The Give Get Sistet: Valandra, Mankwe, me & Libby

It was a busy week leading up to the Give Get Sistet Concert event and I squeezed in more errands, to do lists and rehearsals than seemed possible. The morning of the concert, I rose bright and early to begin prepping the food. (I had wanted to get a start on it Saturday night, but finally made myself go to bed to make sure I was well rested for the singing. *smile*)

My friend K came over around noon and we chopped and chopped (and chopped and chopped *grin*) vegetables for roasted potatoes, bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms. We loaded up the food, the rest of the auction items and my outfit and headed to the concert house (where K did even more chopping. What a trooper!).

The line for the oven.

Then my friends just kept arriving and kept helping. (Thank you, friends!) Some set up the auction, others worked on the food and the Sistet members and my MC (my friend Michele Denise Michaels) arrived to warm up and do sound check. Needless to say, it was wonderful (and a little chaotic!) to have so many helpers.

About an hour before the doors opened, I went upstairs to iron my pants, change into my outfit (discover I had forgotten my shoes. Whoops!) and prepare to sing a concert. I felt a little guilty (and, okay I’m big enough to admit it, a teensy, teensy bit worried) as I escaped upstairs while leaving my friends to finish everything for our guests. The Sistet gathered in our “green room” for some last minute notes and togetherness and then came downstairs to do a sound check.

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My friends told me I’m not allowed to say I don’t cook anymore. *smile*

With sound check over, I walked into the kitchen and was so touched by the care and attention everyone had given to everything. The food was excellently completed and beautifully presented. The auction items were all displayed with their corresponding bid sheets (and pens!). My friend photographer friend Patty was taking “behind-the-scene” photos and our guests were arriving — beginning with my landlords. *grin* I was particularly honored by the attendance of so many people with whom I’ve sung in the past.

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Oh right, the concert!

Yes, I baked.

I told Michele (who attended the dress rehearsal Saturday) that I was a little concerned because the Sistet hadn’t ever run our entire sets with the improvised pieces “in place.” We rehearsed songs and we practiced improvising (yes, there is such a thing *smile*), but we never worked on moving in and out of what I put on the set lists as “IMPROV/SOLO MOMENTS.”

(In other words, we hadn’t rehearsed the improvising. Duh. When, when, when will I learn to trust the improv process?)

It was so good we hadn’t. The music had a freshness and electricity in it that only comes from inventing in the moment. And even though in the improvs none of us technically knew what we were doing, I was safe in the knowing that we would get where we were going together.

So the concert was …

The concert was all I had hoped it would be. A stirring journey through songs and improvisations with my fantastic and daring fellow Give-Getters in front of an appreciative and participating witnesses. But also fun and playful and silly. (Just the way I like my music!)

(*Note: this “track” is actually from Saturday’s dress rehearsal, but Michele like it so much I promised I’d post it. *smile*)

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It was wonderful to integrate so much of what I have learned over the past year – singing for our listeners, singing with them and having them sing for us. Letting the music take us where we needed to go together. I basked in the joy of a community built by music.

I thank everyone who participated in the event; from those who were in the room to my family, friends and classmates overseas who donated, prayed, wished and hoped for the success of the evening.

I am honored, deeply touched (and still slightly dumbfounded) by the grace which was showered upon me for the night.