Embracing Discomfort

Throwback Thursday! And today I was reminiscing with my colleagues at work about a memorable moment, although I see that most of us agreed it was also quite awkward. This morning we were watching some videos from our trip to Rome and sharing our thoughts on them, but it turns out that practically no one remembered our first performance in Italy in 2025. In fact, that's the moment you can see in the 3Speak video I'm sharing here, when we sang Laudate Dominum and opened our musical entrance, right at the end of a purely institutional event.

It was practically a press event where they discussed the importance of the saints' canonization for Venezuela, and there were very important figures from the Church and politics. There we discovered that we weren't the only Venezuelan musicians who would be participating musically; in fact, there was another choir that was in charge of harmonizing the beginning of the ceremony, singing a moving joropo in Spanish and honoring those who would be the newest saints of the Catholic Church. That was a special moment for that choir, and after the opening, the ceremony began, which lasted two hours... Two hours of reflections, readings, interviews, and photographs, and of course, we had to remain silent and show great respect for the magnitude of the event.

As a Catholic, I enjoyed the entire service, and yes, I did get sleepy in some parts 😅 but what was truly awkward for us was being called upon to sing before the end, when everyone was already tired after two hours of readings and biblical references. We're absolutely certain that no one wanted to hear us, and if it hadn't been our first musical performance in Rome, perhaps we wouldn't have wanted to sing either. The worst part is that our repertoire was entirely sacred, slow, and in minor keys, nothing like the first choral piece that opened the service, which they were practically dancing to. While we were singing, reporters were moving around and the protocol was being prepared for the end of the service, so I doubt that few people heard us. We weren't the main act, just one more part of the program. In fact, we cut the list of choral works we had brought and no one noticed 🤣

Yes, it was awkward, but also fun because it was a different experience. We're somewhat used to reporters or the public not respecting our personal space when we sing, but this time it was more insistent. We were also in a dark corner, since the sound was the priority, not the visual aspect, but we've stopped using paper scores, so the light from our tablets has been a blessing on many occasions. Work isn't always a bed of roses, but I can assure you that every experience teaches us valuable lessons for our professional journey, and after all, we were in Rome ❤️ no discomfort could take away the good vibes I felt being in the Eternal City 🙏