Singing to Grace

Note: I wrote a version of the following for the Concentus Women's Chorus blog, but thought I'd adapt it slightly and share it here, too:

My singing sisters in Concentus have been through some major life events with me in my four years with them - cancer diagnoses, engagements, weddings.... So it was with great joy that I announced to them in early 2015: “I’m pregnant!” And when I learned I would be having a girl, I announced to them with glee that I was growing a future member of Concentus. In both cases, and in every other way, the women of Concentus have offered me their loving and joyful support in this exciting new adventure in my life.

But perhaps one of the greatest gifts and joys Concentus has provided as I have grown this baby girl over the past months is an opportunity to sing beautiful music to her. Of course, I can sing any and every time I want – I sing often in church, in the car, doing chores, you name it. But having this time every week to come together with some of the most incredible women I know and sing lovely music to my daughter has made me feel not only happy, but also deeply satisfied. Singing to my baby, even as she is still in utero, just feels like the most natural thing in the world to me, and to do it surrounded by so many beautiful voices is a gift indeed. (Though of course, my personal project for nine months has been to instill those alto parts in her early on!)

Surrounding Grace with excellent music has been a joy on every level. Here are some ways:

When Concentus sat on stage while the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsed Handel’s Water Music before our May 2015 concert with them, I sat right behind the horns, and boy did Grace love that! Whether the delightful harmonies or the intense vibrations, I don’t know, but her first appearance on stage with the RPO (first of many?!) was certainly a delightful one for both of us!

Being a cradle Lutheran, of course I love to sing hymns to Grace, because hymns are the songs of my faith, the way I pray and express that faith. I prefer to sing her songs that include her name, and my favorite is the wonderful Danish hymn, O Day Full of Grace. ("Oh day full of grace which now we see appearing on earth's horizon...") I sing this to her often in the car, and usually I can count on getting a little dance show from her in response. I have been singing other hymns to her, too, many of my favorites, so that I can instill in her a love of these songs of faith before she even knows it is happening!

To appease my rock-&-roll-loving husband, I also like to put on our vinyl recordings of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and Fleetwood Mac. Grace seems to enjoy the visceral experience of a vinyl record played on vintage speakers as much as we do!

Sometimes I pull out my ukulele and my book, The Daily Ukulele: 365 Songs for Better Living, and

play for her, knowing that she will be able to not only hear the songs, many of which are classics from various genres, but also feel the vibrations of the ukulele pressed against her. I'm not sure she knows what to make of this yet (except that it presses in a bit on her already limited space!), but it is a certain precursor to what will undoubtedly be one of her first instruments.

Whatever it is we are listening to or performing, music has already been a bonding experience for my daughter and me. I pray that it will continue to be, in whatever capacity, and that music will be for Grace all that it has been for me: a means by which to grow spiritually, emotionally, and expressively, to share who and what I am with the world

(And for the record, I think she will sing in Concentus someday – alto, of course – because every time I play one of our recordings, she gets very excited and moves along with the music!)