St. Cecilia being serenaded by angels, by John William Waterhouse, 1895As I might have expected, my commitment to sing with the chorus at the San Fernando Church in Guaymas entails a little more than I imagined. I was thinking of one-a-week practice and two performances, but it'll be twice-a-week rehearsals through December, and two additional performances.
It always seems to turn out that way.
But it also offers opportunities I hadn't anticipated. For the next three rehearsals we aren't even practicing Christmas music, but getting ready for next Saturday's Fiesta de Santa Cecilia, the patron saint of church musicians. If you aren't familiar with the martyrdom of this saint, here's Wikipedia's version. Suffice it to say, she kept her head.
Then we'll be rehearsing for Dec. 12, the Fiesta de La Virgen de Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, one of the biggest celebrations of the year.
The first rehearsal, at my maestra's house, went well. I even understood some of the conversation, mas o menos. After a while my head ached from trying to translate what was being said and it was an effort to keep from tuning out the buzz. There were a dozen of us, a snug fit in Lolita's living room: two male tenors, two sopranos, the rest first and second altos. My fellow first altos are very helpful in leading me through the part.
One of my greatest hopes was to sing with a group, and another was to regularly socialize with Mexicans as friends (with improvement of my Spanish being only one small side benefit). Now I have found both, and life is getting better all the time.