be a delightful afternoon.  We will meet in the choir room that day at 2:30 to prepare, and we'll wear Welsh color shirts-- red, white, or green.  Hope you can all make it!

6.  Congratulations to our three Plymouth Choir winners from the recent N.A.T.S. statewide competition (National Association of Teachers of Singing).  Bryce Bartu, Jeni Houser, and Jay Colwell were each first place winners in their categories, and we are so fortunate to have such beautiful young musicians in our choir community.  HOORAY!

I look forward to seeing you all soon, and I continue to be thankful each and every day that God has brought us together to share so much radiant possibility.

Grace and peace,
TT

10.5.2010

Dear friends,

HOORAY!  It is almost Wednesday again, and this is a friendly reminder to our womenfolk that our voiceclass begins at 6:35 in the choir room this week.  If there is any possibility that you can attend, even if you may feel somewhat skeptical or insecure, please give it a try, and I am confident that our choir will reap the rewards from your investment in the process.   We will be then diving into a lot of new music together when our full rehearsal begins at 7:15.  

Grace and peace,
TT

10.1.2010

Dear friends,

The beautiful fall weather pleasantly welcomes us into October, and we will gather on Sunday at 9:30 to sing our eclectic, diverse array of music from around the world to celebrate our amazing connection around God's table.  Remember that you can listen to the music on the blog: www.firstplymouthchoir.blogspot.com    Pieces for this week are: Kom! (we will sing this in procession, by memory); Cantique de Jean Racine; Heilig; May the Lord, Mighty God (gold sheet); Thee We Adore (purple sheet); Halle Halle (p. 4-5-- remember we never sing p. 2-3)

Please also remember that we will not wear robes this week.  We plan to all wearBRIGHT COLORS to match the colorful music that we will sing.

Also remember that we are collecting hosts for dinner-for-eight gatherings for this semester.  Please let me know if you would be willing to host a gathering, and give us a date and time that work for you, and we will handle the rest of the coordination.

Looking forward to a vibrant, bright, beautiful morning come Sunday!
TT

10.28.2010

Dear friends,

I share with you below part of a beautiful note I received from a friend of our music ministry.  While he sent the note to me, I read it as a note to all of us.  Thank you for your contributions to our shared life of worship through music.

Grace and peace,
TT


Our sister-in-law recently sent us a DVD of the September 12 Plymouth service, and I am led to write to you just to express the appreciation I have come to have for your music ministry, since I'm not sure how often folks take the time to thank you.      We have had the chance to experience your music on half a dozen occasions since you came to Lincoln, including the BrahmsRequiem performance last spring.    And I congratulate you on the high level of artistry you have achieved and share.   But this recent service DVD was particularly meaningful to me at this moment in my life.    What I am really writing to thank you for, above all else, is your living out of the possibilities of music truly serving worship, not being imposed upon it.  I'm writing about your musical excellence, but even more about what I've come to recognize as your integrity and your humility in sharing that excellence.

I am retired from my career as a conductor, both choral and orchestral, at Penn State University.     I was blessed to make music for about 50 years with wonderful colleagues as I grew up in Iowa, did a choral doctorate at Indiana U., and performed around the East and around the world with various of my PSU and professional ensembles.   But one regret I have lived with is that I have not ever found a forum in which I could wed my music-making and my formal spiritual leadings.

I grew up singing in Methodist Church choirs in Iowa, in high school and then in Des Moines when I went to Drake.   By my sophomore year I was conducting church choirs in various denominations, which I continued in Bloomington.   Early on I had even considered a music ministry career.    But by my late 20s I had come to acknowledge that my experiences with music in worship were personally more music than worship.   And by the early 1970s my wife and I had become "convinced Quakers" and have largely worshipped in the silence of unprogrammed Friends meetings ever since.

A few months ago I had one "epiphany" when we attended worship a few times with two Mennonite friends at their "liberal Mennonite" church in Lancaster, PA.     And as we've shared in the sincere and enthusiastic (often a cappella) four-part congregational singing that dominates their worship time together, as well as their community life together outside of formal worship,  I've begun to wonder if perhaps I've found a setting, at least on occasion, where for me the integrity of wedded music and worship can be experienced.    I'd be delighted if I find that in the days or years or decades left to me I can actually use my vocal instrument in sincere shared communal worship.

"Epiphany #2" came as my wife and I sat watching and hearing the DVD of your service.      In observing your gesture, in hearing the choral result, in reading the countenances of the colleagues with whom you were making music, and in just seeing your demeanor I was struck that perhaps it IS possible to bring the sort of integrity and humility to rehearsed, highly artistic music making that allows it to be an experience of sincere worship for those making the music, as well as those sharing it.   I'm not naive enough to think that the "performance for" mentality is absent in some of the musicians.   But what I read from you is that for you it IS about worship through music, not music imposed on the service.

Anyhow, I didn't write to embarrass you with praise.    But I do thank you sincerely, for both of us, for the contributions you have made to our lives this past year or so.   And I especially thank you for modeling a life of worship through music.

9.26.10 - Answer: OH yes!

Question: Did you praise Him?

Thank you for this morning. I can't wait to see you again on Wednesday so that we may positively and painstakingly grow together!

Grace and peace,
TT

9.25.10 - Choir News

Dear friends,

A few bits of news to brighten this gloomy Saturday:

1. We get to sing together tomorrow morning-- rain or shine!-- and we will gather at 9:48 (please be prompt) in the choir room. If you haven't noticed, recordings of all upcoming music is stream-able on our blog: www.firstplymouthchoir.blogspot.com so that you can practice well at home! Tomorrow we sing My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord and Not One Sparrow is Forgotten.

2. Donna Harler-Smith will be here each Wednesday in October from 6:35-7:05 to facilitate a group voice class for the women of the choir. All are strongly encouraged to attend. Please take advantage of this amazing opportunity to study with an awesome voice teacher-- and for free!

3. The men's group voice class culminates in this Wednesday's lesson from 6:35-7:05. I encourage all of us men to be there for this.

4. We are beginning to gather hosts and hostesses for our next round of Dinners for Eight. If you would like to host a randomly-selected group of choir guests for a meal (breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner are all possible!), please simply let me know what day and time you would offer your hospitality, and we will take care of the rest.


Looking forward to seeing you all soon...and often! : )

Grace and peace,
TT

9.22.10 - Are you anchored?

OH yes!

Thank you all for your spirit and energy tonight as we have really begun to breathe life into our Moses Hogan arrangement for Sunday. HOORAY! We will meet Sunday at 9:48 a.m. Please be on time-- we have just enough time on Sunday mornings to get centered, focused, anchored, and prepared to do our part in worship, and it is essential that we all are present to engage in the whole centering, focusing, anchoring, and preparing process.

I am so sorry that in all my excitement with our spiritual interpretation I forgot to share some very important prayer concerns and information with you.

Cecil Walker's memorial service will be at First-Plymouth tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Cecil was a relative of Bradley and Kimberly Walker as well as IV and Adrienne Dickson, and many of you will know them. Jack Rinke will be playing piano for the service. Rob McMaster will sing THE LORD'S PRAYER, and I will be playing organ as well so that our choir is contributing to the memorial celebration in a variety of ways.

Connie Ore, the wife of our former Assistant Organist Charles Ore, passed away recently. Many of you signed a sympathy card tonight. Certainly know that both the Ores and the Walker families will appreciate your prayers.

I look so forward to 9:48 on Sunday.

Praise be to God almighty- OH yes! : )
TT

9.14.10 - And We're Off!

Dear friends,

Thank you for your beautiful, passionate singing from Sunday morning which launched our new season as worship leaders in our church. I look forward to seeing you all again tomorrow to continue building our sound and discovering our voice as an ensemble. We have so much to look forward to in this season! : )

Allow this to be a friendly remind to our men that your free voice lessons continue to be available this Wednesday at 6:35 and through the end of the month. Please do all you can to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. I have heard from many of the men attending that it has been a practical, valuable, and intriguing experience so far.

Grace and peace,
TT

9.11.10

Dear friends,

What a joy it will be to hear you sing Amazing Grace and Come Thou Fount this week as we kick off our choir season in worship at the 9:00 and 10:30 services. While we always hate to make you come earlier, Jeremy and I have decided we should gather at 8:00 a.m. so that we can rehearse appropriate with the brass and also practice our procession. It will be almost like Easter with many bells and whistles this week! We will serve hot breakfast in Mayflower Hall downstairs between services, as usual.

Thanks to many who came to hear the ABENDCHOR concert tonight, and please know you have another opportunity to catch it on Sunday at 3:00 at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha if you missed this one. There can never be enough beautiful music in the world, and we have such an abundance of treasures to experience at First-Plymouth this weekend! Thank you for being a huge part of that! :)

Grace and peace,
TT

Dear friends,

Even before our first rehearsal, the 2010-11 choir season has begun. Thanks for your heartfelt singing and your loving presence which added an additional dimension to the beautiful funeral this morning. We can all rest assured that Jim was relieved to hear some 'good music' today! A few days after our Brahms REQUIEM, Jim told me that he thought the choir had never sounded better or been more tightly connected. He then (only half-jokingly) told me "the honeymoon is over, and it is time to really get to work!"

And so we do get to work, and we continue the unending process of growing and connecting as an ensemble, as individual singers, and as faithful people. Jeremy and I have missed Wednesdays with you so much, and we are so excited that we will see you all THIS WEEK! Our Plymouth Choir season officially begins with rehearsal this Wednesday from 7:15-9:30 p.m., then continues with our retreat day next Saturday, the 28th. (...if you have yet to register for the retreat, please do so right now!) We can all dive into this new choir season and immerse ourselves in the blessings of sharing music together. "The honeymoon is over, and it's time to get to work!"

In the event that you need it, I am attaching our season schedule. This is the same as the one you have received before-- with one exception! For those of you who have already penciled details into your planners, please note April 23rd-- I had forgotten our Easter Dress rehearsal. For those of you who have not thought past this summer, here is your calendar. Period. : )

Also attached is our Welcome to the First-Plymouth Choir guide. Please remind yourself of some of the ways we strive to share our choir experience in the most optimistic and possibility-filled way! We begin anew, open to whatever gifts and graces God has to give us to bless us, and refreshed to face all the challenges that God uses to strengthen us.

I continue to thank God for calling us to be in ministry together. Thanks, God, for the honeymoon. Now, we promise, we'll get to work! : )

Grace and peace,
TT

Dear friends,

Tomorrow we will begin our first May together. As beautiful a month as May tends to be, it can sometimes be a choir leader's nightmare! Wednesday evenings begin to be crowded with so many extra end-of-the-season activities, spring fever vacations, school projects to complete, gardening adventures, and gorgeous nights that tempt us to sit on the front porch swing...and sometimes we choir leaders wonder, "Where have all the singers gone...?"

I have never known a more devoted, committed choir than this beautiful group I've come to know this year at First-Plymouth. We have made such progress this year because we have consistently spent quality time together. As the May temptations surface, remember the motto: "I can't. I have rehearsal." Even though we've passed Easter and our Brahms, we still have some beautiful music to learn and some amazing worship to sing. Even though we approach 'ordinary time' in the church year, there are still extraordinary opportunities for us to experience. Even though the season is changing, God still deserves our unending song of prayers and praises.

Let's enjoy every single moment we have left in this first season together. Let's continue to learn and grow. Let's continue to support one another in offering our first fruits to the God who makes everything possible. Let's start by gathering at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday to prepare "Hark I hear the harps eternal" and "Christ, Mighty Savior" for worship, followed closely by our assembling at 6:30 p.m. to sing humbly among the congregation as part of the peaceful, prayerful Taize worship.

The First-Plymouth Choir is an incredible ministry-- to those of us who sing and to those who hear. May we continue to be grateful for the opportunities we have to give and to serve, even as we receive.

Grace and peace,
TT

Dear Abendmusik Chorus,

Below is a review from your performance yesterday. The reviewer asks, "Were they really angels?" If angels bring to earth messages from above, I am confident about how I would answer this question. Yesterday, you were really angels. Thank you for devoting yourselves, humbling yourselves, and sharing yourselves so fully in our experiences together this season. We are just beginning to journey together, and yet we already have glimpses of where God wants to lead us and how God wants to sing through us. May God continue to guide us, and may we continue to share in the hope that pain and sighing will flee and that comfort and joy everlasting will come to us all!

Thank you for all you are and all you do.
TT

Review: Abendmusik brings ‘Requiem’ to life

By John Cutler / For the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 11:45 pm | No Comments Posted

Heroic music came to life Sunday as the Abendmusik series presented Johannes Brahms' revered "A German Requiem" at First-Plymouth Church.

The Abendmusik Chorus and Orchestra collaborated with the University Singers, baritone William Shomos and soprano Jeni Houser, led by Abendmusik Artistic Director Tom Trenney.

"Requiem" is an extremely taxing work for choral forces, whose goal it is to sing strong and hold the musical line in place across wide dynamic ranges for two solid hours. And this goal the singers accomplished admirably well. Diction, so hard to achieve in the First-Plymouth acoustics, was so clear every word could be understood.

Choir men were stalwart with entrances, especially at those second-movement lines from Isaiah, "The redeemed of the Lord shall return with singing unto Zion."

Ensemble women produced glorious lines with little stridency in the highest registers. Were they really angels?

Shomos was the perfect selection to sing the baritone solos. His vocal instrument is powerful enough to soar over fortissimo forces with excellent vocal quality.

And Houser, starlet from several University of Nebraska-Lincoln opera performances, became a bright spot in "Requiem's" dark places. She evoked a warm, clear voice, especially for those reassuring lines in part five, "You now are sorrowful; grieve not."

Orchestra players were on their game, always on pitch and always restrained, coaxing their instruments to continually blend with choir and soloists.

For the 550 in attendance, it was a moving, promising afternoon. The demeanor of the entire ensemble glowed with a quiet confidence.

It's Trenney's first year at Abendmusik, and if the standing, clapping patrons at the work's conclusion were any indication, this young leader has grasped his forces well and led them handsomely forward.

Rounding third and heading for home

Dear friends,

Thank you for two hours and 32 minutes of joy today! I am overwhelmed with appreciation for what you are bringing to this collaboration, and you are continuing to more fully inhabit this amazing piece that Brahms has written for us. Tomorrow will be a wonderful day to be together!


For those who are willing to continue working with your scores (which I hope and trust is ALL of us!), here are a VERY few notes I can share from today's recording.

GENERAL:
1. WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT in terms of not pushing and forcing our singing-- WORLDS BETTER! Keep focusing, trusting the process and preparation, even when the spotlight is on tomorrow.

2. The two choirs are sounding like one-- that is a small miracle, and one we should all be proud of and grateful for! We must also stay vigilant and focused, even when the spotlight is on to protect the boundaries of our ensemble.


SPECIFIC:
Movement I

ms. 34-- let's have a first-class Abendmusik Chorus N' at the end of mourN! That gives that word such meaning and makes the crescendo so much more passionate.

ms. 52-- basses, even though this is a high note, be gentle, stay in the sonority-- you are tempted to push here. Be expressive but BEAUTIFUL!

letter C-- remember the 'h' before Who in this section as your parts enter, and exploit the hairpins of "weep" in the middle of the page...don't miss an opportunity to communicate!


Movement 3

ms. 137-- fully engage in the V of vanity as you melt into the cadence.

p. 34-35-- put a capital K on every Comfort that you find here...Also, capital D at the end of lorD. Practice this in your Julia voice!


Movement 6

a beat before L and a beat before M-- don't forget the D-- anDIH might

top p. 78-- first measure-- sopranos and altos-- lots of F to start this phrase.




OTHER DETAILS FOR TOMORROW:

1. Please don't smell particularly good or bad-- take a shower, use deodorant, but avoid perfumes, colognes, and fragrances
2. Please wear ALL black...if you have a question about it, reread it again! : )
3. Please use black folders
4. We will meet in Mayflower Hall downstairs at 3:00 p.m. to gather our voices and spirits.
5. If your mobility is good, please park in one of the far parking lots tomorrow so that those who need to park close can.
6. If you wish to sing in the morning for worship, all are welcome! We will sing movement IV and a few small pieces of service music, and we will assemble in the choir room at 9:45 a.m. to prepare for that.


WHEW! I'm exhausted, but in the best possible way. I hope you get a lot of rest and space before what will be an awesome tomorrow. I am so thankful we get to share it together!

Grace and peace,
TT