My heart pounded in my chest, as if about to burst with all the joy, excitement, and nervousness that I was feeling. It was my first concert with Musica de Filia. I was eight years old, and although I can no longer remember the song titles, I will never forget that day.

All the way to the church that we were to sing at, my friend Sydney and I sang the tunes over and over again. Even though we were both altos, one of us would always sing the soprano line to create harmony.

As the car pulled into the parking lot my heart seemed to stop in unison with the car. I couldn’t believe that the spring concert was finally here! Sydney and I creaked the heavy door open, and walked nervously inside (I more nervous than her.) We looked around blankly for a few seconds but then our eyes locked on the “sign in” desk, and we trotted over to the woman sitting there. We stated our names, and then cautiously walked into the sanctuary. I was absolutely amazed at what I saw. The ceilings were HUGE, and the stained glass windows were gorgeous, words don’t even begin to describe it. In all my eight years I had never seen anything so beautiful.

Jaye (the director) called all of the Lyric Choir (the youngest choir) up to rehearse the songs one last time. A sea of little girls in black dresses climbed onto the stage and filed onto the risers. After we had practiced a few songs it was time for people to start arriving. We went into one of the backrooms and waited for the time when Jay would call us onto the stage.

Finally the moment arrived. I can’t quite remember the small trip from the room to the stage, but somehow we got there. My big green eyes widened at the sight of the faces in the audience, but they looked happy enough, so my tensed muscles relaxed.

Abruptly, the accompaniment started and about three seconds later our vocal chords were set to work. Our small voices echoed in the wonderful acoustics of the church. Jay motioned for us to decrescendo and we followed her every hand movement as if our lives depended on it. I don’t know if anyone else felt it, but I did. For the few minutes that we were on stage singing about four year olds being naughty, and the three-part harmony in “Who Can Sail,” it felt like we were no longer ourselves but we were all one person. Like we had each given a part of ourselves to the music.

Then as quickly as it had started, it stopped just as fast we exited the stage, I knew that the concert had changed my life forever. Singing I now knew, would always be a part of my life.


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