Saturday, 27 January 2007

What Weekend?

I honestly don't like it when I don't get to sleep in on the weekends. School's kinda tough when you get to college, and that means that sleep becomes that more of a precious commodity. Well, once again, the final weekend of January saw me do anything but that, for the fifth year in a row, and the seventh time of my life.

The Michigan Music Conference was held for the second year in the DeVos Place/Amway Grand Plaza Hotel after exactly sixty years as the Michigan Music Educators In-Service Conference at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. This time the State Honors Choirs were done justice and performed in the DeVos Performance Hall like they deserved, rather than in one of those enormous ball rooms with rows and rows of plastic chairs and no visibility.

It's still a little bit strange attending this as a "teacher" rather than a student. I'm definitely not like the high school students hanging around the Exhibition Halls in between rehearsals, but I'm not exactly like the teachers out in the profession. They did recognize all the college & university students at the keynote address, which was kind of cool. The sessions were targeted at us too, like the conducting session. That session in particular was helpful-it reinforced what Dr. Richmond has been teaching us in conducting courses, so I've reaffirmed that I definitely have a winner as a conducting instructor. Seeing Ms. Sopha's always good too. I guess I have to face it-my former teachers will always be mentors to me.

Possibly the best was dinner at the Cornucopia. Mr. DeBoer went way out of his way to arrange a nice dinner for all the Hope faculty, students, and alumni in attendance, and not only was it FAR cheaper than those receptions that other schools held, it was more substantial, more formal (linen tablecloths and two courses), and we actually got to sit down! While all the "adults" and a few of our colleagues sat together at the big tables, the rest of us let our hair down and acted like a bunch of kids at the two tables along the wall. Between Jeff's endless stream of nuttiness, Maggie and Lisa playing with the teapots, Maggie building the house of sugar packets, and Mari Jo & Susie just interacting together (always a laugh), I loved it.

Hope College's CMENC chapter attending the Michigan Music Conference - where we learn to be professionals and act like children together.

House church for Engedi is tomorrow!!!! HURRAY!!!!!