today by the numbers

over 600: the number of students that got up and sang for Grandparent's Day today

about 500: the number of Grandparents that attended

4: the number of golf carts that we used to transport Grandparents from "alternative parking" (the terrible field out back) up to the building

6: the number of birthday presents I got today

2: the number of my parents that were there today - not for me, of course, but they were there nonetheless

21: the number of risers that were handled (man-handled) in the process of tearing down after the morning program, setting up for lunch, tearing down lunch, setting up for the afternoon program, and then cleaning up

60: the number of blissful minutes that was my massage after the day was over. Best. Decision. Ever.

Happy Grandparent's Day!
K

an era

This is my director.

Donald P. Jenkins has led the Colorado Springs Chorale for 47 years.

Even though I've sung under his direction for the past 7 years, he has been doing it much longer. In fact, today at the concert he said he's been directing choirs since 1953.

Today I sang. I sang my heart out. I sang to the best of my ability. I sang in German like I've never sung in German before.

And it was amazing.

It was a blessing to sing wonderful music, accompanied by a wonderful orchestra, directed by a legend.

Thank you, Don, for the music.  Even though this was the last, I will remember all of the concerts we've done together.

For the music,
K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 14

Today I went to a musical. It was my school's High School presentation of "The Pajama Game". It was very well done. I really enjoyed it. But the absolute best part was seeing all these kids I had in music class back in elementary school, and now they are juniors and seniors and have leads in the musical! Here's a great scene from tonight:

I am thankful that I get to see "my kids" grow up. I am thankful I get to see them sing in High School choir concerts. I am thankful that I get invited to Youth Symphony concerts because "my kids" are performing. I am thankful that I get to see what comes beyond 6th grade music. And most of all I'm thankful that I have such great kids in the first place.
K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 10

OK, let me play catch-up really quick here:

On Friday I was not feeling well, and stayed home from school in the morning. By the time I was finished for the day I came home, did one load of laundry and went to bed. I'm sure I was thankful, but I can't remember anything except feeling sick. I guess I'm thankful that I am in a place where I CAN take some time off if I need to.

ON Saturday, I did the usual Saturday errands and things that need to be done, but this Saturday I am VERY thankful for Dad. He worked in the garage for several hours.

My new house came with some nice built-in shelving in the garage. But, I kept us from using the space well, so Dad un-built the built-in shelving, and moved it to another wall. I helped with the putting back together, and the rearranging of stuff back onto the shelves. Dad worked HARD and did some awesome things. My garage looks (and functions) great - Thanks Dad!

Last night I went to Denver with a friend, and some of her friends to see a band. It was a great show, and a fun time, but we didn't get back home until 2am.

So, this morning I slept in. I am SO grateful for sleeping in. I am so grateful for rest, and a wonderful bed to rest in. Last night was fun, but I am POOPED! And evidently older, because in my 20's I did this kind of stuff ALL the time.

Not so much any more. :)
Much needed rest and peace and organized calm in a garage are good things.
K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 6

I have so much to be thankful for. But today, I am going to be thankful for the Chorale. Every Wednesday I get together with 100 others singers and we sing beautiful music. Oh, tonight it wasn't so beautiful. But, by the time we practice it for a few more weeks it will be.

I am thankful to be able to make such beauty each week.

We sing Bach, Handel, Christmas carols, several beautiful renaissance pieces in Latin, some Baroque German piece that will have a brass section in the concert, and a fun version of the 12 Days of Christmas where each verse is in a different musicological style. Fun, fun, fun.

And I sing with great people, so that makes it so much better.

It is my own little beautiful spot each week.
K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 1

I feel SO together!

TODAY I realized that this is November, and that last year (or the year before, or the year before that...) I did 30 Thankful days with my friend Dawn. And in that moment I decided that I would be thankful again! :) Really I am thankful lots, but you know what I mean.

Today I am thankful for my students. I got several precious first grade hugs yesterday, and it made me realize how much I love what I do. For those of you that don't know me, I am an elementary music teacher. So every day, I have 12 classes of elementary kids, ranging from 1st grade all the way through 6th grade. We sing, we play instruments, we learn about the orchestra. We learn about and listen to the great composers. (I LOVE Beethoven, BTW.)

Those sweet little First Grade hugs as they came to and went from class made me remember how sweet it is to be loved by lots of little people.

Not to mention the enthusiasm they had for singing "Skip to my Lou" and "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain when she comes". TOP of their lungs. AND after we finished, they begged to do it ALL BY THEMSELVES. Who am I to say no? :)

Yesterday I went to the symphony with the whole 5th grade. It was an AWESOME field trip, and I LOVED it. What a great job I have when I get to go on field trips to the symphony!

So that's my first day of thankful.
And here's to 29 more, hopefully all bringing a smile to my face like today's thought of singing first graders did.
K

music

Yesterday, I went to the symphony.

With my sister.

My sweet friend Miriam gave me the tickets, and I thought about a lot of people I could ask to go with me. But then I remembered the last time I gave a symphony ticket to my sister, and how much she enjoyed it.

So I asked my sister. And we went.

It was truly a lovely evening. We went out to a leisurely dinner, and then got to the hall about an hour early. So I had a coffee and we sat there and talked.

It has been a LONG time since we sat and had a sisterly talk - It was sweet.

And the music was divine! They played the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24, and selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. The piano soloist for the Mozart was SO much fun to watch. She was incredibly expressive and did the whole thing without music. Then in the Romeo and Juliet, there were several times where there was a pause in the music and I said under my breath, "wow".

That is a perfect expression for last night.

Wow.
K

sister

Tonight, sister came to hear me sing!!!

The group I sing in did the Verdi Requiem tonight with the Philharmonic. It really turned out great - I LOVE singing for their conductor, even though he is demanding. The ending took my breath away. Literally - I was afraid to breathe. Until, he lowered his arms and there was thunderous applause.

Wow.

But, the best part is that my sister got to be there! A friend of mine had a ticket, and sister was trying to decide when to go, or whether to take boys, or to not take boys. And when I called her offering that ticket, she said "Yes!" What a great way to spend a night together - me on stage and her in the audience.

Family is sweet.

And living close to family is even sweeter.
Thanks for comin', little bis,
K

home

I am home.

And grateful to be so. This is the only night this week that I am home, so I am relishing it. Mostly relaxing, but taking a *small* break to write. :)

3 concerts and 3 rehearsals in 7 days makes for a long "hell week", but it is worth it. The concert we did on Tuesday was fantastic, and I can say that because I had no part in it! Well, I sang, but I didn't do anything else; didn't choose music, didn't play any instruments, didn't have anything to do with the planning or music or execution at all. But it was great. The Air Force Academy band did the concert and my group just sang for a couple songs. The best part is that we got to enjoy about half the concert, when we weren't singing.

This weekend is a concert with the Philharmonic. It is Verdi's requiem and it will be great. Again, I didn't have anything to do with this one either, except contribute some singing. The conductor is tough - we had a rehearsal with him last Saturday, and I had to go home and practice several sections a little more. But it will be a great concert. He loves this music, and definitely communicates it to everyone around. Plus, he is from Spain, so he has a great accent!

The music is exhilarating, but the schedule is exhausting.

Here's to one more week until summer...
K

privilege

Last night it was my privilege to go see a concert.

This was a concert of the local Youth Symphony's little kids. The Youth Symphony is the top performing group in the organization, but there are 7 (?) groups under them. If you start in the youngest group, and practice, you can eventually play in all of them at one time or another, and hopefully end up in the Youth Symphony. It's a great organization.

Anyway, their littlest 3 groups played a concert last night, and I was invited.

So I went.

Truth be told, I felt a little celebrity, because I had TWELVE students performing there and every time one of them saw me I got a frantic hissing of my name and a very enthusiastic wave. It was a good feeling. :)

Also, it was a great feeling to see so many kids (about 100) up on stage performing together and showing off their musical skills. Even though I am a music teacher, and most definitely NOT a string player, it warms my heart anytime I get to have a part in anyone being musical - whether as a teacher, an encourager or as an audience member.

From the first song (a very simple playing of the Ode to Joy theme) to the last (Basses Loaded - 3 Jr. Hi aged girls playing String Bass solos, and one of my students doing a FANTASTIC twelve bar blues solo in the middle), it was a great night. Encouraging, uplifting, cultural and just downright fun.

And a great night was had by all.
K

spirit

It's been a long week.

I have rehearsal on Wednesday evenings, and this week I was thinking about not going. Not only was it a long week, it was kind-of a tough day on Wednesday, so by the time rehearsal rolled around I was DONE.

But...I got myself together and went anyway.

And I'm SO glad I did.

We are preparing the Verdi Requiem for a concert coming up in May, and it is a bit of work. But I really am enjoying the music.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty beat down on Wednesday, but rehearsal changed all that. By the time I got there and  started singing, my spirit was buoyed pretty quickly. By the end of rehearsal, I felt like a new person. I was refreshed, calmed, and the anxiety of the day was gone. The music was like a salve for my spirit.

What a blessing to be refreshed in that way. What a wonderful way to end a terrible day. What a great thing to do right before bed, rather than reflecting on all the mess that Wednesday was.

I guess what they say is true: Music really does soothe the savage beast.
K

new friend

This is me and my friend, Miriam. We sing together. Miriam is a new friend - we've only  been singing together for about 5 years. Usually I sit next to her, but sometimes the seating chart foils us.

Anyway, I really enjoy Miriam. We get along great, we are both singers, and we have fun together. Tonight we sang the concert that we've been working on: Handel, Mozart, Bach, Ives and Vaughn Williams. It was beautiful. And I have to be honest: I wasn't so sure our interpretation of the music would actually BE beautiful until sometime during last night's rehearsal. But it all came together, and it was gorgeous. Kudos to Dan Brink for playing wonderfully, and to the Springs Camerata for playing the string parts. Gorgeous!

But now this concert is over, and we will go to work on the next one. But fortunately this is not the end - we get to sing together again. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy her and how grateful I am for her friendship.

And I think she's cute.  :)
K

old friend

I am getting ready for concert.

This Saturday we will sing. And sing, and sing, and sing...

I'm looking forward to it, even though it takes a lot of work to be ready. Last night we sang through the Vespers Solemnes by Mozart. Even though it is a somewhat hard piece, I LOVE to sing it. It is like visiting with an old friend. I sang parts of it a long time ago, and now we get to visit again. We are catching up. :)

The rest of the concert is tough, and nothing I've sung before (the Bach double Motet, a Vaughn-Williams, an Ives and a Handel) but singing this Mozart is a joy. A brief respite in the midst of a steep learning curve. A nap under a warm blanket in the middle of a crazy-busy day.

I am ready - bring on the concert!
K

joy

My little people (1st grade, 2nd grade & 3rd grade) are getting ready for a concert. We've been singing their music for about 2 months now, and we are getting pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. Yesterday, one class sang through all their music with no help - no background singers on the CD, no books to look at, no nothing. They did well, so I said they could sing one of their songs that they really like.

I put on the CD and they sang away at the top of their little lungs.

As I was moving around my class, putting a couple things away, getting ready for the next class, I looked over at the back row.

And there was the face of unadulterated joy.

4 little second graders singing away, smiling, enjoying the music and bouncing along to the beat. And I thought: "That's what joy looks like".

I just couldn't help but smile.
K

reward

Today I got a reward: a hug from an 8th grader.

Since I teach elementary music, I only get to see the musical accomplishments of my little kids. And I DO love my job. But most often I get 1st grade hugs, 3rd grade jokes, 6th grade attitude, and everything else in between.

But today I got a reward. Several Jr. High kids came back to do a presentation for my 6th graders about band and choir in Jr. High: what it will be like, what they have to know or not know, is it possible to do band and a sport, if you have to already know how to play an instrument before starting, etc. Lots of questions, and some performances as a preview.

As they walked into the gym, several of the guys that had gone to my campus and that I had for all 6 years of elementary school, well, they lit up. The exclaimed my name, they smiled, and I got up and gave them a hug.

It was SO rewarding to see them sing, to see them enjoy singing, and to see them grown much more than when I had them. It was good to see them, but it was even more good to see how they've grown.

A much better reward then I ever expected.
K

tears

Today in class there were tears.

No, this is NOT the first time that has happened, but fortunately it doesn't happen all that often.

In 4th Grade, we started singing military songs. I have to teach them the songs for all the branches of the military, so I started on that today. One verse into the Marine's Hymn, one of my sweet little 4th grade girls started tearing up. By the end of the song she was full on crying.

So I asked her what was wrong, and if she was OK.

She said that her Grandpa gave this song to her mom, and he had passed away this year.

She was just sad.

...

Well, I totally was not sure what to say, at that point, because I understand missing a grandparent that has passed away. I've had 5 Grandparents that have passed away, I even wrote about 2 of them here. But I gathered my thoughts, put my arm around her, and gave her what I hope is good advice.

I simply told her that I understood why she is sad, and that is normal. I was there myself. But, we all need to take these times and use them to remember all the great times that we had with our grandparents. We need to look back and be grateful for those great times, and remember what was great about them and what was great about the time we spent together.

...


She breathed, and and nodded, and pulled herself together. So I gave her another hug, and sent her off to PE. And gave the PE teacher a heads-up that she might be a little emotional.

What a blessing that I get to walk with my kids through these kind of things, and that God gives me the calm thoughts to be able to speak what they need to them.

Oh, and later that day...she brought me a little present. A bookmark that she made in library.
I treasure it.
K

'tis the season...

...for singing.

Last Friday I sang my little heart out at our Deck The Hall concert. It was lots of fun Christmas and holiday music, and a very festive evening with a hand bell group ringing along with us.

...for doing good.

Last Saturday we went up in the mountains and sung our concert again as a benefit for a local mental health agency. We had a fun time singing, enjoyed people's company, and had a fun dinner with some friends after.

...for *cough* *cough*

Evidently, I am destined to get some sort of bronchial ailment every December. Now I think I have bronchitis, but it could be whooping cough. Never fear - I went to the doctor today. I'm on all kinds of medicine, and hope to feel much better very soon.

...for partying.

This weekend is our school Christmas party. This is seriously one of the funnest things. There is good food, great company, music, games, dancing, winning of prizes...I can't say enough how much I am looking forward to spending time with friends that I work with.

...for buying.

I love getting Christmas presents for people, and I stretch it out from August through December. But I'm almost done with buying, so now it's time to get wrapping.

So many great things come at this time of year, it's almost hard to list them all. But I am not short on blessings. I have a wonderful job, the best boss in the world, an amazing family, and a great church. Not to mention the gift that came a long time ago, this time of year. He is the best blessing of all.
K

my life sings

Now I know that being a music teacher might make you think that I am musical all the time, every day. Some days this is true, but some days are just normal days, and music is just my job.

Not this weekend.

Thursday was concert day at school. I had 260 kids up on stage, performing music that we had worked on for the past couple months. And not to brag or anything, but all the music was in another language: Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Finnish, Maori, etc. They were great! Not because of me, but because they are great kids and we have worked hard together on this music. Definitely a great day.

Friday, I went to the local Youth Symphony concert. I had several kids from school in the performance, and it was great. 7 different groups, and many hundreds of students playing lots of different instruments. And it was hard music, too: much of it was from The Nutcracker. That means it is professional level music. And they played very well. One of my students was in the 3rd group from the top, and he sat 1st chair. I am so proud!

Saturday, I got to attend a piano recital, and see several of my current and former students perform. It was fantastic, and inspiring. I will be looking up some of that music to start working on myself! It was a beautiful setting, and a beautiful night of music played by a host of talented students.

Tomorrow evening I am going to a performance of Messiah here in town. A friend of mine is singing the soprano solo parts, and I'm so excited to see her. She has been working like crazy to be ready for this, and it will be fantastic! I've sung the Messiah several times, and twice all the way through. Granted, I have never sung the soprano solos (Lord, have mercy!) but I understand the music, and know what it takes to do that.
I can't wait!

So it occurred to me today that my life really is filled with music, and I am SO LUCKY to be in the midst of it. To participate in it. To see so many young people DO music, and do it well.
THAT is a blessing to me.
K

job love

This was a little gift outside my classroom this morning.

There are a lot of chalk drawings out there, but this particular one I took as a little love gift from one of my music students. I don't know who, but I still love it nonetheless.

I *heart* being a music teacher.

K :)

art

Today in second grade we are talking about Bach. How he played the organ, and how he wrote all this beautiful music. We are listening to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in G Minor. The whole thing.

So all my second graders are busily working on drawing organs, Bach playing the organ, halloween pumpkins sitting on top of organs, etc. I am sitting at my desk watching them work, and listening to Bach.

I get to sit here at listen to Bach. I get to bathe in the art of Bach's work. Bach put his life into creating beautiful music, and I get to enjoy it. I get to appreciate his art. I get to lead second graders in appreciating his art. I get to reveal to them to intricacies of Bach's works, and what a genius he was.

We are appreciating art. Together.

And in them, I see a hopeful glimpse of people who will be art appreciators  for the rest of the lives.
I can only hope.

But today, I get to listen to Bach.
I am so lucky.
K