Singing In Germany

I sang Mozart’s Mass in C Minor last night for over 2 hours. Our choir is preparing for our Legendary Haydn/Mozart concert on April 9.11. Every Tuesday we rehearse from 7:30 to 10:00. I look forward to it every week. It is safe to assume that I love to sing. I sing whenever I get a chance or my spirit moves me.

This story is an example of how an opportunity to sing fused with my spirit. After going on a student exchange program in Lithuania, I toured around Europe with two friends, J and Sammy. On our 3^rd day we were in the south of Germany staying in a town called Fussen tucked away in the Bavarian mountains. We took a local bus out into the country side to see the castle that inspired the Disney “Cinderella Castle.” It is called Neuschwanstien. I will save everyone from a history lesson but it is a very interesting castle.

We wandered around the grounds and eventually decided to pay for an English tour. At the time I enjoyed learning about history so it was lots of fun. Of course the highlight of the tour has to do with singing. To my delight, we entered a grand hall that was built specifically for private performances. It was beautiful. I was not really listening to our tour guide. I was looking around. There was something really special about this room. My ears perked up when the tour guide said that this performance hall was acoustically perfect.

I went from being a young man in my 20s to a kid in a candy store where everything is free. I was nervous because I had to sing and I did not know how it could happen. There were approximately 15 people in our tour group plus the guide. I looked around for signs or security and found none. My mind was all over the place trying to solve my problem. My heart was racing. I had to find a way. I had to sing.

My chance came as I was lagging behind at the back of the group. We were lead to a small door with a tiny staircase that went down 2 stories to the kitchen. I made sure that I was the last person to go down. As you may have guessed, I stopped at the top, turned around and went back into the hall. Standing in the middle of the room I sang O Holy Night from start to finish. If there is anything that I would equate to soaring through the clouds like a bird, it was singing in that hall.