with one voice

the first time i heard the voices last semester, it made me stop in my tracks just to listen to that unearthly echo. no, i wasn't hallucinating - after tracking down the source, a couple of us found a huge group of students in lobby 10, participating in the mit choir's community sing. i had never heard of it before, but apparently it's a once-a-semester event where the choir invites anyone and everyone to grab some sheet music and join in with song. such an awesome idea! it created quite the spectacle for passersby and was fun to watch, being something very unique to mit.

so, when i saw the poster advertising the 3rd annual community sing to take place today, how could i possibly resist? it's been such a long time since i had participated in any sort of formal musical group that i was just itching to return to the music. after a bit of convincing, i got reem to come down with me and join with the sopranos. the repertoire was rather broad, spanning a supposed 500 years of musical tradition. some of it i had never heard before and was just sight reading (very rusty... although i managed), but others like "o fortuna" from carmina burana or handal's hallelujah chorus were familiar and made me excited to sing again.

how i miss the presence of music in my life... this hour of time was such a nice break from studio and work in general, and reminded me of all the many facets of mit and how much there really is out there beyond our studio walls. music has such a communal feel to it... maybe i'll try getting involved somewhere/somehow...once i have some time. (we'll see about that.)

i didn't get to take any pictures, but i found an mit student who posted some online. these aren't from today, but you get a sense of what the experience is like.

the hallelujah chorus also reminded me of easter, since we had sung it at park street earlier this week. happy easter! it's such a joyful song, although the high A's sort of kill my out-of-shape voice. for me, though, it does seem to embody the celebration of the cross.

for a funny rendition, some nuns and the chorus!