Choir Memories

This last weekend Joseph and I went to a performance of the choir at the Institute of Religion here in town. We don't go on dates very often, so this was fun on many levels, not the least of which being that we left the kids home with someone else.

It also brought back a lot of fond memories for us, as we were members of the choir in the Seattle Institute of Religion. Strangely enough, the director there actually moved here a year before we did, and is directing the choir here.
Here I am in the choir the first year I joined, 2001-2002:


What, you can't see me? Yeah, my roommate took this picture. I promise I am under that white arrow over on the right. It really wasn't that dark there, the photo is just bad.

Sometimes I'm still surprised that I was ever a part of something like this. I never considered myself the 'performing choir type' in Utah: I'm not blonde, and am certainly not perky by any sense of the word. (Not that there is anything wrong with those attributes :)

But it was different in Seattle. The choir ranged in age from 17 to 32, but most kids were around 25 and were more mature than the under-21's where I went to college. Many were students at UW, Seattle Pacific University and other smaller colleges in town. But there were also people like me who weren't attending school at all and worked all day. There were several married couples, and that year I think there were about six girls who were expecting their first baby! I always wondered if people realized they were married.

The choir we saw on Friday is excellent; everyone seemed talented musically as well as in dance, speaking, etc. It was what I expected to see. But in Seattle we were not required to audition (or I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to join. Hello, I still can't sing well.) This resulted in a much broader spectrum of people and attitudes, and a much larger choir: there were well over 100 members.

It was something big and exciting, and we felt like we were a part of something important. Unity was emphasized, and for many the choir was like family. The rehearsals were once a week from 7:00PM until after 9:00PM; before tour dates they had very early morning rehearsals as well.

The first six months I was catching a bus through downtown Seattle to then catch the ferry home to Bainbridge, after 10:00 at night. I loved every minute of it. When I moved into the city, not too far from the UW, I would walk home from rehearsals in the dark, often taking a detour to go look at the water before I went home for the night. Maybe not the smartest thing, but I recall those being some of the most beautiful peaceful walks I've ever had.

The second year I was in the choir, Joseph joined with me while we were dating, and then we married and still fit right in. It was still a great thing to be a part of, but in some ways it was more stressful as a married couple! We went on tour that year to southern Washington and northern Oregon. Here is a picture of our choir in Portland:


Do you see me this time? We are just above that blue arrow down there. I was excited to go on tour but a little sad that I didn't get to go the first year for various reasons. I missed out on the group things that people do, because choir members were housed in people's homes and the married couples were generally just with their spouse.

I credit my membership in the choir with helping boost my social skills which were still somewhat lacking even after college. I also gained better leadership skills while on the Choir Committee. Probably the most important thing I was given at the time was a positive attitude which helped me be in the right place at the right time to meet my husband.

Our simple date last weekend may have been more exciting for us than the rest of the audience, who knows. They did a program very similar to the one I performed in that first year, and I was so happy to have all those memories flooding back. What a great time!