“The choir is so much more than singing.”

Gary (left) clowns around with fellow choir members after the Maybelle Community Singer’s choir concert at Ecotrust.
Gary (left) clowns around with fellow choir members after the Maybelle Community Singer’s choir concert at Ecotrust.

In her typically animated style, Crystal recounts how the choir is impacting our member, Gary:

“‘Did you see what I did?’ exclaimed Gary, after our concert at Ecotrust.

“Gary was having a lot of anxiety about having a solo before the concert. ‘I can’t do this!’ he declared. ‘You’re going to have to hold the mic for me. Because I’m going to drop it.’

“And I said, ‘You’re going to hold the mic, and I’m going to stand right next to you. And if you drop the mic, I’m going to pick it up.’

“Gary didn’t drop the mic. He did everything he set out to do just like he practiced it. Afterward, Gary said, ‘Crystal, I did it.’ And after a pause, ‘You did that. The choir did that.’

“I couldn’t help but smile. ‘No, you did it Gary.’ I retorted. ‘We just believed in you.’ That’s what this is all about. I believe in our members. I love them. That goes a long way.

“Gary still has anxiety of course. But he knows he can work through it because of his experience with music. Now when Gary’s in a place where something is really hard, he can think back to the time in choir when he had courage, and he made it through.

“That’s what we do in community, in our choir. Singers talk about it all the time. They talk about how music is more than learning a musical skill. You’re learning coping skills that will transfer to other areas of life. We’re creating these moments of success so that we can tap into them when things get hard.”

Originally published as part of our 2017 Annual Report. 

By Jillianne Bandstra

Jillianne never grew out of the childhood “But, why?” stage. This insatiable curiosity led her to get two masters degrees (Adult Ed. & MBA). Jillianne can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than listening to someone’s story and getting a glimpse of the unseen history that we all hold. She believes there is beauty and value in all our stories, even if they’re messy. Outside of her work as our Communications Manager, you’ll find her chasing middle-schoolers in her role as a Youth Director and stepping on Legos left by her two young boys.