Two Weeks Until Our Concert

Off the top of my head I cannot recall what, if anything, I have told you about the com-
munity choir I belong to. I joined it in August, and since that time (what is that, four months now?) we have been working on Handel'sMessiah and a couple of short Bach pieces. We will perform in two weeks at this theater. There will also be a community Christmas carol sing-along and we will have a six-piece professional orchestra playing with us. Will Rogers performed at this theater. Ethyl Barrymore performed here as well. It was built in 1928 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alas, I have decided to forego my experience of singing at Carnegie Hall in January. Since I was diagnosed with diabetes I have had a series of unexpected expenses which have cut my budget to the thin side, too squeaky close for my comfort. In case I didn't explain that opportunity fully, I was invited to sing at Carnegie Hall as part of a mass choir made up of people from across the country. We were to sing a mass for peace on Martin Luther King's birthday.

I just got the music about a week ago. The full score is about 100 pages. That was a lot of music to learn in a very short time -- just over a month -- on top of what we've already spent months learning for this local concert.

I am sad at passing up this opportunity, but the practical side of me knows I have made the correct decision for now. Other opportunities will present themselves in the future. What makes me saddest is that one of my lifelong friends and her daughter, both from the Austin area in Texas, were going to meet me in New York to come to the performance and we were going to share a room and hang out in our free time. However, we can make plans to do something similar for a lot less money at a time when we won't be sloshing snow in our shoes.

It would have been great, though!