An International Experience

I am very lucky to have entered the same profession as my mother, and to have lived abroad thanks to my father.

When I was a third grader, my family moved to Germany. (My father was in the Air Force.) We were stationed at a NATO air base- not an American air base, but an international detachment where my father flew with Germans, Norwegians, Turks, Italians, etc. etc. Soon my mom was directing music for the little Base chapel, leading the "Protestant" services. (Perhaps later I can take a detour to tell some stories about that unusual congregation: Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, Quakers, and other Protestant Christians sharing worship together!)

Ever the ambitious programmer, mom decided one year it was time to perform the Advent/Christmas portions of Messiah. This became an annual event, and by our last December in Germany- 1989- the chorus numbered over 100 members of nearly a dozen nationalities. We performed with a Dutch orchestra from the area, and the performances were held in the large church in Geilenkirchen, Germany. That 1989 performance was recorded and broadcast by the BBC.

I unwittingly internalized most of that score while Mom listened to it in the car every day. The first time I got to sing in the performance, I was an alto, then a tenor, eventually a bass. I am grateful for that, too, as I have a greater appreciation for the inner voices, having experienced Messiah as everything except a soprano.

This was a profound musical experience, but a profound international one as well. Music as the "international language" is a terrible cliche, but this was one experience where I, even as a grade-schooler, could appreciate our common bond around Handel.