Music in the Rockies, or how I can't fight being a choral nerd!

Over the Labor Day holiday I traveled to Colorado on my Harley-Davidson Motorcycle. I went with my best friend from Minnesota. He and I met in youth choir over twenty years ago. We have both developed a love of riding, but we have also both engaged in less "cool" activities. I would consider us both Star Wars geeks, Muppets fans, Beatles lovers (that's pretty cool), and a million other nerd culture supporters. When I was in High School being a nerd was not the "in" thing it is today. There was no Big Bang Theory or massive support of Sci-fi movies, Renaissance Festivals, or Robotics teams. It seems that the tide turned and now it's "Hip To Be Square." Maybe part of riding a motorcycle for me has been about doing something that is completely different from my regular choral "nerdiness." But as I have directed many choirs and I always find the one or two riders in the choir, including in LCA! 

So when I was in the mountains over the weekend I had hoped to really let go of work and daily life. But of course I found myself, humming, even singing, and actually thinking of the score for the music of our first concert. Part of it is I love the music; Benjamin Britten's Old Joe Has Gone Fishing, Willamette Spence's At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners, Alice Parker's Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye, Aaron Copland's I Bought Me A Cat... but also I think this music and the music being performed by Toasted Ponies (Lincoln Folk Ensemble) and Lincoln Christian School speak to the great folk music traditions and storytelling history often found in choral music. I found myself contemplating the deeper meaning of the text as I dropped down from the mountain into clouds in Rocky Mountain National Park. I was again swooned by simple yet beautiful harmonies as I whizzed around deep curves.

I was blessed to have such a great experience. I shared it with a great friend. I enjoyed nature in a way I have never felt before. And I got renewed and excited about the music I love and can't wait to share with you on Oct. 25.

http://lincolnchoralartists.org/currentseason.html