We’re back from NYC-  Actually, I’m back as I type this- but Kathy is still en route.  (I pick her and Trevor up from the airport in about an hour.)  I flew back early in order to play piano for the Carthage Choir’s homecoming concert, which was this afternoon at 3:00.  It was scarier than I think anyone expected,  because the choir had not rehearsed all week long.  (It’s typical to give them some time off when they return from spring tour.)  So this afternoon was an exercise in quickly regaining that feeling of easy confidence which was achieved on tour so emphatically.   What made it a bit more challenging for me was that my ears- as usual- were almost completely plugged from the plane flight, so the choir to me sounded like 10 people instead of 50 – or 50 people singing in the other room.  So I found myself watching Mr. Noble like a hawk- even more than usual- and trusting that he would keep me in sync with the choir and let me know one way or another if I was overplaying or underplaying.  And all went well, despite the fact that we were missing several significant singers due to illness.  That’s the mark of a real choir that they have the capacity to rise to the occasion even under less than ideal circumstances.

The headline refers to a truly remarkable moment in the choir which caught me COMPLETELY by surprise.  Right after “Ain’t Got Time to Die” and before “One Faith, One Hope, One Lord” (the last piece on the concert)  Mr. Noble went to the mic and instead of introducing the last piece as usual, he offered a heartfelt thank you to me for playing for the choir this year.  He explained how I agreed to volunteer my time, even though it meant lengthening my work day- and also how I drove to each of the spring tour concerts in order to play for the choir. . . and that he really appreciated my generosity.  He also made reference again to my Amazing Grace arrangement which had just been sung, and told the audience and choir that he was absolutely determined to see to it that my arrangement is published.  I was absolutely thrown for a loop- he had not done this for any of the tour concerts.

As the audience applauded for me,  he extended the mic to me and asked if I wanted to say anything.  That was a needless question, wasn’t it?  I thanked him- and said that it was an absolute Win/Win situation for me to be playing for the choir and to have the pleasure once again of making music on a daily basis with my most important musical mentor- something which I never dreamed would be possible.  And I said that I was privileged to have played even a tiny part in the experience which the choir had had with Mr. Noble -and of what a joy it’s been for me to see them bloom under his loving direction.  Words to that effect, anyway. I would have loved to have had some warning that this was going to happen, but that wasn’t in the cards- and I had to just speak spontaneously from the heart.

What struck me in the moment – and even more as I think back on it – is how gracious it was for Mr. Noble to throw the spotlight on me when it rightly belonged on him and on the choir.  To be treated so graciously and generously left me shaking my head in wonder and gratitude.   And it made me realize that I am not emotionally or mentally ready for this adventure to be over- and yet in about a month and a half, it will indeed be over.  But I will remember this experience- and especially what happened today- for as long as I live.

pictured:  Mr. Noble at the first tour concert in Waukesha.