There is a running joke around here that if it weren't for my son's participation in something known as District Chorus and Regional Chorus, I would have have written nothing of any worth in the past 10 years.
When tackling book projects, I am fond of listening to music as a backdrop to my writing. No music connoisseur I, the stuff usually comes from whatever I have hanging around that seems to fit the nature and theme of the topic. But thanks to my son, I have drawn from his vocal performances to keep me on task.
A musical kid, my son participated in these vocal opportunities during his years in high school. And as an ever generous mother, I purchased not just the laminated photos of the full choruses, but the accompanying CDs from the concerts as well.
This has been standard operating procedure for me since my son started performing in public arenas with the regional youth orchestra at the tender age of 10. But the one difference between me and perhaps other parents who paid their obligatory financial homage to the orchestra, I listened to the CDs. And when he transitioned into singing and the above state competitions, I became faithful to those musical tracks as well.
But what sealed the deal was downloading those CDs into my computer's music library, which makes it easy to listen to the music by just clicking on an icon. My last two novels were written completely to the sounds created by these now-defunct, one-time choruses.
If these kids only knew how they inspired me, well, I doubt they would believe it. I have become so familiar with these tracks because according to my music library, I have listened to some of them hundreds of times. I can pick out specific voices, including my son's.
And at least just for a little while, I am transported back to another time, sitting in the audience before a stage of robed young choral singers who look and sound like angels.
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