I am so proud of my little girl who grew up to be such an amazing teacher!
This Title I middle school had lost its Band, Chorus and Orchestra teacher in the middle of last year. The program had been suffering. In fact the students felt like they had been abandoned and were convinced that they were not good kids and that no one liked them. My daughter applied for the job last Spring. During her sample lesson as part of the interview process, some of the kids told her that "nobody likes us because we are bad kids." Once she was offered the position, Cami told me that her main goals were to help those kids feel good about themselves and to convince them that they were just as "average" as anybody else, that everyone has both bad and good days, and that they can succeed by putting in an honest effort. This fall, she began rebuilding the program from the ground up. Nearly all of these students were beginners. Many did not have any exposure to participating in a band, orchestra or chorus program previously. Many have very little support from parents or family at home. Yesterday was their first concert of the year. She had 70+ combined chorus students from three classes singing four 2-part songs. The 30+ orchestra students played 2 songs, and the 100+ combined band students from two classes played "Jingle Bells" for the finale. The main goals were to keep the rhythm together, attempt to play and sing the right notes, and display proper concert etiquette. My daughter was not even sure anyone would come to the concert -- performers or audience (parents, grandparents or friends.) The student body population of the school is made up of mainly low-income families (whose parents have to work odd schedules), and students of all ethnic backgrounds including refugees who speak other languages and are just beginning to learn English. Language and cultural differences can be big communication barriers. I admire my daughter for having the stamina to work within these constraints as well as try to convince these 12-14 year-olds that they can learn fingering, embrouchure, breathing, rhythm, musical notation, tone quality, and concert etiquette fast enough to put on a concert. That is a tall order for any teacher, but multiply it by 200+ to give each student individual attention, and you have a job of epic proportions! And she is expecting her first baby to be born in just a couple of weeks! Fortunately, the student performers showed up and also a good crowd of parents and other supporters. I even heard a lot of parents comment about how impressed they were by how many students were participating in the performance and how well they did. I even heard some of the kids mention how surprised they were by how "cool" and "fun" giving a performance was.
I am so proud of my little girl who grew up to be such an amazing teacher!
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The Utah Valley Church Service Mission Choir gave a satisfying performance on Sunday at the Christmas Devotional for the missionaries and their families. We have been working for many weeks on learning the five songs we were to sing. This has been no small task. These missionaries work and serve in many locations and have staggered shifts. These young people live anywhere in Utah County from Payson on the south to Eagle Mountain on the North and anywhere in between. Many have to rely on other people for transportation. Finding a time and place to rehearse has been a real problem. So, we decided to have weekly Saturday afternoon rehearsals for anyone who could make it in a central location, and other rehearsals on the north end of the mission or on the south. But what turned out to be the biggest bang for the buck was taking weekly rehearsals to one of the on-site locations during the midday lunch/prep-time. We were able to augment the small core group of 8-12 singers with 15-20 more from that single on-site location. I think we gave a pretty good accounting of ourselves. We even had 2 vocal soloists and a wonderful cellist. We also shared the program with a family of singers (and 2 violinists) who provided some nice variation. Because there are many more young men serving Service Missions, I had many more young men than young women in my choir. We had about 20 young men and 6 young women. (Fortunately, for the performance, some of the Senior Couples augmented not only the Bass section, but also our Alto and Soprano sections.) We just had one short rehearsal to put all of the satellite groups together for this concert, and we had never been able to do a run-through to work out the logistics of the moving parts in a building none of us had ever been to before! Aside from a few hiccups and miscues (and the instant rearranging of where people could stand to perform because the Visiting Authorities needed to sit the entire time on the stand), I thought we did very well. The theme of our concert was about finding Enduring Joy at Christmas. The main quote was taken from Elder Bednar's talk in the December 2019 Ensign: "President Russell M. Nelson frequently has extended an invitation to the people of the world that includes the promise of joy: 'Our message to the world is simple and sincere: we invite all of God’s children on both sides of the veil to come to their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have enduring joy, and qualify for eternal life.' "Enduring joy is not a blessing reserved for a select few. Rather, every member of the Lord’s restored Church who is striving to remember and honor sacred covenants and keep the commandments can receive this gift, according to God’s will and timing. In this Christmas season, may each of us strive to appreciate more fully the supernal gift of joy. As we do so, may we begin to see with new eyes and hear with new ears as 'saints and angels sing,' as we 'repeat the sounding joy,' and as we 'ever worship God.'” The closing number of the concert was "Joy to the World - SATB with Violins" sung by both the Family Singers and the Mission Choir accompanied by piano, organ, two violins and the cello. For the last verse, we invited the congregation to join us. What a joyous feeling was present during that song. The Spirit was strong and we went out of the gathering edified and ready to enjoy a wonderful Christmas Season. The Church Mission Devotional script is now available for free download. One of the most hopeful, praising, thankful texts I have ever found is "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" by W.W. Phelps 1792-1872. In the 1985 L.D.S. hymnal, this upbeat, cheerful text is paired with a very plodding hymn tune in duple meter while anyone who reads the text separately from the music will instantly see that the meter needs to be in triple. Besides that, the melodic phrases don't match the imagery in the text. So, a few years ago, I decided to write a 3/4 melody for this text and make sure it supports the word painting. Yesterday, my home ward choir sang this piece, in the SSATB version. We have an unusual choir because we have many fine singers in every section, plus several renown music professors, instrumentalists, composers, solo singers, and choir conductors. (Living close to BYU campus does have its perks.) The performance went well, and I was pleased. (What a nice Birthday present to me!) The program listed not only the song title, but had my name credited as the composer. So after the meeting, many people came up to me and gave such ecstatic comments about our performance. Most of them said things like, "I recognized the text, remembering that it was in our hymnal, but I didn't recognize the melody." One man said, "I had to look in the hymn book just to make sure! Wow! Then I realized that you had put that text to a whole new melody. That hymn really needed a facelift and you did it! The words came alive! Well done." Later in the evening the sweetest thing happened. About 25 of us were gathered for a noisy family birthday celebration dinner in my house, when unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. A bunch of kids ran to answer it, so I went too. A neighbor and two of his sons (ages 13 and 10) were standing there holding out a plate of cookies. One of the boys said, "We really liked your song today in Church, so we made you some cookies. Thank you. That really made our Sunday." I don't think I have ever had a more tender and sincere compliment from young boys! I was really touched. Enjoy "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" SSATB with Piano accompaniment. Happy Thanksgiving! Variety is the key to programming a successful concert. I have been to so many Christmas Concerts where the selections were beautiful individually, but because so many were the same style, tempo, color, and message, the concert put me to sleep. I love the example of Haydn in his "Surprise Symphony" -- do something every so often to keep the audience awake. So, I know the selections I have chosen for my Church Service Mission Choir. We have two numbers that are lively and two numbers that are slower and more lyrical. I chose them weeks ago before I knew what else would be on the program. Come to find out, a family of performers has been asked to join us in the concert. Their numbers are three lullabies (two chorals sung in parts and a violin duet) and "O Holy Night" sung as a solo power ballad. How to arrange these pieces for optimum impact? Fortunately, the colors of sound will be very different from a 25 voice choir compared to a 10 voice family ensemble that includes some children. Our choir will have two soloists and a cellist. The family will have a vocal soloist as well as two violins. So, even when the pieces have similar tempo and style, the colors will be very different. I'll just have to put one of our lively pieces in the middle of the program to change the pace. Narration can be useful, too. Skillful use of key scriptures and quotes can provide needed punch and bridge gaps to cover set up time between numbers. It can also break the tonality enough in case some of the pieces are in unrelated keys. But every good concert needs a slam bang finish. After the final remarks, I decided to do a version of "Joy to the World" that can feature all of our groups and instrumentalists and bring in the congregation on the last verse. There, that should do it. Mission accomplished. Another Christmas Concert programmed. The relationship between the performers and the audience was never more apparent than what was demonstrated in a show I attended last evening. This production was definitely Community Theater --- meaning that the talent pool was just whoever came out for the auditions. They had a very nice outdoor venue with good sound and lighting. The sets were colorful and well thought-out, although rather cumbersome. The production could have been just as successful with a "less is more" treatment. The costumes were colorful and imaginative. They did some very effective special effects. And yet, the show lacked MAGIC. This show was an extremely well-known musical that depends almost entirely on the physical stature of the characters and their relationships to the other characters' sizes, their voice qualities, and their acting abilities. All of the positives of the costumes, sets and special effects couldn't make up what was lacking by the actors themselves. True, I cannot help comparing their performances to other performances I have seen of this show. And I have seen plenty. I have seen this show done on Broadway, by professional Broadway touring companies, by renown regional theater companies, very good High School and College productions, and even by a local dance company. I have seen it done by casts of 50+ and even by a cast of less than 20. I have seen it done on large stages with all the bells and whistles and even in the round on a tiny stage with no scenery at all. The most successful productions had one thing in common --- ENERGY! Performance energy is contagious! It feeds the audience and then the audience' energy feeds the actors in a continual round. The troubles in last night's show could have been forgiven had the lead actors exuded more energy. Some of the dancers and secondary characters put out a lot more energy when they came onto the stage than the lead actors did. They were a delight while the audience had trouble believing in the lead characters. A great performance must have ENERGY! Visitors to Gettysburg have the opportunity to attend an early morning sunrise service at the amphitheater in the park. Churches in the area take turns providing the worship service. On July 28, 2019, My daughters Camilyn and Kathryn, and her daughter Makayla, and I sang the musical number during the service. We sang our a cappella version of "America the Beautiful." The problem was that the lady who gave the talk just before we sang had us in tears. She is a historian at the Gettysburg battlefield. She said that although the Civil War was terrible and more lives were lost during that conflict than in any other American war, she could still site many examples of heroism and goodness. She quoted a famous man who said that "War makes bad men worse and good men better." She shared a touching story from the first day of the battle. The wounded and dying were taken to some of the larger houses in the little town. One woman who had a young family and a husband off in the war, suddenly felt the need to go help with the wounded. She left her 12 year old in charge at home, and went to one of the make-shift hospitals. She was sent to help comfort a young drummer boy who lay dying in one of the upper floors. He had been crying out for his mother. This woman did not say anything, but she lovingly held that 13 year old boy in her arms to comfort him. He had been given morphine to ease his suffering. He said, "Mother, I knew you would come. I prayed that you would come. I knew you would not leave me to die alone." Another story she shared was from the third day. The Southern troops were attacking the Northern Army's flanks up against a rock fence. One "johnny rebel" was hit just below the fence and a young union soldier felt that he needed to jump the fence and carry this man to safety. 50 years later, in 1913, these two men were attending a reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg with thousands of other veterans. They each had told their unusual story yards apart from each other and mentioned that they wished they knew what had happened to the other man. Then they suddenly recognized each other, ran to each other and embraced. The Battle of Gettysburg was unusual amid the annals of Civil Wars. Usually the wounds of civil war never heal and the unrest rages for generations without end. But, the fighting at Gettysburg effectively ended the Civil War. When President Lincoln prayed that we would bind up the nation's wounds, it came true. It is still for us as the citizens of the United States to uphold this nation of the people, by the people and for the people so that it will never perish from the earth. Fortunately, we were able to rally and sing our song without too many tears! Notice the little boy in the green shirt. He was very curious about the military boys marching with their shields. He almost made it up onto the stage, but in the very next instant, the boys collapsed their pose when a stray soccer ball knocked them down. The boy got startled and ran back to his mother.
The attitudes of those kids on the grass close to the stage says a lot. Obviously, they have suspended their disbelief and are engrossed in the story. It makes me happy to think that the audience is engaging with the actors in the story. The children worked so hard to learn their lines, and dances, and directions. I am so glad (and relieved) when the audience reacts positively to what the children worked hard to present. This summer's play had a cast of 47 children. I worried that my backyard patio stage would not be able to handle that many bodies. It was crowded, but only for a couple of scenes. Having a large cast had me worried that we would have a crowded audience too. We were gratified to have 200+ people (who all brought their own chairs) come see our show. Now, that is dedication. There is very limited parking near our house, so our audience of family and friends very likely walked from their homes in the neighborhood. It was fun to also see some curious neighbors come see the show. I think the best compliments I received were from some of the grandparents. They told me that they dutifully attended as many of their grandchildren's events as possible. They came not really expecting much. But they were delighted to find that they were thoroughly entertained! They were impressed that they could understand the words of the actors when saying their lines and singing their songs. They learned about ancient Greece and what people did for work in those days. They understood the moral of the story that you should always tell the truth and be sincere. They loved the colorful costumes and lively dances and wonderful music. One grandpa told me that we should rent a Winnebago and take the show on the road! Now, that is bringing the audience in! I have got to send a shout out to all of the music teachers, students and parents who plan, prepare, set up for and attend the year end school music concerts. Occasionally I get to go accompany my daughter's chorus for their concerts. This year I also got to attend my granddaughter's first band concert. Some schools have a large population of energetic and engaged students and parents, others have trouble recruiting enough students to make a viable program. I salute the music teachers who so willingly work to build their programs no matter what hand they are dealt. My daughter teaches at a small charter school where the students may choose just one elective class per semester. Even when the students have 12+ choices for their one elective, she still has had enough students to teach junior high band, orchestra, chorus, guitar, percussion, as well as 6th grade General Music. She has also taught after school band and orchestra to the elementary school students. That is such a big load! Besides all of the teaching, planning and conducting, she and the students are responsible to set-up and take down for the concerts. Imagine having to move the one good piano in the school, many music stands, all of the percussion instruments, many of the larger school-owned band and orchestra instruments, and the sound system from the 2nd floor music room to the main floor gym any time you have a performance. Oh yes, and then you must set up the risers for the chorus, the sound system, and all of the chairs for the performers and the audience. Hopefully, after all of the heavy lifting, you have enough energy to conduct a pleasing performance. Then, after the performance, you need to summon enough strength to take everything down and put it away. That is a lot of work for just one teacher and a few willing (but small in stature) students! I was happy to be there to help with set up and take down. I was also happy that there were a few parents who pitched in at least to put away the chairs. I am so proud of my daughter to have the spunk and endurance to make things happen for the students in her school. This was her last concert at that charter school. Next fall, she will be teaching at public middle school. I sure hope she inherits an energetic and eager bunch of students with supportive parents that will help her build her program. Music teachers do so much! Easter Weekend, my sister got me tickets to attend the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Concert. It was a beautiful presentation with the Choir and Orchestra, the Bells, and eight Trumpeters, plus four excellent narrators. I have not been to many concerts in the Tabernacle as a spectator, and the last time I attended in the Tabernacle I sat where I could only hear the very busy violins. (That was not what I came to hear! To say the acoustics in the Tabernacle are unique is definitely an UNDERSTATEMENT! Sometimes you sit in a place that picks up just certain frequencies. And yet, other seats have a perfectly blended sound.) Anyway, we ended up sitting up in the balcony next to my old section. We actually sat very near to the ladies in the picture above -- my soprano friends! I loved hearing the concert from that very familiar vantage point! The program featured several songs that I know very well --- "Unfold Ye Portals Everlasting," "In The Garden," and "Worthy Is the Lamb." I couldn't help singing along. (Oh, relax! I did not let my voice rise out of the fabric of the choir sound. Besides, my daughter was there at my elbow ready to give me the signal if ever it did.) This experience of singing with the choir was an important turning point for me, though. For more than a year, I wondered if I would ever be able to sing again. The heaviness and stress of intense care-giving and ultimate grieving from the death of my husband has weighed me down. I just have not felt like singing. Raising my voice in song with my choir friends and feeling the rush once more of that spirit-filled wonderful sound buoyed me up. It made me want to sing again. Perhaps now I can find my voice! Choosing music for Stake Conference has always been a spiritual experience for me. I start by requesting the theme from the Stake Presidency. They have many ideas, usually, but not one solidified by the time I need to order the music for rehearsals. I then start my own preparation. Through prayer and a lot of looking and studying, I find music (or at least titles) and make multiple suggestions to the Stake President. After a few days, I hear back that a few of my choices will be fine, but could we do them in a different order? Or maybe use one as a choral number but include the Congregation on the final verse? Sure, that will be fine, I say. But then, I have to make good. I actually need to find arrangements for the ones they chose -- of course they chose the hymns I just suggested titles and assumed there would be a fantastic arrangement already in existence. The search really begins in earnest at this point. It's my fault that I just assume that there will always be an arrangement out there to suit our needs. And that's when I get let down. After searching and searching, I regularly DON'T find an arrangement that will work for our group and situation. (sigh) "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" seems like a hymn that would have multiple arrangements for SATB Choir, Organ and Congregation. And there were many, many versions - SAB, SA, Unison, straight out of the Hymnbook with piano accompaniment, piano solos, even one with Guitar tablature. But I was looking for something very special for my last Stake Conference with my YSA youth. So, because I had so little time, I reworked my own duet arrangement that I had already done years ago that already had organ accompaniment. We rehearsed and rehearsed and sounded quite good. They really sang their testimonies of the Savior. The youth have wonderful voices and good sight-singing skills. We were prepared for Stake Conference, but not for what actually happened. The weekend of Conference, my husband died. I was not able to be there to direct them in performance. Fortunately, one of the young men was primed to take over for me. I will miss them so much! Those wonderful youth sent me such touching love notes: Sister Bailey, While you are not here physically, we feel your powerful presence in the arrangements shared today. This is a very trying time for you and your family. Heavenly Father knows you and is aware of all of them. His work will continue on and you will continue to feel His love through all of it. We love and support you and your family.
I have been thinking of you and trying to channel your love for music and for the Savior today as we sing. Thank you for sharing your talents. We’re praying for you and your family. Sister Bailey, Thank you for leading us, and for picking such inspiring and beautiful music. These songs have allowed many to feel the Spirit and God’s love very strongly. Thank you so much for your example of love and faith in the Savior. You bring the Spirit for others to feel. God will bless you! |
AuthorMy name is Betsy Lee Bailey. I enjoy singing and writing all kinds of music. I have performed and directed or taught music all of my life. This blog is dedicated to all of the people who have been encouraging me to write about my experiences. |