Tayler's+Formal+Essay

I recently had one of the best vocal performances of my career. During this performance I knew that this is what is was meant to be doing. The event was the 2009 St. Mary’s all county honor chorus. I matured and grew as a singer this was astounding. As I stood on stage, beads of sweat dripping down my face. I nervously looked upon the audience with confidence. Our first song was a renaissance piece known as: //O sing Joyfully//. This song was high energy and filled with jubilance. Little did they know the intensity and talent that was about to be displayed in a few moments. As our conductor signaled for our accompanist to begin playing our first song, I took in a long breath that seemed to last forever. The first note was beautiful; it was well supported and carried beautifully throughout the auditorium. I felt even more confident than before so I began to sing out, and found myself lost within the music. As we sang our last chord I sighed in relief that our performance was decent so far. As we paused and took in the thunderous applause I prepared myself for the next song and then eyeballed my neighbor who was not ready. Our second piece was called //Omnia Sol// (Let your heart be stayed). This is sung half in Latin. We cruised through this song with absolutely no problem. Some of our cut offs were not all together but our chorus made up for it with a beautiful sound. Finally we moved on to one of the most serious pieces of the performance. It is known as //Remember//, it is sad and very emotional to sing. I put on my sincere and sad face to connect the way I felt to the audience. As the song ended we had a moment of sheer silence and as I looked out into the faces in the audience, I saw tears running slowly down their cheeks that then rested there. I myself felt sorrow and remorse, but then realized that the lyrics say to be happy so I happily moved on to the next piece which happened to be an all girl piece sung in SSA format. The girls this year were talented and filled with energy and enthusiasm. There song was very pretty. It was a gospel piece called: //Looking out over Jordan//. I could do nothing but sway as the girls sang the song. But little did they know, the guys could bring the same intensity and soul that they displayed. As I took in air for //He’s not Heavy he’s My brother//, I thought about my first note which happened to be an F. We sang through the song and definitely stole the show from the girls. The audience applauded us louder than before thinking it was the end of the concert. However, our last song was a gospel that we had yet to sing. We began to sing the piece and to our surprise it sounded even better in concert than it did in dress rehearsal. The audience began to sway and clap and become lost in the music just as we had. The feeling in the room was amazing I felt like every problem I had or a stress was taken away by the moment. Everything became a blur all I knew was to keep singing we knew it was time for the song to end so we sang over and over again the audience begging us not to stop so as we left the stage we kept singing. As we entered the chorus room to reflect on our performance there was not a moment of silence as we cheered for ourselves. The whole group had worked so hard to achieve this level of greatness and this feeling of being on top of the world. We soon had to leave but who said the feeling had to go away? Even today after the performance I still feel uplifted. I now know why we worked to hard, I now begin to think of ways that I could apply this to my chorus group back at Leonardtown. I hope that those who were not selected for this chorus get to feel what I felt. This motivates me to motivate them to work toward that kind of vocal talent that the all county chorus of St. Mary’s all county had achieved. This was truly the best choir I have ever sung in throughout my vocal career. This performance meant a lot to me because in my first few years in high school chorus I was under heavy criticism. I was told I wasn’t that good and that no one could hear me sing. This performance showed that I really was as talented as my teachers said and the audience could hear me. This experience meant to me that I was a good singer and that I no longer and to be shy about singing. 