All Southwest Tennessee Choir

I have been talking about the "All West" auditions and rehearsals for weeks now. The kids from all the different schools came together for rehearsal Thursday night, Friday all day, and Saturday morning. The guest conductor, Dr. Bowers, was from University of Central Florida. She flew in to conduct the Junior choir. The kids got lots of choral instruction. They were making the music "sing."

Yesterday, was the big concert. It was amazing. The music was wonderful. I was so proud, of course! Our seats weren't the best. They were looking great as Pumpkin came in. Then, a tall girl blocked our view. I had no choice but to focus on the music. It was full of expression, lots of dynamics and lots of pride. It was so refreshing all the kids taking pride in singing.

The first song was O Music by Lowell Mason. The choir did sing the praises of the music. It was well done.
The second song was Laudate Dominum by Sherri Porterfield. It was my favorite. This was probably the hardest piece and the fact that is was in Latin did not help. I have a thing for Latin music and it was beautiful. Their voices were so pure.
The third and forth songs were Till the Walls Come Down by Lon Beery and Dona Nobis Pacem by Giulio Caccini, respectively. The boys sang the third song and the girls sang the forth. Pumpkin had to quickly learn Till the Walls Come Down as his voice is an Alto II and they weren't singing. The conductor wanted all the boys to sing together.
The fifth song was Alleluia Round by William Boyce. It was gorgeous. You wanted to join in and sing Alleluia with them.
The sixth song was Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen arranged by Ruth Elaine Schram.
And, they finished with Brothers, Sisters, Join Hands by Earlene Rentz. It was very poignant. The message was for peace and for all to get along.

The only complaint was the hosting school's A/C was not functioning. Apparently, it is antiquated and when the temps outside cool down, they shut the system off. It was about 70 degrees on Saturday. It was hot on the stage. A couple kids sat down and one senior singer left the stage. My heart went out to the kids. They have worked so hard learning the music and it ended up being very hot! I am sure they will work that kink out for next year.

Pumpkin appreciated having the opportunity to participate and will audition next year. It has brought the music out in him. And, we are grateful. He was singing before he could speak and we pray the desire to sing keeps burning bright!



Before the concert sitting in the cafeteria getting ready to line up.


On the stage and ready to begin.

The group of singers from his middle school.

The group of singers from his middle school with his conductor. We are extremely grateful for all she did.

The Senior Honor Choir performed afterwards. They were conducted by Dr. Philip L. Copeland from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was wonderful. He's added his comments on the performance on his blog. Their music was more challenging - as you would expect. I was just amazed by the maturity of the voices in just a few short years when you compare the two choirs. One piece they sang was In Remembrance by Jeffrey L. Ames and I thought of my niece and husband who continue to grieve the stillborn birth of their baby boy. It was quite moving.