I would like to comment on a trend that seems to have exploded in the modern music scene over the last few years. I'm not going to speculate on where it originated or why it originated. But it seems to be proliferating itself exponentially--judging by the number of qualifying songs floating around on today's airwaves.
Anyway, the trend is this: twentysomething males with whiny, nasal voices who sound as though their throats are so closed off, only the barest thread of voice escapes in between their overabundance of glottal stops.
My comment: I don't like it. It makes my larynx ache.
Showing posts with label singing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label singing. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2008
a lot of modern music just doesn't swing my verge
Saturday, June 30, 2007
the singing campaign
Last week, the Chemnitz church finished up our annual two-week campaign with the singing group from OC. As I mentioned in a blopgost from a few days ago, this is the campaign that originally led Ed and me and "a horn-shaped container filled with fruits and grain emblematic of abundance" (aka a cornucopia) of people to full-time and part-time work with the church in Saxony. When we were still living stateside, Ed was part of this campaign group for 8 summers in a row, starting in 1994; and I was part of the group 5 summers in a row, starting in 1997.
And, as I have also mentioned in previous posts, it's interesting to see how God's plans are often so very different from humans' plans. When Ed and I moved to Chemnitz, we thought our work with the singing campaign was done. Oh, we knew that we'd still be working with this group every summer, because Clyde and Gwen and their successors would continue to put the group together and come to Saxony every year. But Ed and I thought that from the time of our arrival in Chemnitz, our role would be solely a "native" one: helping coordinate and organize and encourage on the Chemnitz side of things; introducing the group to the church and to the city every year; offering our car (when we still had one) for transportation needs; bringing drinks and snacks to the gospel meetings at which the group would sing; things of that sort. We thought that as far as being part of the group was concerned, that chapter of our lives was closed.
But God had other ideas. Apparently, he still considers the Singing Campaign Chapter of our lives to be very much open, and he has been proving this to us over and over again during the past few years. I guess it started when in 2002, we innocently stood up with the group to sing with them a few times. Just for fun, you see. But that started a pattern of singing with them "just for fun" a few times every year. Shades of things to come!
Then, in 2005, for various reasons that would be too long to explain, the group wasn't able to come to Germany. Suddenly, the Saxon churches in Chemnitz and Oelsnitz were without a yearly summer campaign team. Chemnitz chose to focus solely on Let's Start Talking that year; but Oelsnitz wanted to go ahead with their gospel meeting, and they asked us for help.
And so, the "Chemnitz A Cappella Singers" were born. ;o) At that point, the group was an octet consisting of April and me (soprano); Amanda and Karen (alto); Alex and Steffen (tenor); and Ed and Larry (bass). Since then, we've added Jan on tenor, which makes our group a...what? A nontet?
Anyway, our Chemnitz group sang in Oelsnitz in 2005, and we've been singing together ever since. In 2006, Chad and Stefanie Anderson brought the singing campaign from OC, and they asked our group to sing with theirs. While they were in Oelsnitz, we sang with them as often as schedules permitted. While they were in Chemnitz, at least part of our Chemnitz group sang with them every day.
This year—as in, starting about two weeks ago—our Chemnitz group did the same thing as last year. So, in essence, we were part of the campaign team: not just in our “native” roles, but also as “full-fledged singers” in the OC group. And that’s why I say that the Singing Campaign Chapter of the Cantrells’ lives isn’t as over as we originally thought it would be.
Not that we regret this. It’s a lot of hard, challenging work and requires tremendous amounts of flexibility, but we consider it an honor as well as great fun to be able to sing with the OC group. :o)
Anyway…all of this leads into telling of some of the thoughts about the future that Ed and I have had recently. Recently, as in, during the course of the last year. In considering our move to Oklahoma, Ed and I have been very clear (I believe) in telling people that even though we are leaving Germany for now, this doesn’t mean we aren’t coming back! Either on a temporary or on a long-term basis. Yes, we are keeping our opitions open…and our hearts open to wherever God might lead us when. If he leads us to Africa or Brazil or Denmark, then that’s where we’ll go. Suffice it to say that we’ll go where he wants us to go, wherever that might be.
But as far as Chemnitz is concerned: We do plan on coming back, if it’s God’s will. At this point, he seems to be pointing us in the direction of……you guessed it……the OC singing campaign! It’s too soon to tell, of course, and I don’t want to count any unhatched barnyard fowl…but there’s a possibility that Ed might get a job in OKC which would allow us to have summers off. And if we had summers off, then we would be free to join the singing campaign and come back to Saxony with the group every summer.
NOTE: All of this is SPECULATION. We’re making no guarantees, and at this point we’re not going past the stage of merely hoping. We’ve talked with Chad and Stefanie about this, and they’re all for it. Ed and I are all for it, too, if it works out the way we hope it might.
My point in writing this isn’t to make some big announcement regarding our future plans. Although it probably seems like I’m standing on a corner, blaring out the news! ;o) No, my point in telling this long, epic tale is merely to show that once again, God is showing us so many more possibilities than we ourselves ever thought of originally. He always has something different and something more wonderful in mind than we do.
Yes, it’s an uncertain life we live, in the sense that we never know what’s around the next corner. BUT! it’s a *wonderfully* uncertain life, a grand adventure with the Lord as our guide, our protector, and our encourager. We have faith in him and trust that no matter where this grand adventure might lead us, it is all within the confines of his perfect plan, and his loving hand is sheltering us every step of the way.
My hat is off to you if you've read all of this. I don't believe in cutting my thoughts down to bite-size simply to satisfy a world with an ever-decreasing attention span. ;o)
And, as I have also mentioned in previous posts, it's interesting to see how God's plans are often so very different from humans' plans. When Ed and I moved to Chemnitz, we thought our work with the singing campaign was done. Oh, we knew that we'd still be working with this group every summer, because Clyde and Gwen and their successors would continue to put the group together and come to Saxony every year. But Ed and I thought that from the time of our arrival in Chemnitz, our role would be solely a "native" one: helping coordinate and organize and encourage on the Chemnitz side of things; introducing the group to the church and to the city every year; offering our car (when we still had one) for transportation needs; bringing drinks and snacks to the gospel meetings at which the group would sing; things of that sort. We thought that as far as being part of the group was concerned, that chapter of our lives was closed.
But God had other ideas. Apparently, he still considers the Singing Campaign Chapter of our lives to be very much open, and he has been proving this to us over and over again during the past few years. I guess it started when in 2002, we innocently stood up with the group to sing with them a few times. Just for fun, you see. But that started a pattern of singing with them "just for fun" a few times every year. Shades of things to come!
Then, in 2005, for various reasons that would be too long to explain, the group wasn't able to come to Germany. Suddenly, the Saxon churches in Chemnitz and Oelsnitz were without a yearly summer campaign team. Chemnitz chose to focus solely on Let's Start Talking that year; but Oelsnitz wanted to go ahead with their gospel meeting, and they asked us for help.
And so, the "Chemnitz A Cappella Singers" were born. ;o) At that point, the group was an octet consisting of April and me (soprano); Amanda and Karen (alto); Alex and Steffen (tenor); and Ed and Larry (bass). Since then, we've added Jan on tenor, which makes our group a...what? A nontet?
Anyway, our Chemnitz group sang in Oelsnitz in 2005, and we've been singing together ever since. In 2006, Chad and Stefanie Anderson brought the singing campaign from OC, and they asked our group to sing with theirs. While they were in Oelsnitz, we sang with them as often as schedules permitted. While they were in Chemnitz, at least part of our Chemnitz group sang with them every day.
This year—as in, starting about two weeks ago—our Chemnitz group did the same thing as last year. So, in essence, we were part of the campaign team: not just in our “native” roles, but also as “full-fledged singers” in the OC group. And that’s why I say that the Singing Campaign Chapter of the Cantrells’ lives isn’t as over as we originally thought it would be.
Not that we regret this. It’s a lot of hard, challenging work and requires tremendous amounts of flexibility, but we consider it an honor as well as great fun to be able to sing with the OC group. :o)
Anyway…all of this leads into telling of some of the thoughts about the future that Ed and I have had recently. Recently, as in, during the course of the last year. In considering our move to Oklahoma, Ed and I have been very clear (I believe) in telling people that even though we are leaving Germany for now, this doesn’t mean we aren’t coming back! Either on a temporary or on a long-term basis. Yes, we are keeping our opitions open…and our hearts open to wherever God might lead us when. If he leads us to Africa or Brazil or Denmark, then that’s where we’ll go. Suffice it to say that we’ll go where he wants us to go, wherever that might be.
But as far as Chemnitz is concerned: We do plan on coming back, if it’s God’s will. At this point, he seems to be pointing us in the direction of……you guessed it……the OC singing campaign! It’s too soon to tell, of course, and I don’t want to count any unhatched barnyard fowl…but there’s a possibility that Ed might get a job in OKC which would allow us to have summers off. And if we had summers off, then we would be free to join the singing campaign and come back to Saxony with the group every summer.
NOTE: All of this is SPECULATION. We’re making no guarantees, and at this point we’re not going past the stage of merely hoping. We’ve talked with Chad and Stefanie about this, and they’re all for it. Ed and I are all for it, too, if it works out the way we hope it might.
My point in writing this isn’t to make some big announcement regarding our future plans. Although it probably seems like I’m standing on a corner, blaring out the news! ;o) No, my point in telling this long, epic tale is merely to show that once again, God is showing us so many more possibilities than we ourselves ever thought of originally. He always has something different and something more wonderful in mind than we do.
Yes, it’s an uncertain life we live, in the sense that we never know what’s around the next corner. BUT! it’s a *wonderfully* uncertain life, a grand adventure with the Lord as our guide, our protector, and our encourager. We have faith in him and trust that no matter where this grand adventure might lead us, it is all within the confines of his perfect plan, and his loving hand is sheltering us every step of the way.
My hat is off to you if you've read all of this. I don't believe in cutting my thoughts down to bite-size simply to satisfy a world with an ever-decreasing attention span. ;o)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
signs of life
Yo. I thought I'd give a quick run-down of the goings-on around here.
Last week, finished up our yearly 6-week Let’s Start Talking campaign.
Had a great team this year: Bekah, Erin, and Greta, who are/were students at Pepperdine.
Lemme tell ya, they rock the LST world.
They really swing the LST verge, if you will.
Or even if you won’t.
;o)
I won’t say too much here about the positive, encouraging effect the three of them had on me while they were here.
They already know. :o)
But they were part of helping me through a rough spot a few weeks ago.
God showed himself to me through them, right at a time when I needed it.
During the last five days, toured Chemnitz schools and marketplace with singing campaign from Oklahoma Christian.
This is the campaign that led Ed and me to Chemnitz.
And April and Clint.
And Karen.
And Stoltes and Carrolls and Martins to Dresden.
And a plethora of other people to other places in Europe.
And a whole kit ‘n’ caboodle of other people on short-term missions worldwide.
All thanks to two amazing people, Clyde and Gwen Antwine, just serving God where and when and as they can.
I can’t describe how much these two people mean to me.
Anyway, Clyde and Gwen (aka Dad and Mom/Queenie) are in Dresden for a few weeks, and they came to hear the campaign group (with us Chemnitzers) sing last night.
155 in the audience.
80 guests.
Clyde and Gwen led a standing ovation and made me cry.
We had two encores.
It was great.
People told us that they could see our love for God in our faces when we sang.
He definitely had the hearts and voices of our whole group in his hand.
Trying to keep up with the campaigners has shown me I am no longer 20.
This is a rather disturbing realization.
But I wasn’t too bright when I was 20.
So I still think 30 is pretty cool.
I’d like to write more, because a lot has been going on in my head/heart, but I don’t have time.
This is a weird blopgost.
But it was fun to write.
Gret’s “staccato” email inspired it.
I’m looking forward to some downtime this coming week.
But I’m also enjoying all the hullabaloo of late.
:o)
Last week, finished up our yearly 6-week Let’s Start Talking campaign.
Had a great team this year: Bekah, Erin, and Greta, who are/were students at Pepperdine.
Lemme tell ya, they rock the LST world.
They really swing the LST verge, if you will.
Or even if you won’t.
;o)
I won’t say too much here about the positive, encouraging effect the three of them had on me while they were here.
They already know. :o)
But they were part of helping me through a rough spot a few weeks ago.
God showed himself to me through them, right at a time when I needed it.
During the last five days, toured Chemnitz schools and marketplace with singing campaign from Oklahoma Christian.
This is the campaign that led Ed and me to Chemnitz.
And April and Clint.
And Karen.
And Stoltes and Carrolls and Martins to Dresden.
And a plethora of other people to other places in Europe.
And a whole kit ‘n’ caboodle of other people on short-term missions worldwide.
All thanks to two amazing people, Clyde and Gwen Antwine, just serving God where and when and as they can.
I can’t describe how much these two people mean to me.
Anyway, Clyde and Gwen (aka Dad and Mom/Queenie) are in Dresden for a few weeks, and they came to hear the campaign group (with us Chemnitzers) sing last night.
155 in the audience.
80 guests.
Clyde and Gwen led a standing ovation and made me cry.
We had two encores.
It was great.
People told us that they could see our love for God in our faces when we sang.
He definitely had the hearts and voices of our whole group in his hand.
Trying to keep up with the campaigners has shown me I am no longer 20.
This is a rather disturbing realization.
But I wasn’t too bright when I was 20.
So I still think 30 is pretty cool.
I’d like to write more, because a lot has been going on in my head/heart, but I don’t have time.
This is a weird blopgost.
But it was fun to write.
Gret’s “staccato” email inspired it.
I’m looking forward to some downtime this coming week.
But I’m also enjoying all the hullabaloo of late.
:o)
Monday, February 26, 2007
happy birthday to me.....sort of
So. Today, I am chronologically 30 years old. Contrary to what one might expect, being 30 doesn't bother me in the least. Actually, I think it's kind of cool. I like getting older. It means I'm learning and growing. Besides, I wouldn't want to be 20 again even if you paid me.
However, what does bother me about having a birthday today is being sick. Yes, once again, I'm sick. Or maybe not again, but still. I did start feeling a lot better last week. But over the weekend, things started going down the tube again. I went back to my earnosethroat specialist this morning, and she gave me the lovely news that I have some sort of virus. Woo.
So I've cancelled my birthday coffee that was supposed to take place this afternoon, I can't go to rehearsal tonight, and I'm "written sick" the rest of the week. The doctor said this could take two weeks to run its course. What's really frustrating is that if I'm still having problems on Saturday, I am under orders not to sing in our "concert" on Sunday. (More on that later.)
I'm trying to remain factual here and not complain.....but may I say that I AM MAD ENOUGH TO SPIT?! Not at my doctor, of course.....but at my weak immune system and at the situation.
In other news, I spent the weekend at the Advanced Bible Study Seminar (or is it Series?) (ABSS) in Gemünden (near Frankfurt). The lessons were excellent, and especially the one on Sunday morning really struck me. At some point this week, I'll write something about it and post it here. Or maybe I'll actually update Have Some Water for the first time in over a year.
Stay tuned! I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands this week. ;o)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
