Category Archives: Music and Theatre

Emotional Health, Health and Long Life, Music and Theatre, Those who can teach, Wealth and Fame

Two Musical Untruths and the Excellence of Pentatonix

March 11, 2015 Cherry Leave a comment

I never had a favorite band.

Wait. That’s not quite true. As a person whose tag line is often, raising young musicians, I have had numerous favorite bands.

I’ve never purchased a ticket to a live concert before.

That too, is incorrect.

I paid my own way into more than a spate of excellent Colorado Children’s Chorale performances and winning Conifer High School Marching Band competitions. I have bartered, finagled and roadied my way into fog-machine-filled venues and housed bands in my basement.

But those memories are long ago and far away. In every case, I was acquainted with someone in the band and the band knew me.

This is the first time I have avidly followed a band where I did not know the performers personally and none of them even knew I existed.

When I was young, I never had a heartthrob celebrity musician. No Shaun and David Cassidys. No Bobby Sherman. The Justin Biebers of my youth were unrealistic and inaccessible to me and I knew it.

Precisely because I did raise young musicians, I was privileged numerous glimpses, backstage and frontstage, of the level of excellence possible-and the price of achieving it. Because I operated mom’s taxi far and wide to deliver a youthful male soprano to multiple performance locations, because I was the one who laundered and pressed wardrobe every night during the heavy Christmas performance season, I understand what type of all-inclusive family commitment it takes to launch a superstar.

Philip (center) and Colorado Children's Chorale wardrobe closet — Philip (center) and Colorado Children’s Chorale wardrobe closet

I get the idea of all consuming: eat, drink and breathe music in order to be one-take wonders. It is for those reasons and more I revere Pentatonix.

I stumbled on them accidentally post Sing Off 2011 and I watched Sing Off clips over and over. I chuckled at Video Killed the Radio Star and truly came to believe The Dog Days Are Over. I pressed repeat on the deserved compliments from Shawn Stockman. It was impressed upon me that three of them were 19 – the age of my youngest son at the time. Like a high school girl, I sleuthed through biographies and YouTube and found the lead trio attended high school together. Be still my beating heart. What would it have been like to be their music teacher? To have those three in my class? YouTube also yielded the depth of multi-talent, experience and character for Avi and Kevin – the rhythm section – who are, coincidentally, my daughter’s age.

It is fitting I have a favorite band. I need excellence in my life. I will pursue it, laud it, achieve it.

To that end, I purchased a best seat available ticket to a Pentatonix concert and betook myself to Orem Utah by private motor coach (which, in the common vernacular means I drove my Subaru).

Only briefly was there quiet enough to hear the close velvet harmonies and sonorous intertwining of finely exercised and tuned vocal cords. But I did get to witness the deafening roar of the crowd and unmitigated appreciation for five über talented performers.

Excellence can and should have its reward and I am satisfied.

Character, Emotional Health, Holidays and Traditions, Music and Theatre

Dear Ghost of Christmas Past

December 8, 2014 Cherry Leave a comment

Dear Ghost of Christmas Past,

I know you so well. I know that you love pecans and peanut butter fudge and reading good books while sitting by a wood fire. I love the way your eyes brighten and you look your best, invigorated and alive, in the great out-of-doors; snow covering your boots, up to your calves, even your knees. We have a lot of history. We have made beautiful music together haven’t we, Ghost? Christmas after Christmas, pleasant harmonies with two or four or twelve or 56. Yes, Ghost of Christmas Past, I remember producing, costuming, directing, acting in holiday theatre. What about the years as parade announcer, narrator? And oh! Remember the events? Sitting in the audience for Disney on Ice, The Nutcracker, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the spectacular Colorado Children’s Chorale. Remember the Conifer High School Marching Band freezing before the parade and marching gingerly over the ice so as not to fall and dent shiny tubas, mellophones and flags? And before that, remember a blond-haired 13-year-old standing in a tux and spotlight on the stage at Boettcher Concert Hall soloing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” I had almost forgotten. Thank you, thank you, Ghost of Christmas Past for this journey down memory lane. There have been lean years and one or two fat years. I have loved the finding and giving just the right gift and hated the stress of being unable to find the right gift; chafed at the loneliness of buying my own gift after I got over the self-pity of not having any gifts at all; hated not being able to afford the right gift for the right people or wood for the warmth of growing children. As I said, we have a lot of history. And then, there were the tears; seasons of parting and temporary good-byes that turned out to be permanent. But the tears I remember most are the tears of surprised joy. Remember that year? The year I learned it was possible to cry from overwhelming love and beauty? I was thirteen and feeling displaced in so many ways. Poorer than usual, I steeled myself for an empty Christmas. I expected nothing. And then someone gifted me a small piece of costume jewelry – a rhinestone pin in the shape of a trumpet and I was undone. As if the gift was not enough, we were hustled about to put on our coats and hop in the car. Tickets. Tickets to the Ice Capades. That Christmas exceeded my wildest dreams. Why? Because someone, there in my universe, knew me so well. You know me, Ghost of Christmas Past, as well as I know you. But I cannot live there in the past, and that too I know so well.

The Dickens Carolers somewhere around the late 90s

Family, Goals and Dreams, Health and Long Life, Holidays and Traditions, Music and Theatre, Uncategorized

This fabulous decade

July 9, 2014 Cherry Leave a comment

Remember the days when you went to a photo sitting, waited two weeks for the proofs, chose which you liked and waited 10 more days for the prints? I had a birthday a month ago and I’ve been waiting on the proofs for a few weeks. The proof that I really am older and the proof that this next decade will be even better.

Somewhere along about the age of 40 I realized that every time I approached a decade marker I got a second wind. I was curious to see if that would happen this year as I completed yet another decade. Looking back; this has been a fabulous decade!

During the last 10 years I ____________________________________________

Completed a bachelor’s degree graduating magna cum laude
Saw my daughter graduate high school
Watched my youngest son graduate high school and launch into the adult world.
Cheered as my daughter graduated college
Completed a manuscript for a children’s book and saw it all the way to independent publication
Actually got paid to write – every penny counts
Got to interact with four grandchildren
Travelled by train to San Francisco and Seattle
Packed all the necessities of existence in a Subaru and moved 1000 miles solo
Taught classroom music fulltime
Taught piano for enrichment
Completed a women’s fiction manuscript which will probably never see the light of day
Got paid to play the piano
Took in as many events, travels and concerts as time and money allowed
Hiked all the trails of Colorado National Monument
Returned to retail store management and found I loved it

And now, I am beginning to plot and plan how I can see more National Parks, hike in more beautiful places, make more music and write publishable manuscripts in the upcoming decade.

A fabulous party

For the first time in 60 years, I planned my own birthday party and paid for a live band – just because I love music and I love raising young musicians. This is how the band looks…

…but not really how the band sounds. iphoto correctly guessed my generation when it automatically chose the audio.

The band? They are indie innovators and accomplished musicians. In reality this is how the band sounds

These musicians? They are my children. My greatest accomplishment was raising them to adulthood and allowing for or providing for as much music in their lives as possible.

Character, Emotional Health, Music and Theatre

Musicians who dare greatly

May 22, 2014 Cherry Leave a comment

What’s not to love about a symphony variety show? A place where musicians play fiddles rather than violins; everyone sings whether professionally trained or no, conductors wield bows instead of batons; and pure silliness is allowed from folks who are usually, well, a little staid and classical?

I took myself out again last Sunday night. I went straight to Moss Performing Arts Center, plunked my plastic on the ticket table and said, “One please.” The ticket seller typed my name into the computer, charged my card and replied, “We’ll let you in if you promise to write something good about us.”

Oh. So I have a reputation? If you don’t already know, I have a habit of attending concerts, snapping photos and writing about them. I love to focus on the good things happening in my hometown. The visible growth of Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra is definitely a good thing. I went to the variety show on Sunday night expecting to enjoy good music – hopefully of many genres. The most impressive take-away, however, was the display of courage.

In her book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown maintains that vulnerability, “Sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage are not always comfortable.”

Every participant who took the stage has amassed years of experience and education in performance or communications. Through constant use, and honing of skills, they have, to all appearances become perfect. Perfect or not, even under normal circumstances it takes courage to step on a stage and reveal your inmost self through music. But a variety show is not normal circumstances.

For this variety show, each musician aspired to something out of their comfort zone. Some picked up a secondary or tertiary axe. A conductor used to being “an elegant figure on the podium,” relinquished control. Laying aside the tails, he donned a costume and became Dick Van Dyke vulnerable – just to give the audience a laugh. Two trumpeters who have garnered awards and accolades willingly tooted shower tubing and plastic funnels while attempting classical cadenzas. Tell me this, if you knew perfection was at your fingertips with three valves and designer brass; would you submit to the uncertainty of plastic funnels and shower tubing? Thanks Judd and Scott, it was most impressive.

Most satisfying moments?

The lyric mellow cello on Saint Saëns,
singing along with down-home harmonies on Amazing Grace,
a classic jazz combo.

A variety show, a fund-raiser, music thoroughly enjoyed by all, but an emotional act of courage, none-the-less. Wild crowd cheers and a thumb’s up to those in the musical arena: Alycia, Jeremy, Kelly, Kirk, and company of musicians.

Character, Emotional Health, Health and Long Life, Music and Theatre, Spiritual Well Being, Uncategorized

Golden Oldies

April 19, 2014 Cherry Leave a comment

It was perhaps the best I have ever played, though it would still take two hands to count the mistakes I know I made. I laid down a nice rhythmic groove and kept with it, letting the melody and dynamics breathe the words of well-known and well-worn standards for a solid hour.

I could not have asked for a more responsive audience. Some hummed. Some sang. Some merely mouthed the words. Many brightened perceptibly at up-tempo tunes, a boogie woogie accompaniment, or old hymns. At one point, a hall wanderer drifted by and commented with delight, “Look, you are putting them to sleep.” Sleep too, is responsive. It is my intention to play music that soothes and calms–to awaken sweet memories of long ago.

Yet it was bitter with the sweet; a very melancholy loving of the ivories. I sense it is the last time I will play for this audience. I grow older and so do they. In an ever changing group of approximately 50 appreciative listeners gathered there, only four were male. The reality is, women will travel more years single and alone than as partners, couples, or families. Performing music is a vulnerability that bares the soul in so many ways.

Character, Emotional Health, Music and Theatre, Spiritual Well Being

The end to a perfect evening

August 21, 2013 Cherry 3 Comments

It was this solo girl’s idea of a perfect night out. Okay, so maybe I am a bit too far advanced past a certain age to be called a girl, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a great evening. An Evening Under the Stars; out of doors, professional music, free admission. I was off work by four-thirty, with time for online research while dining on a greens salad topped with chicken tenders. There were even a few parking places left way out by the tennis courts when I arrived.

The Centennial Band was concluding the first piece while I found a comfortable space between families, couples and other solo folks. We settled in to be delighted by the usual Americana and Sousa fare offered at an outdoor concert in the park. When Centennial Band polished off the marches with a decided flourish, a local blue grass band filled the gap while the stage shuffled to make room for strings and added a few principals to form the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra.

Attired in a casual T-shirt and jeans, Maestro Gustafson conducted the orchestra through a gentle and pleasing repertoire. At the stroke of twilight, the concert was over – not too long and not too short. On second thought; perhaps an encore might have put the plural in the words, An Evening Under the Star(s). After a leisurely walk back to the car on a warm and mild August night, I began the drive home.

How is it that a concert never seems complete without ice cream after? On impulse, I took the drive-through at Burger King, the last possible chance for fast food. Surely, I could splurge one dollar to make the evening complete. “That will be 54 cents at the second window,” chirped the voice. Then began the challenge to consume soft serve faster than it melts while also negotiating 5 on the floor shifting.

I am constantly amazed at the clarity and brilliance of the stars as seen from my own driveway. I decided to finish my ice cream cone outside in the moon glow and starlight.

Meanwhile, I must remind you that I am a very conscientious, dependable, resourceful and prepared person. Yes, I carry a measuring tape in my purse, a drum key, two guitar picks and a P38 can opener in my wallet. I have kept a sleeping bag in my car ever since two stranded motorists froze to death in Denver in 1998. I like to travel off the beaten path – my tent also remains as cargo. You know; shelter in case of delay or breakdown. Depending on the season, either my hiking boots or walking shoes are stored in the car. I am acquainted with snow drifts and road hazards. Because I have had experience living at high elevation and commuting, my car stays well equipped with essentials. Why, just the other day someone commented, “you must have been a Girl Scout.” I take that as a compliment.

The rest of the story I balanced the sticky remainder of the ice cream cone in my left hand. Already the cream had soaked through the bottom of the cone. I unlatched the driver’s side door and shoved it with my elbow. With my right hand I removed the key from the ignition to stop the infernal beeping. Carefully thinking ahead, I reached my right hand under the steering wheel to pop the locks switch so I could grab my purse and jacket from the passenger side later. Drinking in the beauty of the moonlight and stars, I leaned against the side of the car and finished my ice cream. I wiped my sticky hands and sauntered to the opposite side of the car, lingering and star gazing. Sigh. “I’d better go on in.” I pulled the handle on the passenger side. It was locked. But, I specifically remembered UNlocking everything. I hurried to the driver’s side. Locked. The tailgate. Locked. Back door to the house. Locked. Front door of the house locked.

Picture this. At 9:30 p.m. I am standing in my yard in my dress shorts, tank top and casual shoes. I am locked out of my house because my house keys are locked in my car. No problem, I reassure myself. I can sleep outside. I have all survival essentials, blanket, two jackets, shelter…LOCKED in my car. I weigh my options. 9:30 is not an economical time to call a locksmith. Forget that. My phone is in the car.

I could break into my car. I could break into my house. I could walk two miles to my son’s house. But, I am supposed to be at work at 8:30 in the morning and my work clothes are in the house. Come to think of it, my walking shoes and my hiking boots are – wait for it – locked in the car.

A quick inventory of outside tools reveals a vintage metal garbage can, a Christmas tree stand and a storage tub full of abandoned boffers and miscellaneous camp-cooking gear. I was inside the house and dusting myself off within 10 minutes.

No longer do I fear the thieves, vagrants and pranksters. It is I who am a formidable danger – to myself.

Character, Emotional Health, Goals and Dreams, Health and Long Life, Music and Theatre, Poverty, Uncategorized

Make music or make a living?

July 31, 2013 Cherry 1 Comment

Is it true that you can’t follow your heart and still make enough money to live on?

How many musicians labor, toil, worry, and obsess about that? How many suffer the regular admonitions of those more responsible folks around us who tell us to be sensible, you’ll never make money as a musician?

“You lads and lasses should always remember that 24 record companies turned the Beatles down and that John’s Aunt Mimi said, ‘The guitar’s all very well, John, but you’ll never earn a living with it.’”

Is it true? Must I find something non-creative, less artistic, by which to earn a living?

At the moment, I am beginning a full-time job that aligns with my other education and hobbies; my organizational fastidiousness, love of walking and out-door beauty, fascination with history and what makes people tick. But while I give wholehearted effort at the office for 40 or more hours each week, will I give up my music?

No way. I will continue to raise young musicians. I will continue to play and sing for others every chance I get. I’m not going to let go of that piano anytime soon. That would be to rip out a part of my heart and soul. Besides – I’ll let you in on a secret:

Over the years I have made more money in music than any other avenue I have ever worked. Am I often a starving musician? Yes. but I have been able to make much needed money off this gig ever since I was 15.

Character, Emotional Health, Goals and Dreams, Health and Long Life, Music and Theatre, Spiritual Well Being, Uncategorized

When was the last time you felt, IN THE PRIME OF LIFE?

May 31, 2013 Cherry Leave a comment

A few days ago, while searching for images to update and illustrate my writer’s profile, I came across a photo album titled, “Rancho.” Flipping the pages, this thought escaped me unbidden, “Man, was I ever in my prime! And I didn’t even know it.”

I was in my early forties when I co-wrote, co-directed, designed costumes, designed and constructed the sets for a children’s musical. It was a nearly charmed time in my life. At first I volunteered as pianist for a newly formed children’s choir, quickly became assistant / substitute director, costume designer, and organizational wizard. What a ride. Before the two year journey was up, I had organized and delivered a week of summer music camp activities, worked for a recording studio, helped produce four children’s church musicals and one Christmas CD. When those years culminated in “Rancho Prodigolly,” it was no longer just the director and me, but a full team complete with wardrobe director, choreographer, and stage hands.

It can be difficult to look back, see an astounding success, notice things have tapered off, and worry you are now past your prime. It is somewhat consoling to take a look at prime numbers. You will notice erratic gaps between seven and eleven; 23 and 29. The great thing about growing older is that I have seen enough to know that prime of life experiences come again and again. What makes it the prime of life for you? Is it having resources, money to do what you dream? Is it completing an advanced degree?

Prime for me is when somebody sees my value, my worth, puts me in that position and gives me free reign to shine. Given this affirmation, I prove myself beyond their expectations. But I have to reveal a little bit of myself, at least the tip of the ice berg, before anyone knows, before they think of me. Often, this revelation happens through volunteering or taking entry level jobs. Sometimes, it is an arduous journey between primes.

I don’t know about you, but I want another prime.

Does the prime of life refer to only a narrow corridor of years?

In my twenties, I was in the prime of life; entrepreneurial, physically more beautiful than I had ever been. In my thirties, I hit my stride writing scripts, musicals and getting other people where they needed to go. My forties yielded hours in the music classroom where I knew I was being fully she I was meant to be. Most recently, I have experienced prime moments, tiny snippets of time when I connected with a tutoring or piano student.

It can be an arduous and erratic journey between primes. I am making the journey. I feel another prime of life coming on. How about you? Where is your next prime?

Character, Emotional Health, Fiction is Truth, Goals and Dreams, Health and Long Life, Metaphor, Music and Theatre, Poverty, Spiritual Well Being, Uncategorized

The piano is not firewood yet

May 3, 2013 Cherry Leave a comment

“The Piano is not firewood yet,” this phrase, from lyrics and music by Regina Spektor, is my new battle song – my new anthem.

I shout, “The piano is not firewood yet!” and it is the voice of John Paul Jones bellowing, “I have not yet begun to fight.”

I hear the voice of God asking in the wilderness, “What have you got in your hand, Moses?” and Moses replying, “A rod.”
“Throw it on the ground, Moses.”
The voice calls to me,
“What have you got in your hand?”
I reply, “A Piano!”

For me, Regina Spektor’s lyrics are literal. Maybe for others, metaphorical. But here’s the deal, It is summer weather. I have four more months of warmth in this 365 days to live, so the piano is not firewood yet; though it has been dangerously threatened over the years. But, if it is not going to be dismantled to keep us from freezing, might it be taken from me another way?

Metaphorically, is it collateral? Capital? A sacrificial lamb? What possibilities does it present? Is it merely to attract more students? Is it to rehearse my fingers for performance? Is it setting there between me and my empty wood box, to inspire my stories (I can’t seem to keep the protagonists from playing the piano)?
Is it to point me constantly toward a heart of gratitude? Once, I did not even have a piano and this one was provided generously, almost miraculously, through a friend.

Regina reminds me to press on, to do what needs to be done.
“the piano is not firewood yet
but the cold does get cold
so it soon might be that
I’ll take it apart, call up my friends
and we’ll warm up our hands by the fire”

The Universe calls clearly, “What have you got in your hand?”

I answer joyfully, “A piano! My piano is not firewood yet!”

What is this throwdown going to look like?

Goals and Dreams, Health and Long Life, Music and Theatre, Uncategorized

Sometimes, you just have to go with your inner musician

February 24, 2013 Cherry Leave a comment

I have a one-hour piano repertoire of well-rehearsed oldies which I perform at local retirement centers. Not wishing to lug around a stack of books and never having seen the need to purchase print music for old folk songs; I play by ear, make up my own arrangements – or perhaps put in a little research as to what a particular chord progression might be. (FYI, Moon River is a bit of a doozy). Consequently, most pieces end up in my keys of choice: C and F.

The other day, I was absentmindedly idling my fingers about the ivories at home and letting my thoughts wander out the window and slide down a few clouds. Suddenly, I found myself in the middle of an Elvis Presley song and playing an E major chord. (You know, the one that belongs deep in “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” as part of the harmonic cadence before the final phrase?)

“I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” has been a staple on my playlist for a couple of months. Yet, I could not remember camping out on an E major chord before. So I worked it around a few times, ferreted out the sequence to verify. Yes, that chord really belongs there. I was puzzled and played through the song again. Then palmed my forehead. Duh. “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” may be my well-worn standard, but “Love Me Tender Love Me True” had not been on my playlist – until that day.

That is how we discover new things. We travel down a well-worn trail of routine, something new and different catches our eye. We follow up on it, do a little research and experience and find we have a new hobby, a new favorite activity or a additional item on the bucket list. Sometimes you need to follow the inner musician.

Cherry Odelberg