My Passion

The google dictionary defines passion as an "intense desire or enthusiasm for something," or as "a thing that arouses enthusiasm."  Many people have hobbies that they consider to be passions.  Many other people are passionate about sports.  I am passionate about choirs -- conducting choirs, to be exact.

I have loved music since I was a child first learning to sing in Sunday school.  I can remember robustly singing those little choruses and praise songs.  As I got older, I learned to play the flute, and it soon became my passion.  In fact, I went to college as a flute major, hoping to set the world on fire with my beautiful playing.  Unfortunately, my private teacher and I just didn't click, and my self esteem as a flutist took a nosedive.  I got to the point where I couldn't even play in front of people. As a result, I left college to explore other paths.  Fortunately, my love of music drew me back to college, and at the age of 35, I finally received my B. S. in music education -- this time with a choral emphasis.

I luckily found a job teaching MS/HS choir, and I was on top of the world.  Soon, though, I realized that my "dream" job was instead a nightmare.  I should have realized that something was amiss during my interview, when all the administration discussed was my classroom management skills.  It also should have clicked when they told me how a former female teacher had failed miserably, but that a male teacher had come in and saved the day.  After three years of torment, I decided that life was too short to hate my job, so I left the teaching world and went back into business.

I worked in the office for a year, but realizing that having a boss who probably made ten times the income I made and knowing that I was the one who helped him be successful didn't sit well.  I stayed there a year but then decided to return to school for my graduate degree.  I didn't have any particular goal in mind; I just knew that, along with my love of music, I loved going to school and that I was good at it.  I was able to complete my Master's degree in one year, but I still didn't know what I wanted to do, so I stayed on for my doctorate.  It was during graduate school that I realized how very much I enjoyed directing choirs.  At that point, my passion was clear -- I had an "intense desire or enthusiasm" for helping choirs reach their highest potential and create beautiful music.

I have directed choirs of all kinds since getting my degree, and I have loved every one of them.  I was recently selected as the Artistic Director of a community choir, and I absolutely love working with that group.  They are a motley assortment of people from all walks of life, and, while some of them have a musical education, most of them do not.  I get so much enjoyment listening to them as they first begin to learn their parts and then hearing them progress to a performance level.   Knowing that they have created and performed a beautiful piece of music together gives them such joy and satisfaction, and I love knowing that I helped them find that joy and satisfaction.

I love directing my choirs.  It truly is my passion.