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Right in the Middle

by Kristin Lensch, Organist-Choirmaster

 

My high school IB English teacher, Arzelee Drown, was that teacher. The one that you credit for helping you learn to love learning and with whom you are still in contact. We read so much wonderful stuff in those two years; Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Thoreau’s Walden, Kazantzakis’s Zorba the Greek, and Paton’s Cry, the beloved country, were some of my favorites. She always asked the big questions and had thought-provoking quotes on the whiteboard when we walked in to slip us into a good discussion.

 

I loved that practice so much that I started keeping a journal of quotes about music and the choral arts so that every couple of weeks, I could put one on the whiteboard in the choir room. Some of them are fun  (“God gave you three holes in your face. Breathe through all of them.”), some are instructive (“Listen louder than you sing.”), some are thought-provoking (“The magic of music is that it can set the spiritual context, while never telling us what to do.” – Rev. Dr. June Boyce-Tillman).

 

Calvary Choir with John Rutter

One of my favorite quotes that I put on the whiteboard comes from a world-renowned choral music composer and conductor, John Rutter. We had the privilege of meeting and singing for him on our last choir trip to England in 2022.

 

“Choral music is not one of life’s frills. It’s something that goes to the very heart of our humanity, our sense of community, and our souls. And when you get together with a group of other singers, it becomes more than the sum of the parts. All of those people are pouring out their hearts and souls in perfect harmony, which is kind of an emblem for what we need in this world, when so much of the world is at odds with itself … that just to express in symbolic terms, what it’s like when human beings are in harmony. That’s a lesson for our times and for all time.”

 

Week after week, all four of our choirs strive through music to create something beautiful to offer to you and to God. In my world, as conductor of the thirty-five-voice Calvary Choir, being right in the middle of their hearts and souls in perfect harmony is nothing short of incredible and humbling. But, as the choir has heard me often say, my favorite “choral” moment is not always everyone’s notes being sung correctly at the right time but hearing their collective breath in unison as they prepare to sing. Hearing the essence of their human bodies working together, breathing together. Oh my. That is inspirational.

 

Last Sunday, we read in the Epistle about what it means to be in community through Christ. Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

 

I think we all feel a sense of community at Calvary, and we are privileged to deepen that sense of community when we sing together. Joining our breath, our hearts, our souls with others.

 

Now, some of you don’t feel comfortable singing, I know. And that’s ok because you’re still right in the middle of it all. And if your hymnal or service leaflet is open and you’re reading those words along with us as they are being sung, you, too, are “a sum of the parts.”

 

I think, deep down, we all want to be part of something larger and greater than ourselves. We know there’s something more. We’re seeking God and turn to things that help us catch glimpses of the beyond that put us right in the middle of others who yearn for the same. And I think music is one of the aids that transports us.

 

One of the most significant events in Calvary’s life is coming up on March 2: the celebration of Calvary’s complete renovation. We’ll bless the spaces in the morning. But in the evening, we will sing. And we will be accompanied by our incredible, newly renovated, historic Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, an instrument that, by its very nature, supports our breath and voices with its wind and majestic tones. And afterward, in true Calvary style, we will eat! In community with one other.  Please come be right in the middle of it all, a “sum of the parts,” drinking of one Spirit, singing together.

 


38 thoughts on “Right in the Middle”

  1. Kristen, thanks for your words. We do, indeed, at our best strive to be in community and to be part of something larger than ourselves. Look forward to a packed house on March 2!!

  2. I love to sing! But I don’t have the training or credentials to sing in the choir, as much as listening to you choristers can move my soul. Consequently I’m eager to be present for the evening event. Thanks, Kristen, for inspiring us day after day and year after year.

  3. Lovely! Most know I am only someone who appreciates music and have never been asked to join an organized group of singers. But I was recently reminded that “choir” is from the Latin “chorus” meaning “a dance in a circle.”
    Dance, dance, wherever you may be! I am the lord of the dance said he. And I’ll lead you on, wherever you may be. And I’ll lead you on in the dance said he.

    1. Love this, Nedra! And, how coincidental, that exact same tune kept running around in my head as I wrote this, except with the words from Hymn 554, Tis the gift to be simple: “And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’twill be in the valley of love and delight.”

  4. Kristin, thank you so much for these words and for being such an advocate for the renovation of the pipe organ. Both are so inspirational!

    1. Thank you, Greta. Just think, all this work at Calvary is not just for us, but for MANY generations to come. So glad for everyone’s forward thinking and support in the project.

  5. What a wonderful blog post! Music is what brings me closest to God. I look forward to being in the middle of all the fabulous events on March 2!

  6. Kristin, This made my heart feel glad. Thank you for sharing your experiences and inspirations. I am looking forward to the hymn festival with great delight!

    1. Jocelyn, your comment made me think of the text of a beautiful anthem by Edward Bairstow: “I sat down under his shadow WITH GREAT DELIGHT, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” (Song of Solomon 2:3b-4) We will be sitting at a banquet on March 2 in the middle of the love of our Calvary community!

  7. Dr. Kristin Lensch,

    You are “right in the middle of our hearts and souls” because of your kindness and support. Even when my harmony is far from perfect, you are kind and supportive. It don’t get no better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. Oh how I agree Kristin. Now especially that my new Significant Other is a tenor and has been singing his whole life, I appreciate all of this even more. He is in the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble and I love its his passion. I will miss March 2nd as I will be there with him for his rehearsals for their next concert. I will always look forward to being back at Calvary with all the amazing energy that is vibrating with each of its parts.

    1. Zada, hooray for time with your Singing Significant Other! So glad you’re part of “the sum” here at Calvary.

  9. Nadia Boulanger:
    “Nothing is better than music when it takes us out of time. It has done more for us than we have the right to hope for: it has broadened the limits of our sorrowful life, it has lit up the sweetness of our hours of happiness by effacing the pettinesses that diminish us, bringing us back pure and new to what was, what will be, what music has created for us.”

  10. Nadia Boulanger:
    “Nothing is better than music when it takes us out of time. It has done more for us than we have the right to hope for: it has broadened the limits of our sorrowful life, it has lit up the sweetness of our hours of happiness by effacing the pettinesses that diminish us, bringing us back pure and new to what was, what will be, what music has created for us.”

    1. Jim, I miss you so much! Thank you for being part of this community and blog, and for this wonderful quote. I love Boulanger’s works. I’m adding it to my journal right now!

  11. Our outstanding choir and talented musicians are inspirations for me EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY! Thank you for working so hard to always make it look so easy to be a blessing. I love you, dear friend with all my heart!❤️

  12. So beautifully expressed, Kristin.You are a treasure. Your love of music, your knowledge and talent, and your spirituality are what makes Calvary’s choirs so powerful. I’ve always known that the choir did far more for me than I could ever contribute to the choir.

    1. You offered us a gift as a longtime singer, and you continue to contribute more than you know, by your kind words and appreciation.

  13. It’s a joy and privilege to get to sing at Calvary. Thank you for your steadfast teaching, care and love for us. And brava for our magnificent organ, made new!

    1. As St Augustine said, he who sings, prays twice!
      (Or words to that effect)
      Thank you for what you beautifully wrote and all you do!

  14. Beautifully written, Kristin. Music has always been a major part of helping me feel part of something larger. My grandmother gets most of the credit for introducing me to music. She taught me piano and persuaded me to sing in the choir when I was younger. It launched a life-long love of classical and choral music.

    The Calvary choir often brings me to tears and to a place of deep spiritual peace.

    1. Thank you for sharing this, Beau. What a wonderful grandmother who opened up this incredible world to you. You add a great deal to the sum of Calvary’s parts too, and I’m grateful for that.

  15. And you are a beautiful writer, too! Your many talents amaze and bless us, Kristin. And your spirit and heart bless us even more.

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