April 2, 2005

  • Went back to MUSICalifornia yesterday. Went to the Doc's seminar from 2-4PM and then off to dinner with Christy's bro and girlfriend and back to hear Steve Amerson and the UCO from Cal-Baptist. Steve Amerson was great, I've never really heard him much before, so it was a treat. In addition, the UCO from Cal Baptist also did great. I had heard a few of the songs before, but it was nice to hear them with orchestration and with the nice tone and energy of that choir. I must admit, when I heard this group 2+ years ago, they were really bad, so I have to hand it to Doc, whether by recruiting, or whatever, his group is way better than it was.

    And no, I am not a Bonner-ite. So stop calling me one, Jonathan. Or I might just have to spell your name wrong...

    On a side note, the UCO from APU is coming to our church for a concert on May 11th. Now THAT is exciting!! They will be on tour, so we'll be getting them housing and all of that fun stuff. And it will be very interesting to see what Rod has done with the group.

    So Doc did try to recruit me to be a grad student in his Master's conducting program. He walked right up to me and said "Daniel, you did such a great job with your premiere that I want you to come be a student in my master's conducting program in the fall..." then he introduced me to a lady who'll be driving up from El Cajon and said we could carpool, etc, etc, etc... Now, it's Monday and Tuesday from 4-10PM, which is crazy. It's a million miles away, which is crazy. AND there's about two thousand other reasons why I shouldn't and can't do it--but let me tell you about the power or personal recruitment--that guy made me feel like a million bucks for a little while there--even if I am smart enough to see through the compliments and know he's really just trying to recruit. WHen he told me that he WANTED me in his program, it felt good. SO TAKE NOTE, ALL OF YOU CHOIR MEMBERS OR WHOMEVER ELSE IS READING: people want to feel important, and feel like they are needed. You want our choir to grow, it's going to take you being like Dr. Bonner--you go and tell those people that our choir is suffering without them, that we really need them, etc...it really feels good- AND IS PRETTY PERSUASIVE, LET ME TELL YOU!!.

    Needless to say, I'm not going to Cal Baptist in the fall, but I did think about it for a couple of hours...

    This scripture is good...Psalm 67:5-7
    ------
    5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
        may all the peoples praise you.
    6 Then the land will yield its harvest,
        and God, our God, will bless us.
    7 God will bless us,
        and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
    -------

    Notice the word "THEN". "May the peoples praise you, O GOd. THEN...our God will bless us."

    Hmm...so don't sit there waiting for the blessing, THEN praise the Lord (I think we often do this). PRAISE THE LORD FIRST!! Make it the foremost thing on your plate no matter what else is going on. THEN God will bless us. The Bible also says that God inhabits the praises of His people...so many times we say to ourselves, "where is God in this situation?". He is in your praises. So praise Him when your car is towed, praise Him when you break your leg, praise Him when tragedy happens all around you-that's where God is.

    David also says in Psalm 68:19
    "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."

    Let the Lord bear your burdens DAILY. Let Him bear them today-right now (if you got some burdens...)

Comments (4)

  • Good thing you only THOUGHT about it Dan! ;) Just kidding. I wish I could head down there with UCO and meet you in person . . . but I can't. :( Well, some day I know I will meet you! Take care. Mary

  • Doc is persuasive, that's for sure. I was in the Bonner Singers for a year or so before transferring to APU. How was the seminar? I used to go sing for those quite a bit. Good sight-reading practice. The problem is that once he knows he's lost the battle, the compliments and attention tend to disappear, making you wonder how sincere they were (I think they usually are sincere, but fair-weathered).

    I got to hear CB's UCO at Christmastime, and I was also very impressed, though I can tell a lot of the singers are pushing their voice in unhealthy ways (in order to produce the volume Doc wants). Some excellent soloists as well. I have a few friends in the group, and they are excited to be there. I still prefer my chosen path, at APU. My world has expanded so much from the olden days...

    Thanks for your thoughts, Dan. Looking forward to tour.

  • Oops- When I talked about "once he's lost the battle", I was returning to the topic of Doc's persuasion/recruitment. Pardon the fragmented trains of thought...

  • Ew. Good thing you didn't go to Cal Baptist. No one wants to live in Riverside.

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