Retreat, Fall 2012

Welcome to the 2012-2013 edition of University Singers! And what better way to introduce the choir than to share some of our experiences from retreat?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with retreat, this is the time we take at the beginning of each semester to focus ourselves and gather our courage for an intense weekend of rehearsal. While we take giant strides with the music itself, we also have the opportunity to hear from our presidency, as well as our wonderful director, Dr. Ronald Staheli. We got to spend time getting to truly know each other so that we can learn to trust and risk and "lead-follow, follow-lead." We review the Singers Psyche and what it means to be a member of this unique choir, and perhaps most importantly, we build relationships that will hopefully last into the eternities.

Last night, we met at 6:00 pm in one of the upstairs rooms of the Wilkinson Student Center (WSC) for a delicious Italian dinner that pulled everyone's abdomens nice and low, leaving our diaphragms plenty of room to expand (unless you were like me and ate so much that you left absolutely no room at all). Once our food settled, we cleared away the tables and assembled for rehearsal. We made some good progress, and then it was time for rotations, where we split into sections and spend some time opening up about our goals for this year, going over parts with Dr. Staheli, and playing games like "I Never" to get to know each other. I wish I had pictures to share from this, but suffice it to say that we all had a blast. We ended the night with brownies and ice cream while our president shared some thoughts and  Dr. Staheli introduced of each member of the choir (name, hometown, choral history, and some unique personal attributes). Every year he amazes us with his ability to remember so much about each individual with no notes! We absolutely LOVE working under his direction, and we left that evening eager for the coming year.

This morning, we all got up nice and early (some hit "snooze" more than others) to meet at the Museum of Art (MOA) and carpool out to The Barn. To clarify, "The Barn" literally is a big, wooden, red barn out in Mapleton. We are so thankful to the Thuesons, owners of The Barn and long-time friends of the BYU choirs, for letting us come and use the space to rehearse and rejuvenate. We walked in and were instantly greeted by the smell of dozens of pancakes on the griddle, sticky syrup, thick slices of ham, and fluffy, scrambled eggs, not to mention the watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, orange juice, and creamy chocolate milk! They sure do spoil us! Most of us couldn't resist second helpings, and some people even went back for thirds and fourths (and in Jonnie's case, sixths and sevenths)! It was a great way to start an early, productive morning, and as soon as we could, we jumped right into rehearsal. We started off with some thoughts from our vice-president and Dr. Staheli, who opened it up for discussion about each aspect of our Singers Psyche. With all the blood rushing from our brains to our stomachs, though, it wasn't long before some of us needed a good stretch to stay awake, so that's exactly what we did. We jumped up, stretched, and began work on the morning's schedule of repertoire. Once again, we made some excellent progress, particularly on a piece entitled Everyone Sang, written for us by our own dear Matthew Nielsen before he left to pursue his doctorate in choral conducting at USC this year. We sang it all the way through successfully (and mostly memorized!) for the first time, and we can't wait for him to come hear us perform it. Thank you, Matt! Anyway, around noon, we took a lunch break and had some time to explore the area and play outside in the warm sunshine. One of our favorite things about The Barn is the pond/lake out back. It's always a blast to take turns in the canoes and paddle-boat. Luckily, we had no canoe-tipping casualties and soggy choir members to report this year, though it has been know to happen in the past. By this point in retreat, we're all pretty good friends, so it's fun to spend time with everybody. I think the pictures speak for themselves. :)

"The Barn"
(back view)

Top to bottom: Jason Ross, Mason Neipp, Brendan Owens, with Paul Black for support 

Karli West (me) and Cassi Rindlisbacher

Mark Zabriskie and Rachel Brown out on a canoe

Cassi's "I never..." was that she'd never caught a fish, so she decided to try. No luck. Maybe next time.

Steven Branham climbing in the rafters

David Hilton and Traci Brown

Andrew Ford and Lauren Butler

"Just around the riverbend....."

Chilling on the dock: (l-r) Heather Barton, Jason Ross, Marianne Bement, Cassi Rindlisbacher, Geneil Perkins, Lauren Butler, Brandon Bastian

back to rehearse

We returned for one more intense push of afternoon rehearsal, and by the end, I think we all felt exhausted, yet accomplished. You know, that happy/tired feeling? Something wonderful about Singers is that it takes such hard, focused work, but the end result is so rewarding. We get to spend an hour or more every day with some of the most incredible people this world has to offer, and we are so blessed to have the opportunities we do. We love our God, and we strive to allow His influence into the music we sing, for we know that it is only because of Him that we are here. We are so incredibly excited to see what this year has to offer and look forward to sharing our music starting this weekend at the Choral Showcase! We hope to see you there!