Super Sunday, you might ask? Well the All-Staters (and the leaders as well!) wait all year for this day! And when this day finally comes, it has all the excitement of a Superbowl day where the best players (or singers in this case) have all gathered in the same place. The difference in this Sunday and Superbowl Sunday is that at All-State, all the best singers are on the same team!
For the 2017 edition of North Carolina Baptist All-State Youth Choir, we will be touring central North Carolina. Our home base for the week is at Wingate University in Wingate, NC. Around 3:30pm, the All-Staters began arriving to check-in with big smiles on their faces, big hugs for old friends, and big waves as their parents pulled out of the parking lot! (I guess that could be taken two ways - that they really love their parents so much they wanted to make sure they gave an extra big wave, or they were excited to see them go! But I think I'll stick to the former)
As the All-Staters headed off to their rooms to settle in and catch up with their long-lost best friends from around the state, the staff gathered for their opening meeting. The leaders are just as excited to be here as the kids, with SEVEN of the leaders being former All-Staters themselves! There isn't a better team of leaders assembled anywhere than right here at NCBASYC!
Soon after checking in, the All-Staters headed to their first meal in the cafeteria at Wingate University. New and old friends joined around the tables throughout the cafeteria. You could just see new friendships begin to form before your eyes. Its the All-State magic. I guess nothing connects people faster than Jesus and music!
After dinner, many All-Staters headed over to the Batte Center where rehearsals will be for the next few days. On the steps outside some of them posed for a picture. Apparently you can never have too many pictures!
Soon after, Phil introduced the All-Staters to their "Moms and Dads" for the week. The All-Staters have family time each night where they can debrief the day's activities and talk with each other about their experiences here at All-State and how it relates to the rest of their lives.
After this, the All-Staters met their conductor - Bethany Jennings! She was full of energy as she told them a little bit about herself and taught them a few things about watching the conductor, proper singing posture, and good choral technique along the way.
Throughout the rehearsal, the All-Staters had some time to meet new friends, (and keep the old) do some physical body warm-ups, and warm-up their voices with good choral technique.
As the All-Staters progressed through the first rehearsal, you could begin to hear the developing of a unified sound. It is always such a cool process to see how each conductor take 80+ separate voices and unifies them into ONE choir. That experience of being an integral part of something that is bigger than yourself is a perfect metaphor for how each of us relates to the kingdom of God. We each play a small role, but when we come together with a unified purpose, God is able to accomplish great things through us. Bethany made this kind of connection for the All-Staters between what they are singing and the purpose for which they are singing. She encouraged them to star lines or text in their music that had special meaning to them, use their facial expressions to connect with their audience, and communicate the message behind the text of each one of their songs this week. I think they have already begun to take this to heart!
After the rehearsal came to a close, the 4-year members carried on a tradition of giving gifts and note of welcome to students who were in the choir for the first time. This time was a meaningful passing of the torch as they encouraged young "newbies" to make sure to return to be a four year member and future four-years to continue the tradition of welcoming newbies to the choir.
As a meager tech guy, blogger, photographer, and videographer, I feel extremely lucky to be part of this amazing and inspirational group for yet another year. I'm sure tomorrow will be a very busy day with much rehearsing, lots of fun, and some new surprises that await! Make sure to keep coming back to see blog updates each day, check the Facebook group for full photo albums, and watch for videos of your All-Stater throughout the week!
Your Faithful All-State Blogger,
Carter
Check out the question of the day! I asked the All-Staters what they are most looking forward to this week!
