The Choir is finally going to go to Ireland this July! But before they do, they are providing yet another satisfying treat for us. On Sunday, May 31, the choir invites you to join the gang for expertly brewed tea, homemade scones and other goodies, and (of course) musical entertainment. This will be its final fundraiser before traveling to Ireland and will be held in the Preston Cutler Room (or in case of sunshine, in the courtyard). Donations will help to underwrite the cost for the choir to spend a week in residence at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. Let’s hope for sunshine!!
Speaking of the choir, their May 3rd Evensong was a wonderful occasion, and as I listened, I thought of the time commitment that it took to be a choir member. My husband heard this poem on NPR the other day, and it captures what Christ Church choir seeks to do week after week and for special occasions such as May 3rd’s Evensong—and with great success. Let’s all make an to support the Christ Church Choir’s fund raising efforts; their gift to us has been great. To read poem,
Music
by Anne Porter
When I was a child
I once sat sobbing on the floor
Beside my mother’s piano
As she played and sang
For there was in her singing
A shy yet solemn glory
My smallness could not hold
And when I was asked
Why I was crying
I had no words for it
I only shook my head
And went on crying
Why is it that music
At its most beautiful
Opens a wound in us
An ache a desolation
Deep as a homesickness
For some far-off
And half-forgotten country
I’ve never understood
Why this is so
But there’s an ancient legend
From the other side of the world
That gives away the secret
Of this mysterious sorrow
For centuries on centuries
We have been wandering
But we were made for Paradise
As deer for the forest
And when music comes to us
With its heavenly beauty
It brings us desolation
For when we hear it
We half remember
That lost native country
We dimly remember the fields
Their fragrant windswept clover
The birdsongs in the orchards
The wild white violets in the moss
By the transparent streams
And shining at the heart of it
Is the longed-for beauty
Of the One who waits for us
Who will always wait for us
In those radiant meadows
Yet also came to live with us
And wanders where we wander.
Christ Church Choir as pictured earlier this year