Sing Unto God

Last night God enabled me to sing with the South Sound Classical Choir at Mason United Methodist Church in the Proctor District of Tacoma. INCREDIBLE facility, incredible acoustics. There was at least a 4-second reverberation after each cutoff.

The sanctuary itself had cathedral-high ceilings, with stained glass head-high along the left wall, and angled wall panels extending vertically to the ceiling. Every third wall panel had a white banner with colorful butterflies on it. On half of the right wall was the pipes for the pipe organ. The platform had no steps; rather, a series of curving ramps of light-colored pergo. The piano was a small Steinway L or S.

I would love to go there on a Sunday to see what kind of music they produce. Not the sermon, though; I doubt very much that the sermon would contain anything more than your typical "brotherhood of man, Fatherhood of God" twaddle.

I hadn't sung since losing my voice; I didn't know what manner of squawk would emerge when I began. But after warming up, I had a passable imitation of what I usually can sing like. Head voice, but limited chest voice. The first half of the concert went well, then we filed off for the middle section where the soloists and the madrigal ensemble sang. I took the opportunity to suck on a Ricola cough drop and get a drink.

The second half of the concert I began to feel some dry spots. The crucial thing was to make it to the last song, "Sing Unto God" by Handel, which begins with the altos singing a long melismatic section. Praise God, I did! Because RIGHT after making it through that section, I began to lose it. Only my head voice was left, and a mezzo piano at best. But it was enough!

On a side note, during the intermission I had the opportunity to sit and chat with some of the choir members. There are more born again believers in there than I had originally thought! It seemed to me like everywhere I turned, there was a Unitarian, ironically, singing the praises of God (Goddess? Buddha? Great Spirit? all one to them). But tonight I discovered other sisters in Christ. That was a blessing.