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​It has been a week since our inaugural concert as Vox Solaris Chamber Choir.  I have to admit – I was skeptical that this concert would even happen.  Towards the end of the process leading into rehearsal and concert weekend, I was afraid we wouldn’t have the numbers or vocal balance to achieve the music that was programmed.  Actually, I had lots of fears.  Among the fears was that after all this work of preparation, the committed singers present would hate the process.  I feared that the efforts to generate an audience were futile and that nobody would show up.  I’m so glad my fears were all wrong.
 
There was one thing for which I had complete inner peace.  I mentioned it to the singers at the beginning of the process and also just before we went on to perform.  Though I wanted THIS performance to go really well, I had no expectation for future collaborations.  Of course, if it was a possibility, I had to bill this concert as if continuing would be a foregone conclusion.  However, I was at peace whether this was a “one-and-done” situation or something that everyone wanted to do again.
 

​We rehearsed Thursday evening for a little while, getting to know each other’s personalities and voices.  The personalities were beautiful, but musical progress was quite rough and I was again afraid it wouldn’t come together.  I didn’t sleep much that night, but I could still tell something was there under the surface.  The next morning, our humble 15 voices met for only the second time ever.  (By the way, some of our singers had never met one another before our first rehearsal.)  We split for some sectional work.  By the end of that sectional rehearsal, I think everyone was feeling much more secure with the music.  After good lunch conversation, we reconvened to rehearse combined in the performance space.  We experimented with lots of different standing arrangements to find just the right sound and balance.  By the end of Friday night (the 2nd day of rehearsal), things were sounding really good and I felt a sense of relaxation.  Everything was going to be okay!  When we met for our final “touch-up” rehearsal on Saturday morning for a couple of hours, it was clear that we had something really special here.  It is amazing to me that a group of complete strangers can come together and put together a concert of great choral music and do it very well in only 2 days.

​On Saturday morning, we had a later call time.  I think that allowed everyone’s very fatigued voices to rest a bit.  We brushed up on a few things and got logistics down so that everybody knew order, our many different standing arrangements, how to get there seamlessly, etc.  We broke for lunch and wouldn’t reconvene until just before concert time.  We all met in the church choir room before performance and I posed the question.  “I’m fine either way.  Do we want to do this again?” It was an overwhelming affirmation from the choir that they indeed wanted to have this experience again.  Me too.  It wasn’t just about the concert.  It was about the fellowship and music-making the whole weekend that sealed the deal for me.  I think we all just had a really great time.  The concert was just the icing on the cake. 
 
I peeked out and my fears about not having an audience went away.  We had an awesome audience that was very receptive and enjoyed the experience with us.  We visited with folks afterwards and everyone really enjoyed the concert.  It was over and I thought I would be sad that it was over.  I wasn’t.  There’s so much potential here for the future.  In our short talks between rehearsing, we talked about the possibilities, dates, incorporating, applying for non-profit 501(c)3 status, mission, educational outreach, scholarships for high school students going to study music at university, and music selection.  It was clear that we had just begun.  Will YOU join us on this next step of our journey?  Donate, sponsor our goals, attend our winter concert, and help us spread the word.  Vox Solaris Chamber Choir is here.