Hello. It’s been a while since I’ve posted—partially because of the holidays, partially because of sickness, but also because I hit a wall. We performed our school concert, and afterward I honestly didn’t know what to say. I didn’t feel like sharing or being vulnerable. I wasn’t excited about connecting with others. I didn’t want to post the concert performance because I felt like I might disappoint the people who have been so supportive of this journey… even though I was proud of my students.

Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of why I started this journey in the first place. I was trying to create a polished product. Putting on a performance sometimes does that to me. I started feeling like I needed to manufacture “professional singers.” But the truth is, I’m happiest as a teacher when I see teenagers fall in love with singing—just like when I directed my very first church youth choir. And yet somehow I still drift back toward chasing perfection… which is impossible. As my brilliant wife reminds me, I’m still “learning and growing.” Having healthy high standards is the goal for me.

A veteran teacher once told me that the only two things choir directors can agree on is talking poorly about a director who’s not in the room. A big part of me believes that’s true, and maybe that’s why I hesitate to share the concert. I didn’t want to hear what people would say or I couldn’t stand imagining what they might say. It took me some time to process everything. But now that I’ve worked through all that noise, I’m happy to report that the video is currently being processed and edited by the amazing Coach Stewart at Lawson, and I’ll share it as soon as it’s ready. You have to hear these children sing!!!!

In the meantime, I would like to give some shoutouts.

First, our student soloist who was supposed to open Kanye West’s Heartless had an emergency dentist appointment and couldn’t make the concert. He was incredibly disappointed. Lo and behold… THE VARSITY HEAD FOOTBALL COACH STEPPED IN AND SANG THE SOLO—AND KILLED IT. Go Coach Lilly! The example you set for these young men is unbelievable.

And next, a massive thank you to O’Charley’s of Bellevue for providing a pre-concert dinner for all 200 choristers from Lawson and H.G. Hill Middle School. Your generosity meant the world to us. I hope people can come and visit the Bellevue store and share their appreciation.

Finally, I would like to thank the Lawson Administration and Faculty for their support of GGC by wearing their t-shirts and encouraging the students!!!

It is a tradition of mine that after every concert I allow my choir members to reflect by answering specific prompts. I personally feel that we as humans don’t reflect enough and we are always going to the next thing without fulling appreciating all aspects before we are ready to move on. Below is the pdf that I used for this past concert. Feel free to download it.

In my opinion, the concert went incredibly well, and all four Lawson choirs gave their very best. There were so many wonderful moments across the ensembles—improvisatory solos, student pianists, student conductors, crowd sing-alongs, and spontaneous moments of joy that filled the Lawson Performing Arts Center.

Even though there were multiple choirs on the concert, I want to end this post by focusing in on just one group.

The Gridiron Glee Club continues to be one of the most fascinating musical experiments I’ve ever been part of, and hearing teenage boys articulate their experience is something special. In their post-concert reflections, a few freshmen football players shared their thoughts about performing in their first choir concert. I selected some of the standouts. Here’s what they had to say:

• I think the songs where we were all together sounded amazing.
• I can hit a pretty high note on this song pretty well.
• I would like to try to make an honor ensemble next school year. I need to be more focused.
• Everybody plays a position and if its played well by everybody, the team looks good just like a sports team.
• We grow the most when we work together just like playing on the field.
• I liked singing the Mozart.
• It was cool to hear Chamber Choir.
• I want to make my voice so that it can be a higher pitch.
• We can play sports and sing.
• We need to lock in more.

The positive attention these boys are receiving from members of the other choirs is palpable. I continue to plead with these choirs that if they invest in GGC, the dividends will pay off down the road in numerous areas. I believe they now understand this and through their own creative ways, they continue to advocate for one choir family. I promise that although I will continue to improve the choirs, I will remember my perfectionistic tendencies and stop before I hit the wall. Everyone will get over the wall….myself included. (See what I did there?)

Next post will be the concert video. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned and stay in tune.