The reason I went back to Kansas when I did, besides to visit Mom & Dad, was to participate in an honor choir. Kansas City was the site of the SWACDA (Southwest division of the American Choral Directors Association) convention. As part of these conventions, they have honor choirs usually chosen by audition tape. Children's, High School and Collegiate choirs are the norm, but for the first time, they had a Community/Church Honor Choir. Rather than auditions, they had an evaluation form which directors could submit for members of their choirs. My awesome director, Gregg, offered to "endorse" anyone interested, so I decided to apply and was selected. This was to be an 150-member choir under the direction of Dr. Mack Wilberg, who is the associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
For our part of the convention, we showed up Thursday afternoon to register and then had our first rehearsal in one of the hotel ballrooms. Music had been sent out a couple months previously, and we were to have it well learned, so rehearsal times could be focused on becoming a choir. The first rehearsal went quite well, and Dr. Wilberg was grateful that we knew the notes well. After the rehearsal, those of us that had purchased tickets went to a great concert by the King's Singers. They did a wonderful show and signed autographs afterward. There were additional concerts by a high-school show choir and the Kansas City Sweet Adelines after that, but since I had to get back to Leavenworth and it was already, 10:30pm, I headed home.
Friday morning, we had to be back for rehearsal at 9am. The weather was nasty with snow and freezing moisture of various types. Most of the KC area schools were closed. I left Mom & Dad's at 6:30 to make sure I got there on time. I got there at 7:30, so no problem there! Friday's rehearsals were in Founder's Hall at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral (the site of the evening concert). Here's a picture of the rehearsal set-up:
Morning rehearsal was from 9-noon. This rehearsal was probably the most intense of the 3, with lots of work on dynamics, diction, rhythm and VOWELS ;-)! Dr. Wilberg was still careful to not tire us too much or use up all our voice before the concert. We had a break from noon until 2 for lunch.
At 2pm we reconvened for the afternoon rehearsal, scheduled from 2pm-5pm. We again started out in Founder's Hall. This rehearsal, Dr. Wilberg was even more careful about not wearing out our voices, so he talked us through most of the pieces before we sang them, to make sure we remembered notations he'd had us make. At 4pm, we moved into the sanctuary to practice in our concert set-up and with the brass and organ. We were pretty crowded on risers, steps, floor, even the pulpit area, but finally found a workable set-up. Here's a picture of the front of the sanctuary, taken while Dr. Wilberg was working with the brass (Dr. Wilberg is the one in the white shirt on the left):
The traditional cathedral, with its stone wall, was acoustically perfect for choral music. Hearing ourselves sing in this venue for the first time, along with a beautiful pipe organ, talented accompanists and instrumentalists, was really cool! After this rehearsal, we had another 2-hour break before coming back for the concert.
At 7pm, we met back at the cathedral, in another room, for warm-up, during which we ran through parts of most of the pieces. The concert started at 8pm. Words really cannot describe how it felt to be a part of something like this. We performed 10 pieces, and it was just a totally wonderful experience (see, I told you words can't do it justice). Afterward, as we walked back to the warm-up room, Dr. Wilberg was waiting to shake everybody's hand and thank us each personally. Mom and Dad were able to come down to KC for the concert, and were in awe (I think!). They did professional recordings, both audio and video, which I have ordered and can't wait to get.
After our concert, I walked over to the Music Hall for the collegiate honor choir. It was nice to bask in choral music for a little longer, before heading home. My brain continued to bask, as all of the pieces continued to run through my head and my dreams! I would love to do something like this again, but if I don't, I'll certainly never forget this one!
