A Little Christmas in Our Work Weekend

Well... This time I really feel tired from the weekend 😅 but satisfied. The Christmas concerts of George Frederick Handel's Messiah started on Thursday and ended this Sunday night. Four days in a row, it's crazy, since this musical work usually lasts three and a half hours, and although a summary was made so that we are only two and a half hours on stage in reality it is very tiring, and that those of us in the choir had the privilege of having a chair on the stage and only get up to sing our part.

These four days go hand in hand with rehearsals, eating at late hours, washing the only two uniforms I have and even rationing the hours to sleep, not to mention that we have to keep our daily lives active outside of music, like shopping, family, my partner and Hive. But I love this life, I enjoy every minute I make music and it's my escape from everything else. All the concerts were beautiful, but Saturday and Sunday is when the hall is filled with true followers of the group and of the work as such, since I discovered an audience I had never seen before, people who are used to enjoy Handel's Messiah in December, and something tells me that it will become a tradition that we perform it every year, maybe next year I will dare to audition for a tenor solo...

See this picture above, that was another of the great attractions of the weekend and it is the nativity scene of our headquarters. Simulating the birth of Jesus you can see a guitar as the Virgin Mary, a cello as St. Joseph, a horn as the mule, a tuba as the ox, a trumpet holding the star and a cuatro (popular Venezuelan instrument) as the Baby Jesus; all this adorned with many Christmas motifs that steals the attention of the public, the press and us musicians...

I certainly feel a little tired, especially today Monday, but the Christmas energy has motivated me to get up every morning, especially today is my first day of vacation, my whole body hurts, especially my back and feet, but Christmas is just beginning and this is not my real city, so there is a lot to do before leaving and meeting my family. I have already told you that it will be the first Christmas without my dad who died on February 1st, surely there will be a lot of sadness at home, but I have the joy of taking with me the amazing moments I lived the weekend and I think this same music we played will keep playing at home the next days, just look at this picture below, we really look amazing and the sound I promise you it was heavenly...

Musically it was a very good year and we have closed on a high note. Generally our concerts are on weekends, so I feel that I didn't waste any of them. With Sunday's concert I have finished closing a cycle, and in the following days I will culminate and prepare myself to begin a new era for me which will be 2024, I have a lot of expectation, but all the cards are already on the table, it has been a lot of learning, pain, low blows, good musical experiences and the natural cleansing of the people around me. This year was necessary for me, but at least I feel prepared to face the unknown. I'll take the excitement of this weekend, as I wait for the videos to appear to share the music... Happy start of the week Hivers friends!.