Highlights from the SSCC Community Choir Holiday Concert

I love to sing, and for some time I've been searching for a choir that feels like a good fit for me. I believe I've finally found it. I started singing with the South Seattle Community College's Community Choir in the fall of 2012. We performed our "Mostly Messiah" holiday concert in early December. We sang 5 pieces from Handel's  "Messiah," along with a French carol, a Hanukah song, an a cappella gospel song and a lush, contemplative ballad.

I am neither a trained nor an accomplished singer. (Lucky for me, the Community Choir is a non-audition choir.) The Messiah pieces were the most difficult I've ever sung. It took a lot of practice and I had to google "breathing exercises for singers" to learn how to support those high notes and runs. But it was so worth it! The experience of singing that magnificent music was an absolute joy.

Below are links to a few highlights from the concert. I hope you enjoy listening to them. The man doing the sound for us was sitting with young children, so you will hear them "accompanying" us. Their little voices make for a more of a "live" experience and well, like I said, we are an inclusive, non-audition choir.

Many, many thanks to Paula Herd, our ever-patient Choir Director, and Edie Martin, our brilliant Pianist, for making this experience possible. 

Hallelujah Chorus- Messiah SSCC .MP3

Il est ne le Divin Enfant.MP3

Rise up-Fall 2012.MP3

Related posts:

Harmonizing with The Beaconettes

What Do The Lyrics To The "Alouette" Song Mean In English?

How To Hit A HIGH Note

Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Contest

Last night was the 24th Annual "Figgy Friday" caroling competition held on streets and street corners in downtown Seattle. This event is a fun and festive holiday tradition. It is also a significant fund raiser for the Pike Market Senior Center and the Downtown Food Bank.

I was there, on the corner of 5th and Pine, singing with a group that is now the Olio Glee Club. Because I was performing, I couldn't walk around and take photos, so I asked my friend, Gordon Hjelm, if he would take my camera and get a few shots. He did a wonderful job and all the images you see in this post (except the Macy's star at left) are his. Thank you, Gordon!

We had a total of 35 caroling teams competing along four blocks of Pine St. from 3rd to 7th Avenues. The area was closed to motor traffic during the competition so people could stroll along the street and see the various teams perform. The weather was good - no rain or snow - and everyone, performers and audience alike, seemed to be having a good time.

A panel of 14 judges selected the winners in the Best Choral Team and Most Creative Team categories. Members of the audience got to weigh in, too, and vote for their favorites for the People's Choice award. There were also "Figlanthropy" awards for the teams that raised the most money.

Money was raised in various ways. Some singers made personal donations. Some of us found sponsors. At least a half dozen companies sponsored the event. And there were "busker" boxes next to each team during the event where people could drop donations. 

I went the sponsorship route and want to say a big THANK YOU to my friends who made donations. Altogether, those checks added up to $170. Outstanding! And much appreciated.

The big winners in the Figlanthropy category, were the Starbucks Coffee Carolers (shown above). Between donations collected by barristas in coffee stores around the area and Starbucks matching dollars, they raised over $31,000! Second place winners were the Phinney Neighborhood Community Chorus. In third place, the Hoppy Holiday, Merry Malty Beer Carolers.

Here's the Malty Beer Carolers, from Pike Place Brewing Company, entertaining the crowd. They also came in second in the People's Choice category. The People's Choice winners were The Beaconettes, whom I wrote about earlier in my Glee! post. In that post, you'll also find a YouTube clip from one of The Beaconettes' past performances.

Here's my team.

And here is where I get to find out that having your picture taken when you are singing is almost as bad as having it taken when you are eating. (That's me, second from right.)

So what did the judges think of all this? The winner for Best Choral Team was Mount Vernon High School. Second place went to Bellevue Christian School. The winners of the award for Most Creative Team went to the Carol Brunettes (shown above). Second place went to the Phinney Neighborhood Community Chorus.

I leave you with this view from Westlake Plaza, at 4th and Pine, across from the Figgy stage. It is a magical scene with the Macy's star shining and children (of all ages) riding the Christmas Carousel.

We had a lot of fun last night and, in the process, helped a lot of people in need - a winning combination all around. Want to join the fun? Plan on coming out next year for the 25th Annual Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition.

When I'm 64

"Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four."
- The Beatles

When I first heard that song back in 1967, I had no idea how I would feel when I reached my 60s. In fact, I wasn't sure I would live that long. Don't ask me why. Mostly, I just couldn't imagine being that old.

Well, now I am in my 60s and I can tell you that is isn't all that bad. I have a driver's license and credit cards and I come and go as I please. I treasure my independence and if there's anything I can't imagine now, it is being anything other than that - happy, healthy and independent.

Perhaps my optimism about aging is fueled by the success of my hip resurfacing surgery 18 months ago. Prior to that, I was so crippled that I could not walk without a cane. The cane was my constant companion for over three years. It is just as well that I didn't realize how debilitated I really was before the surgery, because regaining my strength, balance and aerobic capacity has taken a long time. It is still, in fact, a work in progress.

But the key word here is "progress." I continue to get better. I laugh and tell people that I am aging in reverse, because that is how I feel. I am so much more mobile now than I was one, two, three, even six years ago. I have some occasional discomfort, but I no longer live in constant pain.

Another reason I have confidence about the future is because I was able to navigate those years of pain and uncertainty independently. Of course, I have a good network of friends and health care providers. But I lived alone throughout those years of severe disability. If I had to do it again, I know I could. I have no fear about the future.

This is a blessing, really. Some of my cohorts talk about being worried about what will happen to them when they get old. Some are convinced that they will develop any and all diseases that "run" in their families. Many are concerned about who will take care of them. This seems especially true of people who never had children. Even if they are married, they worry that without kids to look after them, they will have to suffer alone.

Which is a funny idea to me. What is this talk of having children to take care of us in our old age about? I realize that's what people not only expected, but needed, generations ago. Before nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and retirement communities, there weren't many options for older people.

But we live in a completely different era. We have many choices available to us. We don't have to live our parents' or grandparents' lives. We get to live our own, complete with innovative housing arrangements and health care options. We don't have to burden our children (I have three sons but neither asked for nor expected them to take care of me - the closest lives 2,000 miles away). Like every other phase of life we Baby Boomers have lived, we will transform what it is to be "old." And I, for one, am excited about the possibilities - at 64 and beyond.

Daffodils, Lingerie and Snow Geese

According to the calendar, it is still winter, but here in the Seattle area, yesterday sure felt like spring. It was sunny, temperatures close to 60 degrees, trees in bloom everywhere. It was the perfect day for a little road trip and, lucky for me, I had a destination - the Style Show at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Washington. My friend, Kelly Lyles, was an exhibitor, and she and another friend involved with the event had invited me to attend. 

So I tossed my trusty little Canon PowerShot into my purse, loaded Songs in the Key of Life into my CD player and headed north on I-5. La Conner is located in Skagit County, about 75 miles from Seattle. When you exit the freeway up there, you drive at least 10 more miles to the west, along picturesque roads that wind through farm fields to reach the town. As I rounded a bend on one of these roads, I saw a field covered in white to my right. 

If we hadn't had so much warm weather lately, I would have assumed it was a late winter snow. But whatever snow we had in the lowlands this year has long since melted. As I got closer, I realized what it was - the field was covered in birds, hundreds and hundreds of them.

I had forgotten that this area is part of the migration path for many birds, in this case, snow geese. These birds overwinter in the Skagit Valley, foraging and building their strength before the journey to their nesting grounds in the tundra of northernmost Canada. For more details on these amazing birds go here. I pulled over to take photos, fascinated by all the activity: birds milling about feeding on insects, seeds, whatever, while others flew overhead. What a sight! A road trip bonus, for sure. 


Then it was on to the MoNA Style Show. The museum, upstairs and down, was filled with artist's booths, each featuring some kind of wearable art or items for the home - jewelry, jackets, sweaters, dresses, hats, pillows, ceramics, and Kelly's matchbox car necklaces and humorous paintings. Beautiful items everywhere. Great color and design. A visual treat. 


One section consisted of art pieces created with the theme: Lingerie. (Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the show, so you will have to rely on my memory of some of these, plus your own imagination.) There were some great interpretations on this theme, including a sort of long-line corset made of basketry. There were a couple of diaphanous gowns, one trimmed in vintage lace and tatting, that looked as though they had come from a dream. There was a classic, black bra with gold embroidery, that I thought kind of went with my shoes. And a painting called "Sky Slip," which was the image used for the show publicity posters. All of these items, and more, were offered in a silent auction, so there were lists of bidders and bids posted by each one. Next to a bra and panty set, studded with scary looking spikes, someone had written in the names of "bidders:" Madonna and Lady Gaga. That got a laugh. 


After a late lunch, it was time to head back toward Seattle. I took my time, though. It was too pretty a day to be in any hurry. This area is home to the annual Skagit Tulip Festival, which usually takes place throughout the month of April. There are several spring bulb producers here, including Washington Blub Company, the largest in the US. With spring arriving early this year, I wondered if I might find a field or two already in bloom. And I was not disappointed.

Just a few miles from La Conner, heading toward Mt. Vernon, I spied this sea of yellow daffodils. (That's the snowy peak of Mt. Baker barely showing above the coastal mountains in this photo.)

Daffodils always make me happy. Partly because of their sunny disposition. But mostly because they remind me of my son, Mike. His birthday is in a few days and no matter where I live, it seems that daffodils are always blooming on that day. (He is in the Navy and underway at the moment, so I emailed him some daffodils via digital photography this morning.)


On the way home, I missed the worst of the southbound traffic on I-5 by skipping over to Highway 99 at the north end of Seattle. This route comes south alongside downtown with great views of the city on the left, of Elliott Bay and Olympic Mountains on the right and, on a clear day as yesterday was, straight ahead you see majestic Mt. Rainier rising above it all. What a view! It was the perfect ending to a perfect little road trip.