What I wanted to write about...
Last night was my last rehearsal with Jody Lindh. This coming Sunday will be his last as the music director at University Park UMC. We've spent the last couple of weeks celebrating his 45 year tenure at the church, climaxing with a pretty great performance of Haydn's Creation 2 weeks ago and culminating this coming Sunday with 2 of his own works during church with brass accompaniment. I've sung for his choirs for the last 13 years, and the experience has been wonderful.
Looking back, when I started with him, I didn't know how to sing. That's just a fact. I could hit the notes, but nobody really cared. I had a lot of music training, but no vocal training and no real choral music knowledge. I sounded like a nasal version of Billy Corgan. In 2003, musicalash got me to start taking voice lessons with maestrokevin and that slowly started to change.
However, without Jody, there would have been no reason for me to learn how to sing anything other than pop music, and I would not have been driven to study art songs. I wouldn't know how to write for choirs. I have a music degree with a focus on composition, but I had to go ask him things like "What are the real useable ranges for different vocal parts?" and "What are the practical limits on what you can ask a choir to do versus a soloist?" He would answer my questions graciously and I would go forth and write.
I also learned how a real choir rehearsed. Before UPUMC, I hadn't been in a legitimate choir ever. The closest I had been in was another church choir in junior high. UPUMC has members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, professional opera singers, and a ton of people who have paid their bills as musicians, supplemented by a lot of people (like me) who have been paid for their music, just not as a necessity. It's a legitimate, very nearly professional choir. It's a testament to the quite amazing leadership.
I am sure that Dr. David Childs will do a great job. He seems to have the personality and the knowledge/talent/whatever "it" is to take this choir and continue to do great things. I am also certain that Dr. Damin Spritzer will continue with remarkable performances week after week. Today though, I am very grateful for the last 13 years and a bit sad that it's over.
Looking back, when I started with him, I didn't know how to sing. That's just a fact. I could hit the notes, but nobody really cared. I had a lot of music training, but no vocal training and no real choral music knowledge. I sounded like a nasal version of Billy Corgan. In 2003, musicalash got me to start taking voice lessons with maestrokevin and that slowly started to change.
However, without Jody, there would have been no reason for me to learn how to sing anything other than pop music, and I would not have been driven to study art songs. I wouldn't know how to write for choirs. I have a music degree with a focus on composition, but I had to go ask him things like "What are the real useable ranges for different vocal parts?" and "What are the practical limits on what you can ask a choir to do versus a soloist?" He would answer my questions graciously and I would go forth and write.
I also learned how a real choir rehearsed. Before UPUMC, I hadn't been in a legitimate choir ever. The closest I had been in was another church choir in junior high. UPUMC has members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, professional opera singers, and a ton of people who have paid their bills as musicians, supplemented by a lot of people (like me) who have been paid for their music, just not as a necessity. It's a legitimate, very nearly professional choir. It's a testament to the quite amazing leadership.
I am sure that Dr. David Childs will do a great job. He seems to have the personality and the knowledge/talent/whatever "it" is to take this choir and continue to do great things. I am also certain that Dr. Damin Spritzer will continue with remarkable performances week after week. Today though, I am very grateful for the last 13 years and a bit sad that it's over.