Why Musicians Hate Weddings, Part 1

I played for a wedding this weekend that caused me much grief for weeks; I learned several new pieces for the occasion, but wasn't really able to work on them until after I graduated. (You can do the math to see how little time I gave myself. *blush*)

Oldest daughter and I dropped off Oldest Son so that he could be the Altar Boy at another wedding in this town, then we headed south to the other church, where we would attend Mass.

I had only a half-hour between the end of Mass and when the music would begin for the wedding.  I quickly checked some registrations, practiced a little of the most pesky piece, then went over a few pieces with the soloist.  The time for prelude music quickly arrived so I started right away, being the punctual type that I am.

Everything proceeded fine, except I was running late!  How did this happen?  Must've taken too much time between pieces.  Okay - fine.  Bridal parties are usually late anyway.  The soloist and I prepared to perform the last prelude piece, during which the mothers would be escorted to their places.  As I was playing, a member of the family suddenly appeared beside the organ.  He whispered to me, "You're a half-hour early."

(It's fun to have a conversation while playing a piece.  Not.)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I responded.

He stated, "The music wasn't supposed to start until 6:00. The wedding starts at 6:30."

Dear lord.  When we were finished, I informed the soloist of what had transpired, and told her we'd have to do some of her pieces again to round out the time left.

I was so confused.  The program said 6:00 p.m.  I had in my memory that the wedding was at 6:00 p.m.  What had gone wrong?  I'm happy to admit that I'm wrong about things, but I was very disturbed at this turn of events.

Everything else went off without a hitch.  The bride and groom were cross-examined by the judge priest, and that was a little weird. But whatever.

When I arrived home, I dug last week's church bulletin out of the bottom (yuck) of my trash can.  Yep -- wedding at 6:00 p.m.

Fortnight for Freedom

The Bishops of the United States have asked that we spend two weeks (at least!) promoting religious freedom in our country. The two week period started yesterday, June 21, and will conclude on July 4.

The USCCB also has a page devoted to activities in the dioceses of the United States, but BIG SURPRISE my own diocese is not in the list.

The initial activities listed in our church bulletin are:

June 21 -- Start off the Fortnight by praying for religious freedom.  A rosary takes about 14 minutes to pray. 

June 22 -- On the feast of St. Thomas More, spend some time reading about the patron saint of religious freedom who was martyred, by the King of England, for being true to his faith. 

June 23 -- Saturdays are always a time to remember our Blessed Mother.  Ask her to intercede with her Son to protect our freedoms. 

June 24 -- See the movie "For Greater Glory" playing at ____.

 The following prayer is taken from the USCCB website:

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty
O God our Creator,
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

This is a obviously deadly serious subject, but still we must end with a bit of fun. Let's watch Senator Trey Gowdy (SC) grill Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on the HHS Mandate! 

Mary is officially a teacher

During the Christmas Midnight Mass last year, a gentleman approached me after the postlude and stated, "When you start giving lessons, I want to be your first student."

I replied, "Get back with me in June."

And he did.  He's really the best type of student one could ask for -- extensive keyboard skills, very motivated, wants a church job.  He just needs a teacher.

When I was a young whippersnapper, everyone thought I would pursue piano studies in college.  I was only interested in performance however, and certainly did not ever want to be teacher.  So now the joke is on me.

Also, I can kill you with my brain...

...now that I've officially completed my second edumakation.  Yes, that's right kids; I am now "bemused."  That is, my degree title is Bachelor of Music. I'm reveling in the fact that I don't have to go to class anymore, and it still really hasn't sunk in.  Not all is well, though.  Even though my GPA (since coming back to school) is over 3.96, I haven't received my rightful Summa Cum Laude because all of my previous engineering courses (from younger stupider days) are being combined with the current grades.  That was almost 30 years ago; can't we just forget about it?  Not being one to just roll over and 'take it', I'm contacting the powers-that-be (if I can figure out who they are) to see if they'll, ya know, "forget" about all those classes listed as "electives" on my transcript.

A few highlights from the last week of school:  when I went to get my French oral exam evaluation sheet from the teacher, she told me she had never given anyone the grade she awarded me: a perfect 100%.  It didn't hurt, of course, that I acted out the script I'd written, and happened to crack up both her and my oral exam partner.  It also doesn't hurt that I can actually pronounce French words pretty well. Does that sound self-congratulatory? Well, it should.

Aaand I had the privilege of singing in a presentation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor.  What a fantastic masterpiece -- perhaps the greatest choral work ever.

Also, as I waited with my fellow grads before the commencement ceremony, my counterpoint professor told me that I'd written "a fine fugue" which was the final project.  It's HARD to get compliments out of faculty members, so I was quite pleased.  Turns out I have a knack for that composition stuff.  Who knew?

So, school=done.  And that's the equation for happiness.  Or relief.

Backing things up a little bit, I played for the Best Wedding Ever in May.  Although I was quite nervous about it, the bride was one of my best and dearest friends ever, and I was thrilled to be a part of her and her sweet husband's Nuptial Mass.  The two of them glowed so much that we could feel the reflection of the Almighty Father's love in them.  In fact, one had to almost look away from them or risk being seriously choked up.  What a beautiful couple.  They're also both musicians, and the music selections made the event feel like a royal wedding.  Only better.

Now's the time for the greater question: why did God ask me to get this degree? He still hasn't revealed this, and I'm more than a little frustrated by my current situation.  I have however learned some important things.  The first behavior I've noted that it's demanded by this non-Catholic church is that everyone must bow at the altar. And everyone DOES, even the teenagers.  So why does the Catholic church not demand that parishioners genuflect in front of the tabernacle, let alone bow to the altar?  Based on previous conversations with too many people, it seems that our clergy is afraid of "offending" people and "driving them away" with all the "pious crap."  Geez.  For crying out loud, give the people something beautiful and transcendent and they will respond positively (for the most part, anyway.  You'll always have the freaks.)  I am quite sure that God has a place for me providing music for the Catholic church.  I just wish it would happen sometime soon in, ya know, my time. :)