Blue Ridge
Vocal Connection
Building confidence!
Susan and I just returned from our vacation in Europe, 18 days mostly in Slovenia but ending in Italy. We did a 6-day bicycle tour starting in the Julian Alps and ending on the Adriatic Coast. It was amazing!
A couple of music events to mention: We visited a medieval village called Škofja Loka, just outside the capital of Ljubljana, staying in a hotel that hung dramatically over the river, almost like a 4-story cliff, in a room with a large window that opened over the river with a view of a stone arch bridge. We slept to the sounds of moving water. We didn’t carry our BRVC songbook with us, but feeling the need to exercise our voices, we pulled up some YouTube videos of karaoke and found ourselves (well, mostly me), leaning out the window at major volume, singing to the world. It was difficult to gauge how far my voice traveled and nobody was in sight, so maybe it went unnoticed. But if anyone heard it, surely they wondered about the lunacy of the visiting, uninhibited American tourist.
Our bicycle ride ended at the Adriatic shore town of Piran, where Susan found a musical event for us to attend. We had dinner with some friends from our ride and then strolled up the hill towards the castle, entered a courtyard of a monastery, and sat on the front row of folding chairs. There we were serenaded first by a choir and then a string orchestra of mostly rounded-back mandolins, with a cello, bass, and three guitars. A lengthy introduction was given in Slovenian, so of course we understood none of it. But I felt like it underscored the universal aspect of music, a language spoken and enjoyed throughout the world. Without woodwinds and brass, the orchestra was quite unusual but equally pleasant. My impression of the singers was that they weren’t all that different from us in experience or skill level; just twenty or so local people who enjoyed singing together. Just like us.
Twenty-four hours after our arrival home, we were back with our weekly BRVC choir mates at the weekly practice session. We worked on several patriotic songs in anticipation of our upcoming concert later this week in historic Bramwell, West Virginia, on Independence Day. In my development as a singer, I feel like I’ve reached another level; it’s not that I think I’m much better than when I began (well, maybe a little), but am no longer repelled by the sound of my voice. Feeling empowered to project my voice, given the gusto and volume inspired by songs of national passion, I ramped up the volume. It feels to me that when I do, I sound better with more clarity and less “gravel.” Susan told me later in her after-rehearsal chat with Thomas and Russell, they said some nice things about my progress. Maybe I’m starting to get the hang of this.
Singing Anchors aweigh, my boys, Anchors aweigh, seems to react well to big volume, whether on-key or not.
Yesterday, we had a “bonus” rehearsal, singing with townspeople in a stunning, 100+ year old church in Bramwell. I daresay even six months ago I never envisioned that I’d be spending an entire hot Sunday afternoon driving to and from and sitting inside a church in West Virginia singing God Bless America instead of joy-riding my motorcycle or taking a hike in the woods. But there I was, surrounded by exquisite stained glass panels, reminiscent of the churches of Europe that I’d recently been exploring. Under Thomas’ direction, we folks from the college town in Blacksburg melded our voices with townspeople from the West Virginia coal fields. My guess is we didn’t share too much in common with them in lifestyles, politics, or outlooks, but we shared our love of our country and we shared our music. In a divided nation, music may be one of those bonding aspects that exposes and reinforces our humanity towards each other.
On Friday, we’re returning to Bramwell for their Independence Day Celebration to sing the songs we’d been practicing. It’ll feel like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting, I’m sure.
Stay tuned.