More Than Four Sides

Category: singing

  • Letting go of Christmas

    I was never a very good Christian. The main problem was that I was always asking for logic and internal consistency. I couldn’t understand why a monotheistic faith had divided God into a Trinity, for one thing. And the Virgin birth? The Resurrection? The answer was always “You have to have Faith” and “It’s God’s…

  • Jazz – it’s all about balancing on the edge

    I have played music, or sung (same thing, just using the voice as one’s instrument), from the time I was about 6 years old, maybe earlier.  I remember hearing music from my earliest memories.  Both my parents played music, in very different ways, and music was never always something to listen to only, but something…

  • Well May the World Go…

    Well may the world go, The world go, the world go, Well may the world go, When I’m far away. And, now, Pete Seeger is far away.  Or maybe not. So much has been written and said of this great singer and activist – I can hardly add much to the beautiful tributes of others.…

  • Rehearsal night

    Tonight was my choir rehearsal night. It’s one of my two regular weekly activities that serve to restore my soul. The other is my voice lesson, so they’re both about singing. (That’s tomorrow). But today’s rehearsal was a little complicated. Dad left early this morning (really early!) to spend the day with our niece in…

  • Wow! Quiet day…

    The dear husband was up last night when S woke up with a fever of 102.7 F. Ibuprofen was administered, and S slept. We knew that we weren’t going to synagogue today as a family. This morning, the program at our synagogue/shul included “Boker Ohr” – Morning Light – a special, alternative service led by…

  • Harry Belafonte

    I haven’t posted in awhile, but have had all kinds of thoughts brewing in my head…looking back at my last post, Mishpacha & Me, I am thinking more and more of the connections that I have to Harry Belafonte, a wonderful singer, whose music was a soundtrack to a lot of my happiest childhood moments.…

  • Meredith Monk

    I regularly listen to the APM program On Being hosted by Krista Tippett, and I often listen to both the produced/edited podcast, as well as the uncut interview. This program was fascinating, but I actually enjoyed the unedited interview more than the produced show – I have to admit that I had the same reaction…

  • Voice recital

    I sang solo, in my voice teacher’s annual spring recital, this past Sunday. It was my third or fourth year participating, and the first time that I felt reasonably well prepared. Every year, my teacher Beverly Diaz encourages us to invite friends and family, and this year was the first time I actually did tell…

  • Singing in many languages

    I sing in a choir; I’ve sung in choirs since I was 11years old, almost continuously, with only a break for medical school and residency training. The choir I sing in now, Zemer Chai, just performed our spring concert, and it was amazing! Titled “I Am Determined To Walk In Freedom”, our concert included a…

  • Song is Universal

    So, my hope to start posting on a more regular basis is slightly thwarted at this point by the upcoming concert of Zemer Chai (“living song”), the choral group that I am honored to be part of for the past 2 years.But, in thinking about singing, I realize that song is a connection to language…