Well, Blythe and I are finally back close to home, and have a moment to settle down after our whirlwind trip to San Antonio for the TMEA Convention. It was nice to not be teaching these last two days, but I think we'd both say that we are more worn out from the several sessions we went to, all the concerts that we saw, and all the "rubbing elbows" and small talk with other music teachers from Texas. It has been a while since I've been to the convention, and it was the first time that I've been as a teacher. The two times I had gone before, I was there as a student at Sam Houston. It really was a joy, and an experience that I won't forget.
A couple of quick notes about some of the things we were able to see, hear, and do in San Antonio:
The first session we went to after getting to the convention and signing in, was a talk back session with an a cappella group called the Swingle Singers. This is a group of 8 singers from around the world that write their own arrangements of a cappella music. They sang a concert on Wednesday night, but we didn't get in to town until lunch time on Thursday, so I had heard so much about this group that we made it a point to at least see this talk session. They talked about their audition process, their rehearsal techniques, and how they work so well as an ensemble.
The rest of that day, we spent most of our time walking around with two of our very best friends, Skip and Darcy McLinden. I have been friends with Skip since my freshmen year of college. I'll never forget my first day in the Sam Houston choir rehearsal, he was so kind to come up and introduce himself, and ask me how my first days of school were going. He have had so many great memories since that day. When he and Darcy got married, Blythe and I both wasted no time in getting to know her, and now when the four of us go out, you never know WHAT is going to happen!!
On Friday, Blythe and I set a schedule for ourselves that allowed us to be in a new session every hour and a half. We saw a great session by composer Roger Emerson on improving your junior high choirs, a very helpful sight singing session by a friend of mine named Heather Orr, and an UNBELIEVABLE session by the American Boy Choir. This session was directed towards effectively warming up a choir. Some of the warm-ups were specific to boys, but in general the routine of their warm-ups can be used by boys or girls. These singers were incredible singers that were all between fifth and eighth grades. To start their singing warm-ups the director would simply say, "Let's sing this exercise in D Major. Some one please give me a 'D'"." When he said that several boys who could hear the pitch in their head would raise their hand to volunteer to sing the 'D' for the choir to sing and start their warm-up. This is crazy impressive as it shows that most of these boys have what is called 'perfect pitch' and can pick these notes out of thin air. Very cool to see!
Through our couple of days, we also saw a couple of great choir concerts. Including: Midway Junior High and High School, Knox Junior High, and Cy-Woods High School. These concerts were all great motivation for what I can aim for through my career as a choir director.
Anyways. . . Well, Blythe and I had a great weekend. We certainly missed Carter like crazy, but we know that he was in good hands with his Nana and Papaw. Things are still looking pretty busy for us both through the next month and a half or so with UIL choir contest, Blythe's One Act Play contest, and I start rehearsals for another show a week from Tuesday.
That's all for now. As we get closer to baseball season, I'll be putting my thoughts together about the Astros and give you my best prediction on how things will turn out. (Let's hope this prediction turns out better than my Super Bowl prediction.)
Peace Out,
Luke
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