music

  • Unsung

    Attending the funeral of someone who lived life well is like completing a masters-level course in an hour and a half. Lesson after lesson flies at you and you can’t quite catch each one, but you want to hold on to all of it if you can. I attended a funeral like this today for…

  • Light

    I went walking, quiet and alone, skirt swishing, looking for light or a piece of sky to capture with a camera. At every turn, I found telephone wires, broken buildings, and overgrown trees and they blocked my view. I could just make out the outline of the sunset, or the unearthly glow that came pouring…

  • Track

    Hot and sweaty while running, I rolled up my tank top and tucked it in under my sports bra. Now, that is a strange sentence to type, but it also was a weird thing for me to do. Not since I was nine or so have I cared so little of what people thought of…

  • Stars

    When my son was two or three, we started playing musical games after dinner. We had a regular evening dance schedule when he was a baby, but the games were a whole other level. We would listen to instrumental music and let it speak to us, imagining the story that might go along with it.…

  • Hamilton

    I’ve read lots of accounts attempting to explain the reach and appeal of Hamilton, a Broadway show that has taken the world by storm. Some who have written about it are immigrants, or have close relatives who were, and they identify with Alexander Hamilton’s trials, determination, and hard fought success. Some are fathers, and they…

  • Best Worst Mass

      “That was the best worst Mass,” my daughter said at the conclusion of a morning that was filled with mistakes. And she was right. As music ministers during the busy Advent season, we grapple with new Mass parts and seasonal music and we do our best to bring a prayerful spirit to what we…

  • Connected

    I got to music class early and set up my iPod dock first thing, as I always do.  As the children came in, I was prepared and ready.  I pressed play and within six seconds, the song abruptly shut off.  “You need to charge it!,” yelled one of my students.  Little kids are so technologically…

  • Cookies and Tater Tots

    Each time I step into the my hometown elementary school to teach Kindergarten music, I’m hit with the smell of cookies and tater tots.  It’s a smell that brings me right back to the time when my kids attended this school, and it evokes strong memories of those long-ago days.  I can see my Kindergarten-aged…

  • Tuning

    I stopped in the Chapel on my walk to pray. This was one of those days that I really needed to sit and listen to God, so imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find someone banging on the piano. Sometimes a college student will find and use the Chapel’s piano, but on…