Strike up the...er, orchestra
Rehearsal are in full swing for Christmas. Last night we worked our way the musical sight-reading the songs. Sight-reading time is where you let it all hang out, bad notes, missed measures and all, including the director. When I was in grade school, I used to dread sight-reading times when my strict German piano teacher would pull out a stack of music I had never seen. The problem was that I was very much an ear player and I tended to rely on that. She would never play anything for me so I wouldn't know how it went. Since that time, I have had an aversion to being “on the spot” like that. So when we get together I try to make it an atmosphere where we have fun and it's OK to put our mess-ups right out there for everyone to enjoy. It's no big deal! No one is going to die.
This year we are doing the Brentwood/Benson musical “Everything Glorious” by Sue Smith, David Moffitt, and Travis Cottrell. Two of my favorite songs in it are “This Is Our God” (Sue gave me a sneak preview of this moving, worshipful song at a writing session a while back) and “Orphans of God” written by Joel Lindsay and Twila Labar. The choir is going to sing at block party this Fall in a depressed neighborhood we are helping to renovate and reach for Christ. That song just fits. “There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God” Amazing idea!
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