A teacher of mine used to say that conducting operas / musicals was like learning how to drive a stick shift car. Your body and your brain are working on multiple planes simultaneously, and once you’ve done that, driving an automatic vehicle (ONLY playing an instrument or ONLY conducting an orchestra) seems easy! In many ways, being IN a musical is the same: our amazing young performers have been working tirelessly on our upcoming spring musical which will be presented on Sunday, June 8 at the 10:30a service. They are managing movement, memorizing lines, singing, and dancing – all while calmly projecting confidence and ultimately sharing a story with which we can all relate.
The story of Goliath isn’t simply about rooting for the underdog. It’s about overcoming fear. It’s about knowing one’s self. It’s about replacing armor with a strong sense of humility and focus. It’s about standing up for what you believe and supporting those around you. It’s about listening first and then making a sound. All of these ’skills’ are a vital part of growing up (and we’re all still growing up) while contributing to a common goal.
A few years back, I wrote this narrative to accompany a video produced by a group of young musicians at a summer music camp:
The acoustic signals produced by honeybees
Converge at around 300Hz,
The musical equivalent to “concert D”.
Music is all around us,
And finding instruments…
…can also mean finding ourselves
In unexpected places.
Finding ourselves
Can help us find others.
In finding others,
We learn to collaborate.
In collaboration,
We find surprises:
Discoveries about ourselves…
…and about the world around us.
In a hive, every job is critical.
Each part is essential.
As artists, we first observe
And then we make a sound (or two):
A unique contribution,
A sound that is our…self.
And in sharing our selves,
We find our instruments
And we invite others to join us
In finding theirs.
We are all artists.
This cast of nine outstanding artists have their slingshots in hand, and they’re ready to share with you a story about standing up to things in life that might be ‘big, hairy, ugly, and scary’. We hope you can join us at the 10:30 service on June 8th!
—John Goodell