"Prayer of the Children"
Ever since I joined Concert Choir a few weeks ago, my life has been bliss. More than I could have ever imagined. It's almost as if Concert Choir is the tape the keeps my life together... Cheesy, I know- but it's the truth.
Today has changed my life forever, and has made Concert Choir an even more amazing place than I, once again, could have possible imagined.
One of the songs we are working on right now, For our Holiday Concert, is called: "Prayer of the Children."
Here is a snip-it from Wikipedia about the song:
Prayer of the Children is a contemporary ballad written by Kurt Bestor. Bestor served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Serbia during the 1970s.
Bestor described how he came to write the song:
"Having lived in this war-torn country back in the late 1970's, I grew to love the people with whom I lived. It didn't matter to me their ethnic origin - Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian - they were all just happy fun people to me and I counted as friends people from each region. Of course, I was always aware of the bigotry and ethnic differences that bubbled just below the surface, but I always hoped that the peace this rich country enjoyed would continue indefinitely. Obviously that didn't happen. When Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito died, different political factions jockeyed for position and the inevitable happened - civil war. Suddenly my friends were pitted against each other. Serbian brother wouldn't talk to Croatian sister-in-law. Bosnian mother disowned Serbian son-in-law and so it went. Meanwhile, all I could do was stay glued to the TV back in the US and sink deeper in a sense of hopelessness. Finally, one night I began channeling these deep feelings into a wordless melody. Then little by little I added words....Can you hear....? Can you feel......? I started with these feelings - sensations that the children struggling to live in this difficult time might be feeling. Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian children all felt the same feelings of confusion and sadness and it was for them that I was writing this song."
He told Meridian Magazine:
"Those children didn't hate anybody," he said, "They didn't care about who owned the land, or who had the power or the money. These are adult neuroses. They just wanted to have a mom and dad and a place to play."
(If you want to view the lyrics, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_the_Children and scroll down until you reach the section titled, "Lyrics.")
Today in Concert Choir our teacher, Mr. T, was telling us to become emotionally attached to the song, and to show and make the audience feel what we felt, individually, about the song. He had us sing it a few times, and you know, it sounded good, but it needed, a- well, an UMPH.
SO- he told us to gather in a tight circle, and then he asked for a volunteer, he picked a guy, and told the guy to sit in the middle, and not sing. Just to listen and take it all in.
Then he turned of all the lights. He asked us if we had ever been scared, and needed one of our parents, but didn't know what to do. Everyone said yes. (To my knowledge, anyway...) Then he told us to sing to the little kid in the corner, who just had a nightmare, or just needs a hug. He told us to sing to that kid, and bring them hope. So- he gave the guys their starting note- and we sang. We sang to every soul who ever had felt afraid. We even sang to our own souls. We brought in a whole new meaning to hope. Everyone started crying, even the guys. It was the type of crying that is so contagious at Girl's Camp during Testimony Meeting. We felt so amazing. When we had finished singing, everyone sat there in awe, still crying- of course :D, until Mr. T said something to the meaning of, "Wow. That was amazing. You guys really connected. Today, just barely, you BECAME a CHOIR. Although some of you are crying-" Then many people joined in laughing, saying stuff like, "Some of us? More like all of us." Mr. T then continued, "That's okay though, that's great. Show the audience what we all felt today. If you start crying- don't try to fight it, let the audience see how you feel about this song."
Today we really did become a true choir. NO- more than that. We became a true family. We are truly connected now, better than the friendships we had before. Thank You CONCERT CHOIR!!!
Today has changed my life forever, and has made Concert Choir an even more amazing place than I, once again, could have possible imagined.
One of the songs we are working on right now, For our Holiday Concert, is called: "Prayer of the Children."
Here is a snip-it from Wikipedia about the song:
Prayer of the Children is a contemporary ballad written by Kurt Bestor. Bestor served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Serbia during the 1970s.
Bestor described how he came to write the song:
"Having lived in this war-torn country back in the late 1970's, I grew to love the people with whom I lived. It didn't matter to me their ethnic origin - Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian - they were all just happy fun people to me and I counted as friends people from each region. Of course, I was always aware of the bigotry and ethnic differences that bubbled just below the surface, but I always hoped that the peace this rich country enjoyed would continue indefinitely. Obviously that didn't happen. When Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito died, different political factions jockeyed for position and the inevitable happened - civil war. Suddenly my friends were pitted against each other. Serbian brother wouldn't talk to Croatian sister-in-law. Bosnian mother disowned Serbian son-in-law and so it went. Meanwhile, all I could do was stay glued to the TV back in the US and sink deeper in a sense of hopelessness. Finally, one night I began channeling these deep feelings into a wordless melody. Then little by little I added words....Can you hear....? Can you feel......? I started with these feelings - sensations that the children struggling to live in this difficult time might be feeling. Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian children all felt the same feelings of confusion and sadness and it was for them that I was writing this song."
He told Meridian Magazine:
"Those children didn't hate anybody," he said, "They didn't care about who owned the land, or who had the power or the money. These are adult neuroses. They just wanted to have a mom and dad and a place to play."
(If you want to view the lyrics, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_the_Children and scroll down until you reach the section titled, "Lyrics.")
Today in Concert Choir our teacher, Mr. T, was telling us to become emotionally attached to the song, and to show and make the audience feel what we felt, individually, about the song. He had us sing it a few times, and you know, it sounded good, but it needed, a- well, an UMPH.
SO- he told us to gather in a tight circle, and then he asked for a volunteer, he picked a guy, and told the guy to sit in the middle, and not sing. Just to listen and take it all in.
Then he turned of all the lights. He asked us if we had ever been scared, and needed one of our parents, but didn't know what to do. Everyone said yes. (To my knowledge, anyway...) Then he told us to sing to the little kid in the corner, who just had a nightmare, or just needs a hug. He told us to sing to that kid, and bring them hope. So- he gave the guys their starting note- and we sang. We sang to every soul who ever had felt afraid. We even sang to our own souls. We brought in a whole new meaning to hope. Everyone started crying, even the guys. It was the type of crying that is so contagious at Girl's Camp during Testimony Meeting. We felt so amazing. When we had finished singing, everyone sat there in awe, still crying- of course :D, until Mr. T said something to the meaning of, "Wow. That was amazing. You guys really connected. Today, just barely, you BECAME a CHOIR. Although some of you are crying-" Then many people joined in laughing, saying stuff like, "Some of us? More like all of us." Mr. T then continued, "That's okay though, that's great. Show the audience what we all felt today. If you start crying- don't try to fight it, let the audience see how you feel about this song."
Today we really did become a true choir. NO- more than that. We became a true family. We are truly connected now, better than the friendships we had before. Thank You CONCERT CHOIR!!!
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