I love to sing

I sang the musical number for the fireside tonight. Read about my experience here. More specifically here and here (since I posted a few things there today).

I'll teach you something

Today I taught my very first clarinet lesson. It was delightful. I taught Jodilyn's daughter a few things. She learned very quickly and should be ready for a recital by week's end. I don't know how much credit I should give myself, because I think most of the credit goes to her. She's ridiculously smart and was very excited to learn. Teaching someone something is really easy when they're as excited as she was. I'll be showing her a few more things tomorrow.
Speaking of lessons, I will be starting guitar lessons on Friday. I took a beginning guitar class years ago and absolutely loved it. I've been wanting to improve my skills ever since, but I kind of got stuck and then my playing decreased until it stopped. My short term goal for my guitar skills is to learn well enough to use the guitar frequently in my classroom. I graduate in the spring and want to spend part of my summer making up silly songs to teach my class curriculum. I also plan to use songwriting frequently for class assignments. I will teach my students about meter and have them write lyrics for a pre-written melody based on this meter. I will use songwriting for review or to introduce a new topic. The guitar will be much more practical than a piano. Although, I've already invested in a keyboard for similar reasons.
My long term goal will be to learn the guitar well enough to create more complex/creative music so that I can live my dream of being a singer/songwriter. I have a great desire to write music and to perform. I don't want to perform for sell-out crowds, but I'd love to be able to sing a song mid-lesson at church, during a visiting teaching lesson, or to perform for family or friends whenever. I'd play/sing for anyone who would listen. (This is all part of my plan to continue to become less and less shy.)

Freedom

I had other thoughts in mind for my Independence Day post until I watched this broadcast. It was the Patriotic Service from the Freedom Festival in Provo.
I was touched by the stories that Michael Ballam shared as part of his two musical numbers in the middle of the program. I transcribed one of the stories.
"When I was a boy of 6 years of age, the greatest African American singer of all time came to Logan, Utah. Her name was Marian Anderson. The greatest contralto of all time. She didn't need to come to Logan. She sang in Paris and London, Moscow, and sang for Kings, Presidents, and Popes. But she chose to come to the people.
"I loved her recital especially the final number, 'He's got the whole world in His hands.' She sang it in such a way that I believed she knew what she was talking about. I wondered what would a person experience to have that ability to communicate like she did.
"I would find out, twenty years later, when I moved to New York City and had the same agent that Miss Anderson had. His name was Sol Hurok. He told me why she was the way she was. You see it seemed she was to give a historic concert in Constitution Hall, the largest room of assemblage in the Nation's Capital. Mr. Hurok had booked the concert, but just before the concert was to happen, the organization that booked the auditorium determined that it was not fitting for her to perform there because of her heritage.
"She was black. That great race of people stolen from their homes and brought to this nation who survived, more than survived, triumphed those challenges. Sol Hurok was told that that she couldn't perform there.
"He called Marion and she said cancel the recital. He said, But Marian, you are the most famous black person in the world. We need to fight this. You have the power to fight this.
"She said something very important, You can't fight hate with hate. There's only one thing stronger than hate and that's love and my love for this nation will never be injured by a committee's decision about anything.
"He said, Marian, there's 25,000 people with tickets. They need to hear you.
"Well, there was no auditorium with 25,000 seats, but there was the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And so on an Easter Sunday morning, in the crisp early hours, she came out wearing a heavy coat to the piano to sing a recital.
"There were not 25,000 people. There were 125,000 people. And there was a bouquet of microphones because every radio station in America wanted to know what she would say about this event in her life. She said nothing then or ever until the day she died. But she did more for civil rights by her graciousness than anyone in history. She walked to the piano asked for a chord and sang this.

My country 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride. From ev'ry mountainside Let freedom ring!
My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, They name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, They woods and templed hills. My heart with rapture thrills Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light. Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King!"

Now Playing

I attended Les Miserables at Tuacahn tonight. I have never seen the show before. Overall I was pleased. I'll save the complete review for another time. My favorite part of the whole evening was this line:

"You play a virgin in the light but need no urgin' in the night."

Attendance at the Southwest Symphony and Chorale Concert is Mandatory

Now that you've read this, you are required to attend the Southwest Symphony and Chorale Concert on Saturday in Springdale at the O.C. Tanner Outdoor Amphitheater at 8pm. The only people who are exempt from attending are those who live more than 60 miles away from Springdale. I don't expect you to drive more than an hour for this performance, but if you did, you wouldn't regret it.
The concert will be AMAZING! It has an Americana theme. The Chorale is singing "When the Saints Go Marching In" with a Dixieland combo playing along with us. There will be a guest pianist who will perform the Gershwin favorite "Rhapsody in Blue" with the symphony. That alone is worth the trip up to Springdale.
There is no concert like this one. The amphitheater is nestled next to the towering mountains of Zion National Park. The concert starts while there is still a little daylight, but it will end with a star studded sky. There is nothing more beautiful than the light blue that outlines the mountain's edge as the rest of the sky gets black. That scene is one of my favorite things about Southern Utah.
See you all at the concert on Saturday. Bring some cash to purchase the BBQ dinner before the concert or some snacks from concessions.

I love to sing!

I may be among the minority (young that is), but I love to sing with the Southwest Chorale. This last concert was particularly cool, because members of the Southwest Symphony performed with us. With the brass and percussion backup, we performed some powerful numbers. Watch for the concert on Channel 22. You'll find me on the back row. I'm the twenty-something year-old with long hair. I won't be hard to miss.

Be sure to come to my most favorite concert on Saturday, May 17 at 8pm at the O.C. Tanner Outdoor Amphitheater. Listen to the Southwest Symphony and Chorale as the stars emerge above Zion's Walls.
The theme is the Wild West and Americana.