Red Night Report

Last night, we visited Atria Collwood, a local retirement community, for a Mills Music Mission. Every time we get together to sing for these folks, I come away from the experience with the feeling that we have deeply impacted the resident's lives. This time in particular, I wished we had stayed a while longer, since it felt like we had a little bit of gas left in the tank. But it was a very positive experience overall; the residents were supremely grateful, as most of the brothers discovered in talking to them after the performance.

Some things to improve on for next time:

•Making call times. I was really disappointed that only half the chapter was on time @ 5:30. I know some people were delayed because of traffic and other obstacles; to avoid these issues, plan to arrive at least a half-hour before call time. If you do arrive 30 minutes early, use it to practice your part on a difficult song, or to refresh your memory of National Exam questions.
•New songs. There are some of our songs that will always be part of our performance, but I would like to mix it up a little more next time. Big thanks to Nathan, Bryan, Jesse, Mike, and Ryan for prepping their solos/duets.
•Backstaging. I will take the blame for this one. When others are performing, the other brothers should remain silent and 'invisible'; i.e., you should not be moving around behind the soloists (unless they request you like for Nathan & Ryan's song).
•Expression. Watching most of you sing was mildly depressing; you had little to no expression on your face while singing! If you know your part for a song but are shaky on the words, look down only when you need the next line; the rest of the time you should be watching your audience and smiling. We are trying to uplift the audience through music's power, and our efforts most effective when we can make a closer connection by looking at them (serving them with music).

I was very happy to have our alumni join us for the evening, and hope to have them return for some of our later activities as well. I was a bit disappointed with the probationary class song; it seemed like you guys needed a couple more rehearsals to really lock in your parts. Thanks for your efforts this week; it was pretty evident that most of you were driven to get your work done. Remember to ask your Big Bros for guidance, but also ask them for suggestions on how they met the same challenges you are facing now when they went through their probationary process. Above all, respect each other as fellow musicians and men; you are all in this together, and for better or worse, your probationary brothers will be a part of your life for some time to come.