Dear friends,
I look so forward to seeing and hearing you all tonight as we join with the University Singers and our orchestra to continue our journey with Brahms. I am grateful for your continuing commitment to one another and to this exciting collaboration. While there is always room to grow and evolve (i.e. we could work on this piece FOREVER and still not be done!), we are coming to performance time at a good point in our process. As I think back to our first encounter with one another in August for the Brahms' SUMMER SING, through our first program as Abendmusik Chorus in December, to this special moment when we are approaching our first major performance together, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for your patience, commitment, trust, energy, spirit, devotion, focus-- so many things to be thankful for. May we all be one as we continue along through this exciting week.
A few logistical considerations:
1. We WILL use black folders for the performance. If you do not have one, let Jeremy or me know well before 7:00 tonight, and we will get one for you. These folders are easier for to hold-- particularly since many of us have crumbling copies of the Brahms REQUIEM. Further, the U Singers have a different color score than ours but have the same folders we have, and all these peculiarities make it sensible to match. We WILL use black folders.
2. We plan to start promptly at 7:00 tonight. The students are scheduled to arrive around 6:45, and Jeremy, Pete, and I will help everyone find a spot. Please be patient, pleasant, cooperative, collaborative, and understanding as we try to fit many blessings in a small, tight space. Know that we will do everything we can to make things as comfortable as possible. We won't do any better accommodating everyone's needs by being impatient or frustrated with one another. BREATHE! SMILE! Share grace, and we will all make the best of the opportunities we have to share this experience. : )
Tonight we will all have a lot of new things to experience-- a doubling of the choir, an accompaniment from the orchestra, a crowded choir loft, a lot of standing-- let's continue to trust our process, and do what we've practiced and prepared. Remember, also, that I will have the same amount of new things to experience, so we all share these challenges and opportunities together. I promise to continue to offer what I can to help us collectively share in communicating the profound message of this amazing piece. I am confident that your contributions will enable Brahms' voice to be heard! Think about it: we are sharing in creation with Brahms. It's like painting with Michelangelo, writing with Shakespeare, dancing with Fred Astaire! Treasure this gift we have been given to be together with Brahms and one another.
Peace,
TT
