No, this is not a picture of Nick Barootian and I slow-dancing- although at a glance, it might look like that. No, it’s a shot of the two of us in the midst of a rib-bruising bear hug- one of my favorite moments during a once-in-a-lifetime concert this past Sunday afternoon called “Streams of Mercy, Never Ceasing,” which celebrated my 25th anniversary as minister of music at Holy Communion Lutheran Church.
It was actually our senior pastor, Bill Grimbol, who first suggested that a big celebration was in order. (And he meant BIG. He was talking about budgeting several thousand dollars, which would allow us to hire first class guest musicians, do first-rate publicity, cater a dinner, etc. Pastor Bill dreams big.) What eventually took shape was something much more modest in scope (and cost) and more home-grown, mostly featuring musicians from Holy Communion. That’s what felt right to me and to everyone with whom I discussed it. And although January was our initial target on the calendar, I soon realized that the J-term opera at Carthage would prevent me from giving this concert my full time and energy. So it was postponed to May, which turned out to be almost poetically appropriate, since I was hired on a probationary basis in January of 1988. It was only in May that the hire became official and permanent, so to speak – and May felt like the right time to celebrate.
Almost immediately, I felt compelled to extend the invitation beyond Holy Communion’s own musicians … because the work I have done there has been possible at least in part because of how I’ve grown as a musician and composer through my work at Carthage (where I began teaching in 1991.) So I invited the Lincoln Chamber Singers to sing on this concert – and also convened the chamber singer alums who come together from time to time (and in various combinations) as Musici Amici: “Musical Friends.” That call went out primarily over Facebook and I was thrilled at how many alums were excited and willing to come be a part of the celebration. The scary part, I suppose, was that my schedule was not going to allow any prior rehearsal whatsoever; the only practicing Musici Amici would get to do was Sunday at 12:30 … for probably half an hour or so. But when you’re dealing with exceptionally able musicians, such a prospect isn’t all that scary, actually.
It would have been really scary for me to put something this big and complicated together on my own. (In my minds, I kept picturing Woodstock and the huge mess that was created in more ways than one when they realized that they hadn’t ordered nearly enough portable restrooms. I didn’t want this to turn into that kind of mess.) A huge help in putting the event together and thinking it through was Barb Salvo, who is chairperson of the worship and music committee at the church and an absolutely indispensable worker behind the scenes. She is Martha to my Mary, you could say – the methodical one who likes to plan ahead and anticipate surprises – and by setting up certain guidelines and deadlines, she really helped me shape this event into what it ultimately became rather than the 15-head Hydra that it so easily could have become if I hadn’t had her help. By the way, she had one request: she remembered how much she liked the singing of my voice lesson guys on a song for my faculty recital- and asked if I could invite them for this concert as well. And I was only too happy to do so, and was truly touched that so many of them were willing to do it.
It was only as Sunday itself approached that I started wondering about matters such as “where would all of these singers sit?” “Where would they stand and sing?” “How would we get people on and off in an orderly fashion?” “Would there be room for everyone?” And what about the two hours between the end of second service and the beginning of the concert? Would there be enough time to get the sanctuary set up? For Musici Amici to rehearse? For the Carthage students to get oriented to a completely unfamiliar space? For Eric to set up the sound system and recording equipment? For me to put on my brand new black suit? (In my nightmares, I pictured the prep right before the concert being SO frantic that I ended up with no time to change and had to leave my $350 suit – purchased exactly for this occasion – hanging in the closet.) Fortunately, Kathy was around to help – and a couple of friends from choir plus a couple of early-arriving Carthage alums lent a helping hand as well. That meant that the music rehearsals could begin right on time and ended with me having just enough time to change clothes- although for the sake of time, I ended up dressing in the back stairwell leading down to the basement. . . praying the whole time that I wouldn’t end up giving a coronary to some poor unsuspecting elderly woman who might have walked by just then. But I’m glad to say that nobody walked past as I was changing into my suit, and I finished just ahead of 2:00 (if with only seconds to spare.) If the rush created any problem, it’s that I really didn’t have to sit down and check on whether or not I had every piece of music that I needed for the concert. I ended up just scooping up a big pile of music from the piano and hoped that everything I needed would be there.
I was wrong.
to be continued . . .