The past week +

I pulled... two all nighters to finish the Modeling Modesty Handbook* (thanks for your assistance!).

I traveled... to northern WI.

I gave... two presentations (with PowerPoint; that was fun) to 130 or so ladies at the Embracing Your Call to Holiness Conference. Great response, and great event!

I visited... several wonderful families we know in Northern WI, and my grandparents on the way home.

I enjoyed... Sarah home on Spring break!

I felt... the pain of too many priests and seminarians under attack. The battle for souls is at an all-time high.

I welcomed... the first days of Spring.

I saw... A Walk to Remember with sisters and friends for "girls' movie night"

I practiced... for the upcoming Seven Last Words of Christ Performance, the premiere Lenten meditation/passion play of Chicagoland. With nearly 100 performers, it includes a large choir performing Dubois' classical contata (that's where I am), several professional soloists, live orchestra, and actors. Purchase tickets online, or call (815) 727-3018.

I smiled... at my music students' recital last night, and the pleasure of seeing their joy.

I went... from one big project right into another, as I write an Easter Play for my RE Program. As soon as I hit "publish", it's back to that now...

I (just) watched... this inspiring movie. I remember seeing this skilled gentleman last year at the Sacred Music Colloquium. Never say "can't".

I stole (shamelessly)... the style of this post from my sister. :) Love you, sis.

~~~

*To request a copy of the Modeling Modesty Handbook, email me at lily maiden @ sbc global . net (remove the spaces).

Showing Off My Students

This morning during music lessons, I had two families here and placed these four precious young ladies (two sets of sisters) filling every octave of the piano to play Twinkle...something my sisters, friends and I used to have such fun doing when we were small! This is Twinkle Variation B, which you will recognize if you know Suzuki music literature. :)

This was my first-ever YouTube video uploaded...and I learned that it was not near as simple or quick as I expected it would be! Oh, well, I hope you enjoy. :)

Music in Utero: The Smile of the Unborn

As both a pro-lifer and a musician, I find this article so beautiful. Here's a taste:

The footage was part of a recent PBS special, The Music Instinct:
Science & Song. The program was an exploration of, among other things,
music’s “biological, emotional and psychological impact on humans.”

Part of this “exploration” included how music affects babies. If we
are, as some scientists believe, “wired for music,” then babies are ideal test
subjects since their reactions are, by definition, instinctual.

Part of this research involved the effect of music on fetuses.
While we knew that mothers often sing to their unborn children, we weren’t sure
that the unborn child could hear them.

We are now. A segment of The Music Instinct featured Sheila C. Woodward of the University of Southern California, who has studied fetal responses to music. A camera and a microphone designed for underwater use were inserted into the uterus of a pregnant woman. And then Woodward sang.

The hydrophone picked up two sounds: the “whooshing” of the uterine
artery and the unmistakable sound of a woman singing a lullaby.

Then something extraordinary happened. Upon hearing the woman’s
voice, the unborn child smiled.

It was one of those moments that makes you catch your breath. The
full humanity of the fetus could not have been clearer if he had turned to the
camera and winked.

Apparently, fetal responses to music aren’t limited to smiling. They have been observed moving their hands in response to music, almost as if conducting. They have been soothed by Vivaldi and disturbed by loud tracks from Beethoven. They have even responded “rhythmically to rhythms tapped on [their] mother’s belly.”

Read the rest here. Thrilling...and powerful!

Too, too sweet

Is this not the sweetest thing? An impromptu performance at Mayo Clinic, by a couple married for 62 years — and the husband just turned 90!

HT: The Millers

"Perfectly Relaxing Songs"

This offer is too good not to share! Hat tip to American Papist...

All Saints

All Saints' Day was actually Saturday (Nov 1), but this song was too fun not to share. Enjoy!

"Saint Song"

Through the Week in Feminine Dress: Day 5

Yesterday was our Suzuki String group concert. I'm a teacher, Sarah's a helper, and Veronica and David are students.

I accented my concert black outfit — a long linen skirt and a chiffon top with ties at the neck —with a ribbon sash to add a touch of spring color. The sleeves are my favorite part of this top! However, being chiffon with lace inserts makes it it very sheer. Worn alone or even with a tank top camisole underneath, the sheer lace up the sleeves can still be somewhat glaring (and distracting, according to the Modesty Survey). :)

So... I just wear a solid long-sleeve stretch shirt underneath, which both makes a lining for the chiffon and fills in the sheer lace on the sleeves. Voila!

My shoes are actually a pair of character dance shoes that I like so well, I use them for formalwear. :)

My jeweled cross...

Oh, and if anyone's wondering if I wore this all day, I didn't. :) Before I changed for the evening concert, I actually wore the same outfit as on Friday (the denim and pink).

Sweetness

Last night, thanks to the invitation of a professional violinist with whom we've had the chance to become aquinted with recently, I had the opportunity to see Rachel Barton play in person — for free! (It was a final rehearsal for the a nearby concert she's playing this weekend...we all got to go.)

It was sublime. So incredible that a person can take that instrument and bring from it such sweetness! It's the kind of sound in which one can simply melt. Just amazing.

Our violinist friend summed it up exactly, I think: "She has an absolute gift from God".

"Faith on My Sleeve"

My godmother Simonetta, who also happens to be a Catholic singer-songwriter (in addition to homeschool mom and Director of the Little Flowers Catholic Dance and Theatre Troupe) released her long-awaited latest album last week on St. Valentine's Day!

From her website:

Be Not Afraid!
We can wear our Faith on our sleeve to the depths it exists in our hearts! If at Confirmation, we become Soldiers of Christ: then we should go out and fight for Him with Love being our sword and the Rosary our sheild, never looking back, ever moving forward, towards Him.Find solace in the interior life, be comforted by God's ineffable Love, and be bold in showing your love for Him, because one person can change the world: You!

If you want some wonderful, connect-you-with-the-Lord and wake-up-your-soul music, look no further! This album is beautiful, with melodies that are sometimes soothing, sometimes catchy, sometimes invigorating...and always inspiring. We've already listened to ours a number of times, and each time it grows on me more, and I get something more from the rich lyrics.

By the way, my sister Sarah and I are actually on one song on the album, along with a few other girls... her rendition of the "Hail Mary".

Best of all, through the Saint Philomena Foundation, you can request a copy of this beautiful Catholic album for free. Well, what are you waiting for? Head on over!

My new profile picture

was taken after our concert with the Joliet Symphony Orchestra on the first of the month. Since it's rather small in the profile, and I'm not sure how to change the size, here's a little larger view... actually, the whole thing.

Appassionata: Musicians to the King

Claire H., Violin
Sarah H., Violin
Veronica H., Violin
Mary K., Harp
Laura K., Harp

(Appassionata is the name of our small chamber group when we play weddings and other special events. Incidentally, we are also all members of our town's Symphony/Community Orchestra. Well, Veronica is not quite, but probably soon...)

By the way, "appassionata" is an (Italian) musical term meaning "with passion".

The Harvest is Plentiful...

I read a delicious poem and the story behind it over at the Bonny Glen the other day. The colorful words and scene pictured brought several things to mind...

The Solitary Reaper

by William Wordsworth

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the Vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands:

A voice so shrilling ne'er was heard

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?—

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of to-day?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

I saw her singing at her work,

And o'er the sickle bending;—

I listen'd, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

..........................................

In many ways, I hope my life reflects that of The Reaper. A lass, laboring about her work, and singing "as if her song could have no ending". When souls "stop here, or gently pass", I hope they catch a glimpse of a working, maiden soul, a heart lifted in song; though not an eternally "melancholy strain", but a prayerful, joyous one. A life blended of work and song, the life of a laborer in the field. In some ways, solitary, but at the same time, surrounded by life. I shall say solitary in calling, but united in destiny.

And by the grace of the Lord of the vineyard, may those who pass by and see the maiden at her work be prompted to listen, perhaps "motionless and still", and as they continue on their way, the music in their heart be bore.


May the life, the work of this maiden be naught but one sweet, unending song, offered by a laboring heart and soul in the hopes of laying before the Master a bountiful harvest. Amen.

"The harvest is plentiful

but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,

to send out workers

into his harvest field."

(Matthew 9:37-38)

Finished!

Yay! I'm finished the Suzuki Violin Book 1 Teacher Training Course. These two weeks have certainly been intense... but I've been able to learn and grow so much. As this time in my life our Lord seems to have called me to serve through my love of children and music by teaching it to them. And I love that with the Suzuki program, it's not just about learning to play the instrument -- it's about developing a beautiful heart. Perhaps at some point I'll share a few of the written assignments that I completed as part of the course here, to help better explain the philosophy and approach of this method.

It's so amazing how the days here seem to have sped by, and yet have at the same time gone so slowly! It seems like yesterday that we arrived, and yet it feels like we've been here forever. And we have done so much each day that by the time late afternoon comes, morning seems like a long, long time ago. There were days when I would exclaim "Was it really this morning when we did such-and-such?". Such is the never-solved paradox of time, I suppose! Thanks be to our good God Who gives each moment to us. May we wisely choose how we spend each of them.

The next big event around the corner for me is speaking (tomorrow morning, no less) at the Illinois State Fair. If you remember to offer a prayer for me sometime around then, that would be so appreciated. I'm going to be doing an Extempore Speech -- meaning I'm handed a topic when I get there and 45 minutes later, have to speak on it. Definitely a practice of The Rebelution's motto "Do Hard Things". :) You see, through all my years of public speaking with 4-H, etc. I always said I would/could never doing an extempore speech. It's now my final year as a 4-H member, and I decided for the county contest in Feb. that I would tackle the thing I "could never do". It ended up being a great experience and... I was selected to go to State Fair. So it's the whole nine yards now. :) I am going to have to speak on a current event (will be handed three from a hat to choose from) -- I just hope it's something I'll know what to say about. :) I'm actually looking forward to it, though...the exercise of pushing yourself "outside your comfort zone" is so freeing -- and so good for learning how to trust Him more. I'll be sure to update here on what happens...

Now, it's off to pack my bags!

A Sunrise Update

I don't have the seconds for anything more than "Buenos Dias" and "Que tenga un buen dia"! Most mornings here the sky has been rather overcast when I wake at 5:30, but this morning I was [pleasantly] startled to see an orange glow across the sky when I opened my eyes...a lovely sunrise. It hasn't lasted long (almost gone already), but oh! What a treat.

May your day be full of the glow of the Master!

Greetings from the Point!

Well, today I finally got an internet connection set up here at Stevens Point! There is so much I could write, but it's 10:30 right now and 5:30 tomorrow morning comes early. Last week was great but intense. It's like we're on a little "musical planet" here!

The absolute best part is that there are some lovely churches nearby, and one that has a daily 6:45am Mass (hence the rising time) which works perfect for us to walk and get back in time for classes. We've been blessed with gorgeous weather, bright, vivid days, and beautiful calm nights. It drizzled a bit today, but that was still beautiful.

Oh, and I have to clarify, since I was informed on the first day...what I'm doing is technically called teacher training and registration (not certification). Apparently, it can't offically be termed that because of the structure of the course. They said that only in Europe is it set up to be legitimately called "certification". Even the faculty here are not "certified" (though many have their Masters or more in Music and they are of course trained and re-trained)... interesting, hmm?

If this week is anything like the last, I can't promise I'll have any time for posting, but whether I do or not...Pax Christi!

The Hills are Alive

with the sound of music. Or at least, UW-Stevens Point will be! In a few hours, I'm off to the American Suzuki Institute and when I come home two weeks from now, Lord-willing, I'll have my Suzuki Violin Book 1 Teacher Certification. I'm very excited... just not quite fully packed yet. :)

"I want to make good citizens.

If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth

and learns to play it himself,

he develops sensitivity,

discipline and endurance.

He gets a beautiful heart."

—Shin'ichi Suzuki

Don't know anything about the Suzuki method? Click here for an introduction!

~ ~ ~

I'll have the laptop with me, but am not sure how much time I'll have in between classes, observations, reports, and concerts... however, I'll do my best to squeeze in an update here or there!

Pax et bonum!