MoTab East Coast Tour: Day 2

Last night after I blogged Alison and I went to the hotel pool to hang out with other choir buddies. We had fun!

This morning we lazily got out of bed and went to breakfast in the hotel, another grand meal! We took buses over to the Strathmore Music Center, where we are spending the day performing a matinee and evening concert.

Rich, Christian, Alison, Me! I can't make a silly face-- I end up smiling and laughing every time!

Sound check this morning was great! I seriously got the chills and had one of those "this is why I was born" moments-- what an absolute honor to sing in such a lovely space. Oh, and I'm not on the back row! Janine, Angela, Karen and I were all marveling at the fact that we were 3 rows down instead of at the very tippy top. It's nice for a change of scenery. And we are right next to the percussion, which makes for some AMAZING moments. The tabernacle, as amazing as it is, is very hard to hear the orchestra. When we are squished on these smaller stages we get to be right next to the orchestra and I feel so much more cohesion with the whole group.

Selfie fail.

It was a beautiful venue and the audiences were superb! We had sound check, a matinee, then an evening performance.

We had two guest conductors (it's tradition for us to have someone come up and conduct on of our encore numbers): one Rabbi from the greater DC area and then the secretary of homeland security for the Obama administration-- how cool is that?? We fell apart pretty bad on the evening encore performance but it was still fun.

Angela, Suanne and I are all ready for the evening performance! I took a nap on the floor for about an hour between concerts. These shows are pretty exhausting, but fun! I love re-living our ACDA program over and over again. I was telling my friend Laurel that for me, the veil becomes very thin as we sing some of these pieces and it is very clear that I am on this tour for a reason.

I remember in 2008 playing Johanna in Sweeny Todd-- that was a special time for me and I had a moment where I realized I was doing exactly what I should be. I was born for this stuff. Well, that feeling is back in full force here on tour. I know it might sound cliche, but I was meant to be here. Miracles happen! I am a witness of that.

I hope the joy I feel is evident in every performance that I give on tour. How I love the people we are singing for, and how I love my Savior, who is the subject of nearly every song we sing.

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