Monday, December 19, 2011

Singing of Angels

December 19, 2011

This past Sunday, my husband Geoff and I were excited and inspired to be a part of a beautiful concert, conducted by our musical director, Liz Goldstein. I was, and continue to be, awed by the musical wizardry of Liz, who—with excruciating detail, precision, and grace—seamlessly and perhaps singlehandedly arranged our 40-member choir, the symphony orchestra, the ballet, youth singers, and live nativity into a phenomenal production. Liz is one of those people who is an angel of inspiration.

I have never been in a choir, and have not performed on a stage since I played Für Elise in my one and only piano recital when I was 11 years old. As I look back on the months and weeks of rehearsals for our Christmas concert, I can still feel what each and every inspiration felt like from every practice! As the only choir member who has never sung with a choir before, I was motivated to glean all I could in each rehearsal session.

What was most inspirational about all that I learned and experienced from Liz’s great tutelage was not so much the precise technical elements that are understandably critical, but the multi-sensory essence of the dynamics that she wanted us to embrace. She speaks in technicolor, multidimensional feeling, visualization, bodily sensations: “where we feel the breath, where we ‘see’ and feel the sound; and where we kinesthetically feel the lyrical flow of the music."

All of the microscopic details and organization that go into a lovely concert are usually well under the radar; the audience doesn’t know, for instance, that the ballet company did not ever have a practice with us, but the entire program came together seamlessly. It takes a leader with visionary faith (and of course, incredible organization) to pull all of the disparate groupings together into one magnificent harmonious experience. Our musical director, Liz, does just that. And beautifully.

It got me thinking about how each of us has that same ability to do that which we are good at, and in doing so, inspire many people along the way. We all have many gifts. Which gifts can you identify that you can showcase and, in turn, be like an angel of inspiration for others?


Mindfully Yours,

Poppy

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