Music!

Tonight at one of my choirs our director (Glenn Bennett) handed us new music for our Christmas program. I believe the total music was something like 10 or 12 different pieces. I had seen roughly half of them before in previous years. So, Glenn decides to run us through most of them in one 2 hour practice.

Yep - it was sight-reading time!

Normally this can be a particularly painful experience, and tonight was not really any different. However, and here is the part I'm thankful for, it wasn't impossible. That might sound strange, but it really was very satisfying to be able to go and read a bunch of new music with a group of like-minded (at least musically) individuals and pull together some pretty darned impressive music considering the circumstances.

How wonderful it is to have a talent and not just have the "talent" but also to have been afforded the time and expertise of others to teach you how to use that talent, and further to be provided with the opportunities to be able to work at refining those talents. A friend of mine recently mentioned how much she misses having the opportunity to sing in her small(ish) town, of not having a good choir around to sing with. It made me realize how I am truly blessed to be able to have those opportunities.

Yes, I love music. Yes, I love singing. You'll hear about it a lot on this blog.

I hope that I never forget to be grateful for the gift of music in my life and for the gift of talented musicians around me that make it so rewarding to put that gift to use so frequently.