 |
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
By Pam Bennett Young, Artistic Director, Brenham Children's Chorus
It was singing in the choir at Baylor that
afforded me my very first trip on an airplane. While that
life-changing excursion happened for me as a college freshman,
thirty-one youngsters from Brenham recently made that first flight
as a performer at a much younger age. Along with fifteen adults,
these talented and enthusiastic fourth through eighth graders flew
to Wisconsin for the first full-fledged concert tour of the four
year old Brenham Children's Chorus.
More than half of the singers had never flown before, so the
adventure began with much nail biting and apprehension. However,
snack service and XM radio on the plane went a long way in settling
frayed nerves and before we knew it we had successfully changed
flights in Atlanta and were in Milwaukee following Paul and Booty
Pomeroy to our charter bus and the beautiful Wisconsin countryside.
Our first stop was the lakeside town of Fond du Lac where music
teacher Dan Fee brought students from two elementary schools to join
us in song. The history and beauty of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
in Fondulac provided the perfect setting for the pure voices of our
Brenham Children. It was a joy to sing such masterpieces as John
Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth" and Camille Saint-Saens'
"Praise to the Lord of Hosts" amidst German Victorian ecclesiastical
carvings of twenty-five intricate angels and the twelve apostles
surrounded by stained glass and marble and many American carvings
from as early as 1880. The Fondulac children joined us in singing
the traditional German song "Music Alone Shall Live" and cathedral
organist, John Penkoske played the antiphonal pipe organ with herald
trumpets. The cathedral is hoping to start a children's chorus soon
and the leaders seemed inspired by the success of our Brenham
children and delighted at the response of the audience. One of the
teachers said, "I should be feeling burned out since school just
ended for the year, but I'm excited and enthusiastic about the
future after hearing what you have been able to accomplish with
these children".
The following day we participated in a choral workshop and had a
grand time playing singing games, dancing and performing for the
local children. We shared some of our favorite songs and activities,
Mr. Penkoske taught us about the pipe organ and the harpsichord, and
Mr. Fee taught us some fun new music before hosting a picnic of
grilled brats and all the trimmings for us on Lake Winnebago. It was
at the picnic that we first noticed our trip seemed to have a
magical quality that flowed over everything we did like an enormous
rainbow glittering over us. For example, we just happened to hear
the captivating strains of a bagpipe across the lake on a nearby
pier. Amy Bentke, one of our chaperones, talked to the piper and
brought him back to play for us. Not only was he a national award
winning piper, but he was also a member of the local high school
choir and was more than happy to play a concert for us along with a
lesson in piping and a chance for all of us to sing along.
A shopping excursion and a concert in the park rounded out our Fond
du Lac stay and we were off to Appleton and Lawrence University
where Director of Choral Studies, Richard Bjella worked with our
Brenham children for several hours in the university chapel. Mr.
Bjella, who has conducted in Prague, Paris, Lucerne, London and in
over 350 festivals in the United States, was very complimentary of
the vocal accomplishments of our children and, in the opinion of
this artistic director, brought them to a new level of artistry. It
was truly an amazing thing to see "my kids" have the privilege of
working with this distinguished conductor at such an early age.
From Appleton we journeyed to the sparkling water and verdant
pastures of Door County; but not without first stopping to visit the
Vince Lombardi statue at Lambeau Field. Cheeseheads and Packers
memorabilia stuffed our backpacks as we once again boarded the bus
where we were so taken with the beauty of the lakes and farms around
us that we were unable to keep from singing as we traveled. That
evening we were introduced as the special guests of the American
Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin's Peninsula State Park when we
attended the original musical, "A Cabin With a View".
The following morning we visited the Door County Maritime Museum,
especially enjoying the exhibit, "Pirates", before taking many a
souvenir pirate sword and eye patch on our pontoon boat excursion
across Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Five of our fantastic chaperones
played the role of captain and steered us safely through our
luncheon cruise. We finished our day with a concert at Bay View
Lutheran Church that this director believes was the best performance
in the history of Brenham Children's Chorus. From the processional
accompanied by our older singers playing hand chimes to the
patriotic finale, I saw that much sought after spark in the eyes of
my charges that told me they knew they were creating art. What
amazing musical growth I witnessed during this short week. We were
so thrilled that we had so many friends from Brenham in our audience
that night such as Mae Dean and Bill Burnap, Booty and Paul Pomeroy,
and Nancy and Mike Shoup, in addition to our chaperones. A local
television station recorded this performance for a future air date.
The culmination of our rainbow shaded week was a full day of
rehearsing with an honor choir made up of children from three school
districts in Door County. Rehearsing and performing in Southern Door
Community Auditorium was a perfect way to end our week. Carmen Youra,
the music teacher who was our host, told me that our concert had
"driven her curriculum all year long" and that we had inspired them
to do what they had never done before by bringing the surrounding
counties together for a performance. Our Brenham kids, who had been
a bit shy at the beginning of the week, entered the auditorium as
artistic ambassadors, at ease walking up to children they had never
met while striking up conversations that would make any parent
proud. When it came time to perform, the Brenham Children's Chorus
wowed the audience with poise and musicianship by performing
everything from the classics, spirituals and art songs to a singing,
dancing extravaganza medley from "High School Musical" with finesse.
The program ended with the Door County children joining us on stage
to sing "Prayer for the Children" and a choreographed medley of
American songs entitled, "Our America" which ended with the smallest
child waving a large flag center stage. The audience leapt to their
feet and many tears were seen glistening in the eyes of parents and
grandparents across the auditorium.
After a long bus ride back to Milwaukee we happened upon a group of
soldiers in the airport and the children were able to experience
firsthand the thrill of being prepared for every eventuality.
Because they knew their music and choreography so well, they were
able to perform their medley of patriotic music without
accompaniment for these very appreciative soldiers and the gathering
crowds right in the middle of the airport. We presented many
impromptu concerts throughout the tour, from singing to an older
couple by the lake to performing in restaurants, but this
serendipitous moment was the number one rainbow moment of the trip.
Speaking of which, after a long day of changing planes we arrived
back in steamy Houston tired, but glowing contentedly with hearts
full of music well done, friendships made and lives forever changed
to board those two yellow BISD buses for the last leg of our
journey. Somewhere between Houston and Brenham, one of the kids
proclaimed, "Mrs. Young! Look, there's our rainbow!" And there it
was, stretching the entire width of the horizon, complete, a perfect
rainbow of seven distinct colors. For an instant there was silence
as we all looked out the bus windows to our left remembering what
was the perfect storybook trip and feeling thankful that the rainbow
was waiting for us at home, too.
Pam Bennett Young
Pam Bennett Young is the Artistic Director of the Brenham Children's
Chorus and teaches Music at Krause Elementary School in Brenham ISD.
|
