Last night I had the privilege of singing with four of my colleagues, Cantors Elizabeth Shammash, Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, Magda Fishman and Jen Cohen, in a concert put on my by my good friend and colleague, Cantor Stephen Stein, accompanied by the talented Scott Stein.
I have been singing professionally in one form or another since my early 20's. Though my life is not focused on having a "career" in singing the way it was in my 20's, it is still a great source of joy to me to have a performance.
I would divide that joy into three phases:
The first is having a specific goal to work towards. It is very hard to sustain oneself as a performer in a vacuum. To continue the daily work of practice and study that it takes to really maintain the skills that were so hard won earlier in life, and to continue the journey of always striving to be better takes incredible discipline and commitment, and I freely confess it is much easier to come by when there is a date on the calendar. Then there is a clear routine of practice and preparation in which I engage that gives some kind of shape to my work as a singer. I am also very fortunate to have a wonderful teacher—the reality of singing is that everything hinges on the teacher—but that is another post for another day.
The second part is the actual performance. (I will skip the day of the performance which is kind of a black hole). There is always a different audience and a different chemistry to the performance. With a good accompanist, there is a wonderful collaboration that happens on a stage. And best of all for me are the concerts with other singers—with time I have come to really value and crave the opportunity to make music with others. Last night was an exceptional group of performers and I enjoyed watching them shine as much or more than singing myself. It is an amazing miracle that each and every person has their own unique voice and talent and I got to know these super talented women better through their remarkable talents and signature styles— which spanned the jazz, pop, stage, cantorial and classical repertoire.
finale
curtain call
Then the third part is the day after, when I find myself invigorated and super-charged with energy. It is the same me, the same body, but there is more energy. I always marvel at this phenomenon—we haven't eaten some new super food or ingested some mood altering drug, yet everything is different based on some experience we've had. Our own brains release this extra boost. If only it were possible to always access this, without needing to go through a performance or other forms of extreme sports.
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