Nathanael's choir, The Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, performed two songs at the Winter Choral Concert by the Grand Rapids Community College Choirs yesterday afternoon. Ray stayed home with the other kids so our typical Sunday afternoon routine wasn't too disrupted, and I took Nathanael into Grand Rapids. The men and boys choir sang last, so we all had a chance to enjoy what ended up being over an hour of traditional and modern choral pieces, along with several instrumental solos and some vocal jazz. My favorite was a piece by Eric Whitacre that put several of Ogden Nash's nonsense animal poems to music. I'm so grateful that God has given us the gift of music, and the command to sing new songs as well as old.
Although all the choirs did well, I was most impressed by the boys choir, by their attention. They sat for over an hour, listening to music that probably does not appear on their playlists. I didn't see any antsy-ness or even a bathroom run. They showed respect for the musicians and the directors in their behavior. Well done!
The pieces they sang, Ave Verum Corpus and Coronation Anthem by Handel, are beautiful pieces, and the latter piece sounded incredible with all the choirs participating. The choir director is training the character as well as the voices of these boys. God does well at bringing additional influences into our children's lives to add to what we are doing at home and provide knowledge and experiences that we cannot.
