... you go girl, let it shine !

I've got to find that old scarf...
I thought, as I pulled my collar closer,
against the cold...
and walked up the steps of the church
where the concert was being held...

I had lots of time, at least 15 minutes
before the starting time I had been told...
[ I had even checked the e-mail "once more",
for the starting time...just before I left the house...]
and veteran musician, that I am,
I was early...it's in my DNA...

being an audience member
is a unique experience for me...
for more than 40 years, I played and sang
in so many concerts and productions,
that I never had the time or inclination to go,
just to listen....
besides, I've never enjoyed watching
or listening, as a rule...
I want, even need to be doing it...
that's in my DNA too...

I was, however, breaking my normal,
"I don't go to concerts" rule ...
for a couple of good reasons...
not only was this a Renaissance music group,
[ I have a weakness for this period,
along with even earlier music...
yep...also in my DNA...]
I knew one member, a fellow trumpeter,
[ from "when the crust of the earth was cooling..."]
and my dear friend and fellow musician,
Miz Minka, was a part of this small group too...
[and because it is chamber music, I mean small...
4 singers,one to a part, who also play recorder,
plus another recorder player... ]
Miz Minka had asked me to come, and I agreed...

so there I was, walking into the church...
and from behind the closed doors,
I heard singing....
"A little late for the sound check", I thought,
as I picked up a program...
then I heard applause...
I looked at the program...
it had started at 7...not 7:30...I was very late...

as I took a seat in a back corner,
I saw Miz Minka spot me arriving...
as, along with the group,she was now singing again...
she had noted my late entry, [my red jacket is hard to miss...]
and I wasn't sure if the glance I got meant that,
I was "in trouble", for being so late [at least 15 minutes...]
...rather rude of me, after all...
or if she was just relieved that I had made it at all...

of course, the e-mail with the incorrect time came from her,
but she didn't know that then and, I digress...

as they sang more, I was soon quite glad I had come...
not only was the music lovely and being done well...
I found myself becoming very much aware
that I was hearing not only her talent,
as a soloist/singer, further revealed,
but I was also in the presence of a naturally gifted , intuitive, musician...

She considers herself a "chorister, and she is a good one...
she has worked hard to learn her "craft"...
I knew that from working with her for almost 2 years...
what I didn't know, until very recently,
was that she has a soloist quality voice
and the skills to back it up ...

I don't know how she "flew beneath my radar"...
[I generally notice the people around me, who are "pros"]
but she did... so this realization has "blown me away"...
such a wonderful and joyful discovery in one I hold very dear...

though she came "late" to singing,
and is self-taught as a vocalist,
she uses her voice as well,
and as effortlessly,
as many classically trained singers,
who've studied for years...
the quality of her voice is clear, warm and natural...
a lovely sound, well focused and modulated...
but supportive while blending with others...
her upper range has a lighter, clear, flute-like focus,
very lyrical and sopranoesque...
while the low range, [and there were low notes ...]
is rich, full, focused and velvety
without the "chesty" sound
you so often hear from women singing in that range...
because she prepares so thoroughly,
she graciously places the audience at ease,
with her stage personna, presence
and joy in the music she's making....

so, all things considered,
the program was much too short...
and I'll go again, especially,
to hear her sing in that group...
music we both love...done well...
makes me wish I could do it too...
but they're a small group,
and have a very capable alto already...
so I guess I'm in the audience,
unless they need a Baroque trumpeter any time soon...