I was given a very precious gift tonight – and what’s more, it was given to me by a bunch of complete strangers.
That gift was hope – and it was given to me by the amazing young people who comprise the top choir of the Milwaukee High School of the Arts …. and their brilliant director, Raymond Roberts. They were at Carthage to participate in one of our Choral Invitationals, and Dr. Garcia- Novelli told the members of the Carthage Choir that they were in for a wonderful treat if they took advantage of the chance to hear this group. He also made a point of saying that this choir was not from a private school located in a posh suburbs, but rather from a public school in a somewhat grim neighborhood- and its student body includes quite a few students one would classify as economically disadvantaged. But despite all that, this choir is absolutely first rate- an astonishing success stories in every way.
As I settled into my pew tonight to listen to them, I was expecting something great. (After all, Dr. Garcia- Novelli knows his stuff, and he is not exactly prone to careless compliments – so his ringing endorsement of the MHSA choir was certainly enough for me.) But given that the group appeared to be at least 80% African-American, I just assumed that they were going to offer up some high-energy contemporary pop stuff and some spirituals. That’s what I expected.
Stupid me, with my foolish and biased and limited expectations.
What this choir offered up instead was an expressive, radiant, gorgeous performance of “Bogoroditse Devo” from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers – sung in Russian, no less! I was absolutely floored. I would have been floored by just about any high school choir attempting such a thing- and delivering such an assured and beautiful performance. But the fact that this performance came from an inner city school choir was amazing to me.
And then they followed it with an equally beautiful performance of the “Sanctus” from the Faure Requiem, with their director accompanying them from the piano (and obviously conducting them almost not at all.) This is a piece that needs to flow effortlessly, and just keeping it together rhythmically without it becoming percussive is a fiendishly difficult challenge. They managed it somehow, even without their director on the podium in front of them. But beyond that, these young people sang this exquisite music with tenderness and warmth- and the big, stentorian Hosanna’s towards the end were unleashed like thunderbolts.
The rest of their program consisted of two snappy numbers sung by their jazz choir before they finished up their set with Moses Hogan’s arrangement of “I can tell the world.” But I have to say that they had me from the first line of the Rachmaninoff.
I think the reason this particular performance affected me so powerfully is because it came at a time when I needed some hope …. a renewed sense that there are possibilities in this life and in this world that far exceed what our meager expectations might be …. a renewed sense that each of us carries within us powerful potential that we don’t begin to appreciate and understand …. a renewed sense that we are capable of crossing chasms and climbing mountains and confounding conventional wisdom. Discouragement is such a powerful force, and it leaves us frozen in our tracks, giving in to the inevitable. Hope says that nothing is absolutely inevitable. It spurs us on to new and extraordinary adventures. This incredible performance embodied all that and more for me.
And as our own Carthage Choir took the stage to finish out the program with some brilliant singing of their own, I was reminded all over again that one of the best things a teacher or conductor can do is to expect and demand the very best that someone else has to give …. beyond what even they themselves might believe they can give. That’s what ultimately can change the world for the better – and change each of us as well. That’s what Dr. Garcia-Novelli does every time he places in front of the Carthage Choir another piece of fiendishly difficult music- knowing full well that many (or perhaps most) of the students will experience some discouragement and frustration in the early going. But to persevere through that and surmount what felt like insurmountable odds is the greatest feeling in the world, whether in mastering a challenging piece of music or the three-point shot in basketball or whatever the seemingly impossible task at hand might be.
But it begins with Hope.
