whew. I just got back from a 10-day tour with my college choir, and it went well! Most details fell into place as planned, people were friendly, and we had safe travel. Our concerts were also good, despite some less-than-perfect spaces for choral music. Sadly, though, many students got sick on our tour. There was one night when 15 of our 63 singers were sitting out - that hurts!
Our final concert was Sunday, and it went well! We sang in our college's chapel, which brought back many lovely memories for me. My parents and my husband were able to be there, and it was wonderful to look out on the audience and see faces I know and love.
This tour, I served as the Choir Manager, which means that I was the primary contact person for each of our destinations. I planned our itinerary, booked hotels, served as mediator for some other housing arrangements, managed details of our concert dress, and made sure we had adequate first aid supplies, thank you notes, and friendly "how to stay healthy" reminders. The more difficult things for me were making corrections to choir members' behavior. This is a real challenge as a peer leader, even though I am at least three years older than most of the students. I found that my height (or lack thereof) and my smallish, high-pitched voice presented a logistical challenge when I needed to speak to the whole group and direct them to do certain things. I ended up appointing some "surrogate" leaders who would follow my directions and announce things to the choir as needed. Happily, most choir members were eager to follow and do what I asked.
I enjoyed being in Florida - what a treat to see sunshine, birds, flowers, and green leaves! It was lovely to walk to the beach from some of our performance venues, wearing flip flops and summery dress clothes. I enjoyed being with my friend, Nicki, and getting to know some other choir members. It was good for me to see the inner workings of tour, and to better understand the job of the director. It's a very big thing.
All this to say, I am thankful for safety, good music, a wonderful director, and good friends. Most of all, though, I'm so grateful to be home with my husband, whom I have missed dearly these past ten days. I'm really frustrated that I'll have to leave early tomorrow morning to go to a four-day conference in Chicago. I just wish I could stay home with him!
However, this conference is a great professional opportunity for me. It's expensive, inconvenient, and means another four days without my hubby, but I'm trusting that it will be worth it. At least, I'm trying to trust!
More and more I've been thinking about what God might want for me, and I really feel peaceful about the thought that I might not have a career in music education that lasts longer than a few years. I think it seems like having this graduate degree will be good for me, but that I'm being called to motherhood. I wonder...
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