Though we’re all as busy as the proverbial bees, this friendly blog could be a good way to get to know each other better, or to entertain thoughtful comments from our audiences. The blog space idea has developed as a curated set of entries built around inclusivity.
In this day and age of Instagram, Tik-Tok, and any other visual platforms on social media, we might well ask: what is the point of a textual blog?
Well, subtlety, sensitivity, inclusivity, and nuance, in a word or four. Words, more than the brief notes on X (previously known as Twitter) or Facebook, can carry much more meaning if we let them, and it’s meaning that we’re looking for in this blog.
What does it mean to us, to be members of this vibrant choir? What does it mean to the audience who listen, rapt and enthralled? Is there a sense of transcendence, as the late Larry Gordon, co-founder of Village Harmony in Vermont, used to say the singers he nurtured were looking for. Maybe there’s just (?just?) a mutual joy in singing together, as we saw so clearly at the klappa festival in Croatia, where the effusively delighted Dalmari octet sing one of the numbers we’ve been practising.
Every member of the SongWave Choir has a lifetime of experience, which they bring to the songs we sing.
We would like you to do a little something for the blog page too. In a survey of choir members over the summer of 2024, the vast majority wanted to read about the other members but only a third said they’d be prepared to write something about themselves. This is not how it works, so please have a go. It took Andrew about 15 minutes to do his and Larry tries hard to keep up with editing and checking before ‘publication’.
If you can’t think of what to write, just imagine you’re talking to someone at choir and they asked you:
- Who are you and where are you from?
- How did you come to join the choir?
- What do you like about being in the choir?
An alternative to asking yourself these questions is to pair up with someone, and ask them! Then, you could each go away and write, in the first person, the answers for each other! That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Answer these sorts of questions, at any rate, with any sort of detail and you’re pretty much there, between 300 and 500 words is great. Don’t worry if it’s longer or not very ‘polished’ as Larry can help with formatting before it goes in the members section.
Email your blog entry, with a picture of yourself to songwavechoir@gmail.com to get things started.