For the last two summers, I've spent one week with a bunch of Episcopalians on the beautiful Holy Mountain of Sewanee, Tennessee. There we sing great music, spend time worshipping with an amazing community, and (of course, because it's a music conference for Episcopalians) drank great booze. My first meeting of Mark Schweizer came on [...]
Hello from beautiful London, England, everyone! I've been blogging for the Athena Study Abroad program for the past couple of weeks as part of my study abroad program so I haven't had much of a chance to pay any attention to my own blog. My Athena blog is mostly about the experiences I'm taking part [...]
12,000 people. 1,200 college students. 4,450 choral directors. 6,000 performers. 4 SVSU students. 2 SVSU faculty. 1 national conference. In a city where 460,000 people already lived. And it was epic. This conference experience was a new one for me. Sure, I've attended state conventions in Michigan. And they've been lovely! I always enjoy being [...]
I am four weeks away from being a senior in college. FOUR. WEEKS. AWAY. How weird is that? My mom definitely thinks it's weird. After this semester, I have three more semesters of school and then I student teach. And then it's out to the real world to inspire students about making music. Yeah. I'm [...]
I've been listening to a lot of music lately. Yes, I'm sure you're thinking, "Claire you're a music major. Isn't that your job? To listen to music and learn?" Well, yeah. It is. But I'm not talking about listening for school. I'm talking about listening for enjoyment, listening just to listen, listening to learn about [...]
It's week 9. We're halfway through the semester. Everyone is sick, everyone is tired, everyone is hating school. Myself included. I'm exhausted. I'm in class from 8am-6pm Monday through Thursday, rehearsals after school on Monday and Thursday nights, I work 8am-6:30pm on Friday and Saturday, and by the time Sunday rolls around, an entire week [...]
The school year is officially in session. And this Jesus-loving girl is loving her classes! I am officially and 100 percent into my music education classes now. I'm learning how to run choral programs (even though I'm already mostly on my way to do that by the MANY choirs I've been involved in throughout the [...]
I've had a really great couple of days. That's half of the reason why I didn't blog yesterday. Because I was relishing in the good days I was having and I just wanted to experience it. The Sewanee Church Music Conference choir is working extra, EXTRA hard for our Evensong service tonight. Which we get [...]
Holy poop guys. The first full day of the conference has come and gone. And boy was it busy. We started our day with a rehearsal. Lemme tell you. There's something sort of exciting about starting the day off with some singing. It's empowering. The clinician this week is Bob Simpson. He directs one of [...]
You're probably reading the title of this post and thinking, what the heck does black diamond mean and why does it apply to your music conference experience in Tennessee? I promise that the full meaning of this post will be revealed the more you read on. Please continue! Being in a place that is oozing God's handiwork [...]
Messy Bun & Jesus 