Monday, November 23, 2015

"Mississippi Melody"

My mental picture of Hell includes listening to sopranos...a lot of strident sopranos, which would explain why I was not particularly thrilled about attending a entire concert of high voices. But, because I love the man who invited me, I went. I surprised myself and actually enjoyed the evening.
Yes, the Vienna Boys Choir (the choir that performed annually on the Ed Sullivan TV Show) is actually made up of preadolescent European boys (You could tell they were singing phonetic English, on numbers like "White Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland").
The group consisted of about 16 middle-school age boys, all high voices. If you have ever dealt with middle school mini-men, you know that 10-14 year old males have not only a wide range of stature,  they also exhibit a wide range of maturity.
While listening to the group, I was reminded of many middle school performances I have attended, over the years. Most of them were unmemorable, but a few were outstanding.
One performance, that has come to mind, was a musical rendition of "Tom Sawyer". The boys who played Tom and Huck, were typical middle school mischief makers, good one day and rotten the next. And, because they were so much like the characters they portrayed, they played their roles well.
Those two boy sopranos grew up to be a  respected educator and a successful doctor.
My hope is that the current members of the Vienna Boys Choir will have the same bright futures as Tom and Huck.
(The young man who played the piano for "Mississippi Melody", turned out to be pretty special, too.)

God of everyone. Hold us in your hands. Help us to realize that we are all different and that we are all the same. Show us how to recognize the potential of everyone on this planet.
Guide us and help us to do your will.

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