Last weekend it finally happened: the choir anniversary concert. In terms of my hobbies, it was probably the most anticipated event of the year. It also was the last big activity planned before the arrival of Bubsi’s sibling. Read on if you want to be in on the fun!
“My choir”
Ever since my first semester at university, back in the fall of 2008, I have been singing in a choir. The university choir was then just a year old, and had recently acquired a professional conductor. I love singing, and I also really enjoyed the emergent character of the choir group in its founding stages. Everything could be shaped, and very soon I joined the management board. Over the course of my bachelor years, I put a lot of heartblood into the choir. My close friends used to say it was like my baby, and I suppose they were right. Managing the affairs of the choir became my unpaid part-time job, and many singers my closest friends. We put up a lot of working structures to keep the choir running over the years to come, and the community feeling was fantastic. When I graduated and left the university, leaving the choir proved to be the most difficult part emotionally.
Little did I know that just over a year later, I would join the choir again. Having been offered a research job at the university while doing my Master’s degree abroad, I returned to my hobby with elation. Working on both the degree and my job, I had no time to manage choir affairs anymore but I happily sang every Monday evening. I was glad to see the structures we had built were working fine. When my degree was finished, I briefly took over the management again for a lack of volunteers until Bubsi announced her imminent arrival. I kept singing until two weeks before she was born, and rejoined when we returned to Germany from London last fall. Basically, the choir feels like it is a part of me, “my choir”.
Ten year anniversary
This year marks something special: it is 10 years since the choir was founded. Our conductor had this brilliant idea of calling back all alumni singers and staging a big anniversary concert. Over 40 alumni said they would return to their alma mater for the event, and so we have been preparing for it a couple of months. Forty people is more than double the size of the current choir membership, and posed quite the logistical challenge. Venue, funding, PR, accomodation, songs, practice,… Everyone knows different pieces of music and was there at a different point in time. Being pregnant again and having a toddler made me take a step back from helping to organize the event, but I was still consulted a lot and Papa got quite agitated about the amount of emotional involvement I invested. I guess when something is such a big part of your life story, you cannot help but be involved. Especially when management, sadly, has sort of deteriorated over the last few semesters. But that is a whole other story.
I know most of the alumni who returned for the anniversary concert very well. Aside from the event itself, I was hyped to see everyone again and catch up, especially with those singers I hadn’t seen in ages. We agreed to host one of my former Alto colleagues who graduated so long ago she doesn’t know anyone else in town anymore, and it was lovely to have her. Being close to the end of my pregancy, my energy levels were already quite low last weekend. Thus, I could not spent as much time at the afterparty as I would have liked to, but still I managed to talk to most of the people I missed dearly at least briefly. But how did the weekend actually go?
The anniversary concert weekend
The anniversary concert weekend happened on the first weekend of November. Most alumni arrived on Friday evening, and so did our friend whom we hosted. That evening, we had a first rehearsal for everyone who was already there. We had distributed scores and midis about two months in advance of the date so people could practice at home. Still, there were less than 24 hours till concert time and people were at very different levels of preparation. Friday night we thus focused on the music. Saturday morning we then rehearsed the actual show: who sings what song at what time. Where do people stand, how do we go on and off stage, what will the announcements be. After a lunchbreak, we resumed rehearsing the music itself in the right choreography. A tone master came and helped with the sound and microphones. Sooner than expected it was already five pm, doors open to the public.
The anniversary concert itself went surprisingly well. Considering we were not used to singing together in such a big group, on quite a small stage. And considering we had very little time with all singers present. Of course there were hickups. Did the public notice? Whatever! This was less for the public and more for us anyways. The social party afterwards was so much fun! Sad I did not have that much energy left but glad my last big activity of the year was such a success. I will always remember my time in tge choir fondly. Now it is time to focus on the last trimester and the new baby to come!
Do you also have a hobby you enjoy?
