Voices Past and Present
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Last night was my last show with Testimony. I'm very sad to be leaving, but man, what a way to go out! The huge new-and-old-tmony-all-together, which shall henceforth be referred to as "Ubermony," was a big success. To tell the truth, I hadn't really been expecting the show to go all that well, because our one joint rehearsal was rather ugly, but God is good. He likes to surprise us, too. So, the way to leave is to go out on top, I guess. Maybe I'll get to sing with Ubermony again, or maybe the new group will need a percussionist for something. :) I'm now officially a Tmony groupie.
Maybe we should make Ubermony trading cards for our fans. Mmm.
The End of a Chapter
Music: Shane Barnard and Shane Everett - "The Answer"
Tonight saw my last official performance with Testimony, as last year's group joined this year's new group and sang "Heaven's Heart," "Testify to Love," and "The Lord Bless You." The audience was a supportive crowd of Stanford alumni (all here for the Homecoming Reunion) and the Stanford student fans of a cappella. A Celebration of Stanford Singing, as it was called. The performance turned out beautifully -- God completely surpassed my expectations for tonight. I have always loved singing with this group, and I can't believe three terrific years have now come to an end. But it all ended splendidly. I felt so privileged to be a part of such a wonderful ministry. Sigh, I'm going to miss it. Thank you, Lord.
Since I auditioned with the song that ultimately became Testimony's "flagship song," so to speak, I think it's fitting to end this entry with the following.
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love;
I'll be a witness in the silences
when words are not enough.
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to God above.
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love.
Saturday, October 18, 2003
First Ever: Homecoming Reunion A Cappella Show
God is sooo awesome! The Alumni Show tonight totally rocked! All the a cappella groups did a great job, and as usual I particularly enjoyed Fleet Street and Talisman (we didn't get to hear Mendicants very well because they were right before us in the program). But...wow. God totally rocked me with how much Testimony rocked tonight! We sang Heaven's Heart with just the old group, and then added in all the new members for Testify (with choreography!) and TLBY. Conglomerate Testimony really was HUGE (no kidding -- 25 total!), but having so many people on stage really enhanced our performance. I didn't expect to wow everyone like we did, but evidently our fullness and togetherness really impressed everyone, especially the other a cappella groups.
Some particularly notable comments we received tonight::
- from two (big important) Harmonics alumni: "That was the best we've ever heard Testimony! Your sound was amazing!"
- from the Mendicants director: "Your bass sound was great! And your group sound in general...I was totally enjoying it! I wanted to spread it on bread and eat it!" (yeah...I'm not really sure what that means, but evidently it was a compliment)
- several Fleet Street guys kept insisting that we rock
- from someone in Talisman: "Testify is like my favorite song! I always want to sing along with you guys!"
- from the current Harmonics business manager: "I have NEVER heard Testimony sound as good as you guys did tonight!"
Seriously. I was totally blown away by the response we got tonight. Testimony would never be where it is today without God's faithfulness in growing us on so many levels. Many thanks go to old Tmony for one last hurrah, and big congrats to the new members on their first performance! Yay God! Yay Testimony! Yay!! May all the glory be to God. :) :) :)
