February 21 - Angel

    "It's not about the amount of years in your life,
     it's about the amount of life in your years."


Yesterday I had the sad task of singing at the funeral services for a friend of mine, Dustin Powers.  He was the guy I would sit next to at rehearsal practically every Tuesday, a passionate fellow bass in the North Carolina Master Chorale and just an all-around great guy.  I don't know if I ever saw him without a smile, a big beaming infectious smile - he was the type of person that you would know within seconds of meeting that you would be friends.

Tim Chapman mentioned something in his eulogy that points to what kind of person he was, Tim would sit on the other side of him during practice.  There are times when we sing some of the most beautiful, and at times heart-wrenching pieces of music - and I remember confessing at one point in particular when we were singing the opening of Dvořák's Stabat Mater (link), written as dedication when his two surviving children died within a short time of each other - that in knowing that, I had trouble singing the emotional opening passage without tearing up.  "Then we'll cry together." 

... and we did, and we laughed, and we made amazing music together.  He will be missed.

 The angel design is by Graham Lee, and was used as December's competition.  The wings of the ascending angel were inspired by a cupid design by Sam Cremeens.

"I miss you!"