As part of a World Peace Festival entitled, "Dream Big. Change the World" which was organized and performed entirely by people under the age of 35, I had been asked to lead the chorus. This chorus was comprised of 350 people from the ages of 11-35 who came from the Eastern United States from Maine to the Caribbean. Some people have been on Broadway and some had never sung a note in their lives...
We all learned a wonderful song by John Legend entitled, "If You're Out There", as well as an original song, "Rise". Our challenge was to bring everyone together and unite not only musically, but with our hearts and souls to spread the messages of these songs to a crowd of roughly 12,000 people in attendance at The Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia.
There were many challenges and obstacles that tried to stop us in our quest, not to mention the fact that we only had a day and a half to really bring it all together before the performance! Through blistering heat, a young woman collapsing of dehydration, some people not having access to or knowing the arrangements of the songs before getting there, another young woman breaking her foot getting off the bus, acoustical problems in the arena that made it difficult to sing with the backing tracks, people who had traveled as far as New Orleans for this festival, people with severe lack of sleep (I had a total of 9 hours of sleep in 3 days!), nerves that come with singing in front of 12,000 people, people's own personal obstacles, etc...It turned out to be a huge victory, not only for me, but for the people I had the privilege of conducting and uniting with, as well as everyone who attended our performance.
One of the most triumphant moments for the chorus group was when we decided, as a chorus of 350 people, to sing one of our songs a capella! When I suggested this initially, I thought people might shy away or object, but in my heart I knew they were all ready to take it on. Apparently, they all thought so too...Just at the suggestion of this challenge, they were cheering and celebrating with joy! At that moment, I KNEW that these are the people I would want to go into "battle" with...(Funny enough, for the sake of world peace! LOL!)
When we performed, from the moment they stood up in perfect unison, I knew something very special was about to happen. I felt everyone collectively break through the obstacles in their lives, whether they wanted to be the best accountant, performer, student, etc. when we all sang (From "If You're Out There"): IF YOU'RE READY WE CAN SHAKE THE WORLD! BELIEVE AGAIN!!! IT STARTS WITHIN!!! WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR DESTINY!!! WE SHOULD BE THE CHANGE THAT WE WANT TO SEE...IF YOU'RE OUT THERE!!!!!!!
It is a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life. The power of music is truly amazing.
I have eaten, slept and breathed music for most of my life. To be in a position to introduce music to people who have never encountered it on this level before really brought me back to why I love performing so much. In learning how to teach what I know, it brought me back to thinking about all the fantastic people who taught me so selflessly, to do what it is I am able to do today as a performer. It also made me appreciate and better understand my younger sister's position as a music educator. To be able to give in this way really opened my life up in ways I'm still trying to fully process.
It made me realize that striving to be a performer on Broadway for World Peace is only a piece of a much bigger puzzle. I haven't figured out the entire puzzle yet, but I am going to enjoy the journey SO MUCH!!!!
To the people that I am so grateful to have shared this experience with, I know this is just the beginning of many more wonderful things to come!!! You were fearless, through it all!!! And absolutely united and amazing...You all taught me so much! THANK YOU!!!! It's about so much more than just the music!
I feel like this experience is going to change the way I approach all of my work and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all manifests itself!
Here is a picture of the chorus and me:
And another picture of me conducting with my fabulous pink gloves at the dress rehearsal:
And here is a video of the chorus performance at the festival:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDkd5rU3g18
