Yvonne Orlich

People don’t sing because they are happy. People are happy because they are singing.

This is certainly true of the singers with the Sun Lakes Chorale. When we meet weekly to rehearse, the air is electric with lightheartedness, happiness, and camaraderie. It is the place where we can set our trials and tribulations aside for a couple of hours and just be happy to be singing. We strive to leave our personal problems at the door so that we can give our all to learning the music we will be performing.

Hey, it’s not all seriousness and hard work. There is always a lot of laughter—we have more than one comic in our midst. Even mistakes can elicit laughter on occasion. Trying to find middle C can be the cause of a lot of good laughs depending on how sharp or flat we are! When we hear the good middle C, it is the start of a good warm-up, followed by a generally good rehearsal. All of us being able to hum the middle C has a calming effect. It’s as if we know we are in harmony, both literally and musically.

And so it begins—the solid hour and a half of going through all the numbers we will be performing at our Holiday Concert (Dec. 7, in case you forgot). It is surprising how fast the time goes each week. Just when we think we may never master a difficult passage or never get the syncopation right, it happens. And it makes our director Cris Evans so happy when we get it right. And if Cris is happy, so are we.

We have already had five rehearsals as of Oct. 9 (the day this is being written), and the improvements—small or large—are such a source of satisfaction for us. Yes, we are amateurs, but we really work hard to try to sound professional, and that takes hard work, mixed in with some good laughs. All work and no play ….

Reminder time: Our Holiday Concert will be on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church.

We have confirmed the dates for Ticket Tuesdays at the entrance to Ace Hardware on Riggs Road: Tuesday, Nov. 21; Tuesday, Nov. 28; and Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Tickets will also be available at the door on performance day, but don’t risk not having a ticket or a spot to sit and listen. Buy early. Very soon you will be able to purchase advance tickets from any Chorale member. Stay tuned.