In Princeton: Grace-filled Moments at Vocal Music Camp

I apologize in advance if this entire post sounds like an advertisement. I am not on commission from the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey!  Our 14-year-old son, who discovered he's a bass not a tenor,  just spent two weeks at Westminster's Vocal Institute, sleeping in the dorms of this school and spending his days singing with 101 other high school students, who traveled as far as Florida to attend. If you have a child with a penchant for singing,  and money in your family budget (there are also scholarships available) consider this camp.  It was truly transformative for our son. Dr. Amanda Quist started the Vocal Institute four years ago with 50 students. Given the state of our economy, it's quite a testament to her and the other professionals that it was doubled in size already.

One Last Enchanting Friday Night

Tonight marks the end to the lovely ends of my work weeks.

Every Friday night during the past five school years I have driven our son Gabriel to Princeton, New Jersey --  sharing more than an hour through rush hour traffic so he could attend his chamber-music orchestra rehearsals.  Recently, with his learners' permit, he's been driving me. For two of those years I have spent the two hours of Friday night rehearsals with one of my dearest friends, whose daughter is also in the orchestra. Jane, who is raising four daughters about an hour from us,  and I have gone on long walks or headed to the local Panera to "solve world problems" as we like to put it.

"There's a Circle in Everything:" A Granddaughter's Tribute

Here is a story, told through song, by a little girl who grew up to be a songwriter(at left). She sings from her heart about
her grandmother, (at right) who died a month ago at age 74. This is a reminder that our lives our fleeting and that the One who called us into being also calls us all home.

"Doing What We Do Best:" A Joyful Noise in Belgrade

The kindness of friends and strangers enabled a group of New Jersey teens to bring beauty to a corner of Europe that has witnessed war and heartache for generations.

A Homecoming Weekend, Sort Of

Homecoming is a bit of a misnomer today because even though it is our local high school's Homecoming Weekend, half my family is out of town. Gabriel, a high school senior, and Greg are in Fairfax, Virginia tonight. They've spend the past four days touring colleges in the region and sightseeing in our nation's capital. I miss them badly. My husband rarely travels for work and I am not accustomed to having half my family missing from home.

On the Road to Belgrade, Teens Encounter History and Create Beauty

I decided not to blog about Stretto Youth Orchestra's tour of Europe, even though I had asked readers to contribute money to helping some of the needier musicians afford it. That's because our son, nearly 17, is on the trip and likely wouldn't appreciate his mom giving moment-by-moment accounts from New Jersey of the journey that I could glean from his instagram account and his messages to me. This is his journey, not mine. 

That said, I thought it would be okay to share an email that all the orchestra parents received today from Sherri Anderson, founder and leader of the group. This will move you. Thank you to those who helped to pay for this journey and to those of you who continue to send out your good wishes and prayers.

With a Bow and a Passport and the Prayers of St. Gabriel, Our Son Spreads His Wings

"As long as I have my bow and my passport, I'm good. Those are the important things." This is one of the last things our 16-year-old told me before we hugged him goodbye at the Philadelphia International Airport a few hours ago.

Tonight he and his orchestra are flying to Heathrow and then Brussels for a 10-day concert tour of Europe. He's never been off the North American continent. For our family, flying to Europe is a Very Big Deal, something my husband never has done and something I last did a quarter-century ago. This is why we showed up at Terminal A nearly five hours before his flight was scheduled to take off.

Krist Kralj (Христ краљ) and His Church Are Everywhere

Never can the Roman Catholic Church be accused of being groovy. But I gotta say, its universality makes it come pretty darned close.

Tonight, in about five minutes, I was able to find online an 11:30 a.m. Catholic Mass, in English, in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, for our son. Gabriel will be in that city on July 30 with his chamber music orchestra. Gabriel plugged that time and location into his iPod. If it turns out that Mass time doesn't work for him, he also has the option of going to the 8 a.m. Mass in Slovenian or the 10 a.m. Mass in Serbian.  I just emailed the pastor to check, but our son said he feels comfortable attending Mass in any language.

"It's all the same Mass," he just told me. 

This Moment: Trumpet Shopping

this moment....

 

As our son shops for his first trumpet

 with a family friend/ trumpet teacher.

   

    Linking with Amanda and others.

A Little Bit Closer Now: Help Some Needy Children Make Music

Thanks to the power of social media, a kind-hearted editor named Elizabeth Scalia and the willingness of folks to donate money to strangers, Stretto Youth Chamber Orchestra now is just $2,500 short of its goal, down from $4,000 10 days ago when I first started pestering people about it.

In case you missed it: The money being raised is to ensure all orchestra members can go on tour. The orchestra is remarkable because Stretto gathers children from a wide range of backgrounds - from boarding schools to foster homes - to make beautiful classical music.

Later this month, most members of Stretto Youth Chamber Orchestra are flying to Europe for a tour.  Families have been hosting fundraisers all year to make sure every musician who wants to go, will. To make a tax-free donation to the tour via paypal, visit Blue Mountain Music Festival's website, bluemountainfestival.org.

You can read more about the orchestra here:

A "Very Safe Place" for Music

Sherri Anderson's mission is to bring music to everyone. She spends her life providing opportunities for children and teens of disparate backgrounds—kids who live in boarding schools or who live in homeless shelters—to make music.

"Sherri sees harmonies that to most of us are hidden," says Professor Jim Wetzel, who holds the St. Augustine Chair at Villanova University, where Anderson recently earned a master's degree in theology. "She is a professional musician and is peculiarly gifted in using music as a way of healing. For her, it's a grace."

Keep Reading over at Patheos!

Seven Quick Takes: Milestones

1. The past week or so has been filled with milestones, for me and for my family. It is exciting to see chapters end and new ones beginning.  One milestone is that I was rehired to teach at my high school, which means I will be a tenured public school teacher in the fall. I am supported so much by my colleagues and the administration here.

2. Our elder son went to the junior prom last Friday night with a classmate. It was fun for me to help him pick out a suit. I thought it was cute his date and he spent time matching her hijab to his tie. Here is a goofy photo of them with friends.

Readers: Can You Help Some Teen Musicians Make Joyful Noises?

I have written before about the wonderful chamber music orchestra that our older son is privileged to be part of. This eclectic group of musicians, called Stretto Youth Chamber Orchestra, is gathered together by the amazing Sherri Anderson, a joy-filled Christian whose life's mission is to bring music to everyone. Her musicians come from an extraordinary  range of settings - from boarding schools to homeless shelters and foster homes.

I don't think I've ever asked my readers to consider making a tax-deductible contribution to a worthy cause, but I am asking you now.

Seven Quick Takes for Friday: Trumpets, Sardines and Vacations

1. Well, it's Friday night as I write this. I am home alone, just me and the dog. Better late than never, eh? My husband and our older son are in Princeton, where our son has chamber orchestra rehearsal. Our younger (trumpeting) son is with dear family friends at Montclair State University, listening to the MSU Symphonic Band and the MSU Wind Symphony. Our friend's son is a trumpeter at MSU!

Holy Saturday: Back On My Knees

I have blown far too much time today debating fellow Catholics on facebook about Pope Francis washing women's feet and whether a Catholic deacon can support same-sex marriage by the government while upholding the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony between a man and a woman in the Church and whether a Jesuit high school is erring in allowing two openly gay students to go to prom together.

Shame on me for my self-satisfied attitude on this, one of the most solemn, most holy days of our liturgical year.

I am going to continue praying the Divine Mercy Novena and listen to some Palestrina to keep my pride in check and fix my gaze on Christ. A blessed Holy Saturday to all who believe, even when we fall short.

On Troubled Teens and Unexpected Music

 

"Oceans of Grace" www.laurenchurch.com

 

Definition of GRACE

1

a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

Grace is always undeserved and unexpected, at least to me it is. 

Today was not an easy day at my high school teaching job. I learned some things about some former students that just broke my heart. I grieve because I believe we all deserve to grow up understanding, feeling deep in our bones that we are surrounded by love. 

And when we don't, we fill up the yearning with whatever comes our way - drugs, alcohol, sex, food, a stubborn sense of failure and inadequacy. And it is painful to watch that process play out in slow motion and to feel powerless to do anything but be a witness.

This Moment: Trumpet Lesson

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' at www.soulemama.com

After High-Stakes Testing: "Chicken Fried"

This week, over the course of three mornings, public high school juniors in New Jersey have been taking a a six-hour test, called the High School Proficiency Assessment, or HSPA (pronounced hess-pah). The stakes are high: students must pass this test to earn a high school diploma.

For Language Arts students, I integrate the skills they need for the HSPA into my lessons all year so by the time junior year rolls around, they know all about how to write expository and persuasive essays because they have practiced those skills with every piece of literature we read. Still, this is a stressful time for struggling students.

Seven Quick Takes For Friday

1.  Please pray for the soul of my sister-in-law Barbara's father, who passed away Wednesday at age 71 of a heart attack. His name is Wilfredo Salvador and he and his wife raised their five children in Dumaguete City in the Philippines. You might remember I wrote about one of his grandchildren, Brennan Kyle Alcantara, who was miraculously rescued from flood waters during Typhoon Sendong.

 May the Angels lead him into Paradise. 
May the Martyrs receive him at his coming 
and take him to Jerusalem, the Holy City. 
May the Choirs of the Angels receive him, 
and may he, with the once poor Lazarus, 
have rest everlasting. Amen.

"Night:" At the Hour of Death, Music Gave a Glimpse of Beauty

 (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)

I choose winter's dark days to read with my high school freshmen the Holocaust memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. My students come to high school with a clear understanding of the Holocaust, having spent a full academic quarter in eighth-grade social studies learning about this dark moment for humanity, when state-sponsored genocide erased the lives of millions. But reading the remembrances of a young man who spent a year at about their age with his father in the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald makes the Holocaust true to my students in ways history books cannot.

Although I have read this memoir dozens of times, I remain deeply moved by a particular section: when Wiesel tells of a young man of his acquaintance, Juliek, a Polish Jew who played the violin in a death camp orchestra and then, in the moments before his death, plays Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61 2nd Movement.