Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come to the end of our tour, and what a tour it was. The Rhodes Singers and Chamber Singers offered some a cappella anthems for Broadway Baptist's 10:50 AM service, and you could tell that the congregation thoroughly enjoyed our music. The pastor gave an excellent sermon based on John's account of Jesus turning over the tables of the Temple and thereby chastising the swindling merchants for turning His Father's House into a common marketplace. The crux of his sermon was this: we should not read this passage with the intent of joining Jesus to clean house. Rather, we should allow Jesus to turn over the injustices and evils of our heart, and perhaps it is our own spirits that need cleansing more than anything else around us. Fresh take on a familiar passage.
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| Entrance for the gardens. |
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| Aerated pool |
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| Feet in Water |
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| Active Pool |
Mom and I went to lunch at Taco Cabana (mmmmm), and then I spent the afternoon wandering around the Ft. Worth Water Gardens. Dear reader, if you ever find yourself in this fantastic city, be sure to stop by the Water Gardens. Designed in the 1970s, this park features three large pools each with a different nature. The Quiet Pool was a still body of water with gently cascading water falls along the boundary of the pool. The Active Pool was quite the opposite, with loud waterfalls and swirling rapids. In this pool, you could descend down the side of the falls into the gathering area of the water; the roar of the water was quite deafening by the time I reached the bottom of the trail. Finally there was the Aerated Pool with plenty of jets to create the illusion of a tiled water path. This was a great place to center; water, whether still or active, is a powerful image for me. It reminds me that most of my body is made of water, that water is a symbol of cleaning and sanctification in the Bible, and that water is a vital element of life.
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| Final rehearsal before showtime |
After a relaxing afternoon, it was showtime. We went back to the church at 5:00 for dinner, rehearsal at 5:30 PM, and concert at 7:00. We had a pretty full house, and my entire family was there: sister, two nieces, mom (yes, this constitutes roughly 85% of my family), so I was glad that they came. I think that this was my younger niece's first choral concert, so I'm glad that I could provide that for her. The choirs were excellent. The Fauré
Requiem was exquisite. Chamber Singers were impeccable in that beautiful sanctuary, and their
Locus Iste was magnificent. Rhodes Singers were in top form; I haven't heard them that musical in a very, very long time. I'm very proud of my choir, and I can't wait to share them with a Memphis crowd on April 15!
So tomorrow we perform at Oak Ridge High School, and then we make our long trek back to Memphis. Tomorrow's blog post will be less of a summary of the day's events and more of a meditation on why tour is important for choral ensembles. For now, we sleep heartily (and I'm sure the students party hard). We'll see you back in Memphis!
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| Rhodes Chamber Singers 2012 |
Until next time,
-JC
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