I stumbled into the little chapel - where the other choir is, led by Mr. (not Dr.) K. Oh joy, High Mass! Often it is suspened for the summer for its length + the seasonal heat. I welcomed it thirstily. I'd never seen the propers. We did everything acapella and I required no warm up.

I was wishing so bad I knew the chant inflections perfectly. I tried to recall the monks...how they carry song beautifully but indistinctly, no one voice standing out. It won't work here, tho. I try anyway to climb into the prayers sung.

My 17 yr old choir friend/mentor was there - the one who'd said, "my goal is to never have any air in my voice." The one who said, "Singing is 75% psychological. I aim for a spot with my voice, far away," and points to a place hundreds of feet from her. I took her counsel from that day and have never looked back.

There are high notes, mostly G's, in the Credo and Sanctus of Mass XVIII (18). I root my feet, sinking my being beneath the floor like a tree, going low to accomplish them. It's always a tense moment, because the soprano's are timid and sort of whisper the highest notes out. This is not acceptable, and unfair to the liturgy and the people. I have no scruple about standing out at these times, the director is commanding, the music is written, do it! But it's harder singing w/ this choir, they hold back consistently, save for certain hymns done in 4-part.

Standing next to me was the woman who taught me via example, to sing alto. I still tend to sing a M. third down from written notes which can result in the dreaded parallel fifths! It was comforting, once again, to lean upon her unerring delivery.