Harvard Westlake’s combined Upper School Choirs join with our Symphony Orchestra in two performances of “Magnificat,” a forty-minute masterwork by British composer John Rutter. The “Magnificat” canticle is a joyful expression of praise and thanksgiving for the gift of new life waiting to be born within. The program opens with songs of joy and festivity offered by each of our three classical choirs. Free admission. No tickets required, and the performance is open to the public.
Tag: Harvard Westlake
Finding home
On Saturday, April 28 at 7:30pm, I will direct a spring choral concert with the Harvard-Westlake Choirs entitled “I Will Arise.” Joined by composer, singer-songwriter, and folk music expert Shawn Kirchner, we explore the musical intersections between Scotch-Irish, Appalachian, and Black American cultures as we consider what it means to find home within ourselves when circumstances drive us far away from the physical homes we know and love. We learn what enables us to rise and redefine what the word “home” can mean and where home can exist. And we discover what binds us together in our search for that home, that longed-for place of simple beauty and peace and timelessness that frees us from despair, loss, and pain. We consider the colorful poetry of 19th century Irish poet William Butler Yeats as he describes his desire to go to such a place:
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
– “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats
Oh, Canada!
The Harvard-Westlake Canadian Choir Tour of 2018 was a great success! Not only did we survive the cold, but we sang well and we had fun. It was wonderful to work with Dr. Jean-Sébastien Vallée at McGill University in Montreal. And Quebec City is definitely on my list of special places to which I hope to return someday.The townsfolk who attended our concert at the the church of Cap-Santé, were as loving and as generous as they could possibly be. We felt deeply appreciated, especially after our encore performance of Kurt Carr‘s “In the Sanctuary,” when one boisterous Canadian with a handlebar moustache shouted,
“You all make America great again!”
Choir wisdom
This recent photo of me, now featured on my personal Facebook profile, says a lot: I’m about to embark on an overnight choir retreat in the San Bernardino mountains with 35 high school students. I’m already tired. It’s 2pm – the very worst time to leave due to rush-hour traffic. What should’ve been a 2-hour drive lasts for 4 hours. I’m uncomfortable, as this bus was obviously designed for elementary-aged kids, not grown folks. The bus is noisy. The two young men who end up sitting next to me manage to talk excitedly for the whole four-hour ride about gaming, coding, and computer science stuff. Aren’t their mouths dry? But it’s good that they are bonding, I guess.
I love my job. I love these kids. I know this retreat is worth it. But in this moment, I am just trying to get by.
In the end, the retreat was a great success. My students were delightful, warm-hearted, and perfectly nerdy! They inspired me by sharing a few fun “choir truisms” with me during our trip. In honor of my students, here are a few personal favorites I’ve collected over the years from various books, journals, choir bulletin boards, conference handouts, and websites like Brainyquote.com, Pinterest, and Enkiquotes.com.
I truly thought I was going to be in pop music. And then I joined a choir to meet girls, and everything changed in the first rehearsal.
– Eric Whitacre
Group singing is cheaper than therapy, healthier than drinking, and certainly more fun than working out. It is the one thing in life where feeling better is pretty much guaranteed.
– “Singing Changes Your Brain“, Time.com, Aug 16, 2013
Then the singing enveloped me. It was furry and resonant, coming from everyone’s heart. There was no sense of performance or judgement, only that the music was breath and food.
– Anne Lamott
Music will save the world.
– Pablo Casals
The most important thing in the world is choral music.
– Dale Warland
I don’t sing because I’m happy, I’m happy because I sing.
– William James
Music is exciting. It is thrilling to be with a group of people creating the same piece of music. You are part of a great, powerful, vibrant entity. Music is important. It says things your heart can’t say any other way, and in a language everyone speaks.
– Dan Rather
God sent his Singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth
That they might touch the hearts of men
And bring them back to heaven again.
With songs of sadness and of mirth
That they might touch the hearts of men
And bring them back to heaven again.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hooray for the start of the new school year!
There have been so many meetings and trainings and lunches and dinners to prepare me for full-time teaching at Harvard-Westlake Upper School. Yes, I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and anxious. I’m also incredibly motivated, confident, and immensely grateful to be in place where, according to the mission statement, we strive “to be a diverse and inclusive community united by the joyful pursuit of educational excellence, living and learning with integrity, and purpose beyond ourselves.” At 5:30am when I drag myself out of bed to do my 15 minute yoga routine each morning before I go to work, I remind myself that I’m doing this because I’m called to embody excellence. Since I started this practice, I have felt much more physically, mentally, and emotionally fit. I hope I can stick with it long enough for my yoga practice to become an unshakeable habit.
One of my friends at Harvard-Westlake is a new Spanish instructor from Belize. I told her of my struggle to become a fluent Spanish speaker. She optimistically told me to download an app called “Duolingo.” I’ve been having so much fun practicing not only Spanish, but also French! Apparently, I’m 27% fluent in Spanish and 17% fluent in French. I actually think I’m further along than that, but I can only complete so many exercises in a day. In any case, I’m definitely on my way. This is doable, folks!
