It’s Not About the Words #54
Some things in life you have to experience to describe. As I write about this, I’m sure I won’t do it justice. We attended Ali’s choir concert recently, and it’s always an uplifting experience as we enjoy choral music. We enjoy most forms of live music, but when it’s also one of your kids performing, it’s special.
When they began, they were singing all around us, not in front of us and the first song was terrific. It set the table for a rich experience.
The theme of the music was On Wings; Of Song, Of Birds, Of Love – the first song certainly captured that spirit as the choir moved to the stage. As we enjoyed the next few songs, and by the time director Nancy Grundahl introduced the husband and wife team who were joining the Angelica Encore Choral Ensemble for this performance, we were happily in a spring-y mood.
The couple call themselves Nation and are comprised of Jocelyn Hagen and Tim Takach. They took center stage and in an understated way, looked like any young couple who would attend the concert. When they opened their mouths, they were anything but understated.
Because we enjoy music, we see a fair number of concerts and always have, so we are not strangers to great talent. The fourth song was called “Hands.” The song has no words. Jocelyn started with an acapella solo, then Tim joined in with incredible harmony. It was not a blended harmony, as the song seemed to be swelling as the choir joined in to create some beautiful chaos, with rich vibrations that were moving. They were so moving that by the end of the song, we were all in tears.
The song itself was representative of our world, beautiful and chaotic, disorganized yet collaborative in moments, begging to organize and harmonize. As the choir began to decrescendo in harmony, leaving the couple to harmonize beautifully and Jocelyn standing to finish, they were all holding hands.
Without a word, music can convey so much. We were all united, and strangely, I never reached for my phone though once I returned to my senses, I wished I’d video taped the magic.
It was moving, it was connected, it all happened in less than three minutes. It said so much without one word. As leaders, what’s in the way of us doing the same? It’s not about the words, it’s in the music.
