Friday, September 17, 2004
A good start
At the end of last Spring, fourteen choristers and their families attended the end-of-the-year appreciation brunch for the children's choir. We had over 90 children participate in last month's Young Person's Music Retreat. Wednesday this week, expectations were overmatched, as 31 kids (including 3 boys) came for their first choir practice. The choir is slightly more heavily scheduled this year, but the most exciting aspect is our new director, Cheryl. She's taking over for me this year, and is just a master of children's vocal pedagogy. More importantly, her enthusiasm for music has really enlivened the elementary program at the parish school. And that will give this year's choir a leg up on last year. There's nothing quite like the happy buzz of musical children after their rehearsal.
Though my wife disagrees, I'm a far better player than conductor, and I'm really going to enjoy accompanying the kids at Mass. I offered to sweeten the pot for Cheryl and accompany at school Masses she's responsible for. As demanding as good conducting is, it's even worse when I have to play as well. I'm not good enough at any of these things to put one aspect on autopilot and pay attention to the other. Our new piano makes it much harder to continue as we had in previous years playing for kids on risers behind the console. The new pastor seems pleased with the school Masses. I think I'm going to love this year.
