No, that’s not Mozart, but the conductor for our performance of the Mozart
Requiem, Devin Patrick Hughes. And no, that’s not a shot of him in the act of directing us but just a photo from
his website. One thing in the picture, or rather not in the picture, which was also missing at our performance, is a score. He doesn’t use one. He just stands up there and . . . directs. And expects us to follow him, and remember all the niceties he’s asked for, over and over again, during rehearsal. I hope we fulfilled at least some of his wishes.
So, you may remember that I wrote about how
loving the Mozart Requiem isn’t the same as singing it. It astounds me to see that it was only two months ago that I said I was totally lost in trying to get through this piece, and this past weekend I barreled through it along with everyone else. We did a truly great job, I must say, which, now that the live concert is over, you may watch on the
Cherry Creek Chorale website. (You’ll at first see a message when you click on the “play” symbol that the stream is offline, but then you just click on the thumbnail to the right and you’ll get it. The first one is the
Requiem and the second is our opening piece, the thoroughly delightful
A God in Disguise, also well worth your viewing time. This isn’t high-res video, sad to say. Musical types may notice one small glitch during the very first movement of the
Requiem, when the orchestra and the choir weren’t quite together, but Devin calmly kept us going and the problem ironed itself out within a couple of measures; I tried to remember Gretchen Rubin’s mother’s principle that
the things that go wrong often make the best memories.)
It’s surprising how much the stress and excitement of a performance can add to one’s happiness. Concert week is a mountain to be climbed. For me Friday night is the peak, as I not only have the concert itself but also the reception afterwards. So it’s easy for me to be concentrating on whether or not the punch is going to get into the punchbowls on time as I sing, and I kept reminding myself this concert to “experience the experience,” a true happiness mantra. It helped tremendously that I had a setup crew this time and wasn’t madly spreading tablecloths and distributing tealights at 5:00 Friday afternoon then singing the concert on sheer adrenaline. It’s okay to ask for help! Being a one-woman show isn’t good for me or for the people who could be helping if they were just asked.So, except for the annual business meeting dinner tomorrow night, I’m off Chorale duty for the summer. But it won’t be long before rehearsals start in August. I can hardly wait. How wonderful to be able to pursue such a wonderful passion!