Watertown, NY, USA . "Public Square" (vintage, date unknown) but the monument is honoring veterans of the American Civil War so the date of the image is late 1800s

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Workday sucked, no other comment…

Off day was gentle and relaxing…I have decided that Tuesday will be an eat out day…nice meal and excellent service…worship team was fun…just five tonight…the 3 kids…the leader and me…and I’m old enough to be the leader’s father, and everyone else’s grandfather…although the contemporary style of music of the worship team forces me out of the “box” and sometimes this classically trained vocalist/musician finds himself in a galaxy far…far…away…I love two things about any music…one that allows me freedom to explore any and all the harmonies I hear in my head, and two I love the intimacy and freedom that small ensembles allow…although I have the voice to sing solos, and the power to sing in large groups, mind you I enjoy both…it’s the small groups…one on a part…and the right and license to be free to do a little improvisation that really is fun and makes for tons of enjoyment…one of the neat things we have been doing over the last few months is doing the great hymns of the faith with an upbeat twist…and I have been able to added some old school, traditional, even liturgical twists that work…but one regret…the K-Lady is no longer singing/playing keyboards with us…her 2nd child is due almost as we speak and her hubby is do for re-assignment…she is the next in a long line of military wives that we have lost from the group and have been a joy to sing/play with…the leader said to me tonight that when he came here, he is on staff at my local church…he figured that I might be the first member of the existing praise band that he took over to leave…and except for him and Todd I’m the last of the original group left…his focus was in a direction that I really never had gone…but I love a challenge…

Many peeps seem to have a comfort zone that it is difficult…read impossible for them to leave…but musically I seek challenges…I seek things that force me to do things that challenge my skills to the max…my absolute fav pieces of all time are those that are at the very edge or even beyond the edge of my current skill level…or styles that I have never done before…the most challenging…difficult…scary piece of classical…liturgical music I’ve every sung is the “Lord Nelson Mass” by F.J.H…and it’s my absolute fav piece of choral music…there is not one of the choral pieces in the entire work where the tenors can have a rest…and no easy entry or a piece of cake part…but the challenge is why I sing the classical master works…

But worship team, being part of the Sunday services at my local church is a different thing altogether…I am classically trained…in classical music performance is everything…but in the context of the worship team…being part of the weekly church service, although it is important to do the deal well…to get it right…the performance is secondary to “creating” an atmosphere in which the congregation can worship…can feel free to worship…to connect with the Spirit and with God…the music is not the end as it is with classical performance and rather just a means to the end…took me awhile to really understand that…

Year end inventory is upon me and I found out to day that I have at least one outbound load and maybe as many as three that I am responsible for when on Friday when I really should be supervising the year end count…and doing the things I need to do to get everything done…looks like I’m looking at a 12+ hour workday Friday and a bunch of time on Saturday as well…

(The mad one’s cats try to pull him away from the keyboard as A) he is in the process of writing another novella…and B) he is ignoring his cats in the process)

I realize that this post has stretched itself over two days…and although I started constructing it yesterday I will actually finish it and post it today or is that tomorrow…

Nite all

No comments:

Post a Comment