TCATS #337 - Random Tidbits + New Organ Performance

Hello dear readers. And for you fathers out there, happy Fathers Day. :)

It's been over three months now since we've been able to meet and sing together. And per last week's post, we likely have many more months of "choir break" to come. I thought today I'd just include everything I can think of that's still going on with the choir. Some of you might find interesting, some of you might not. But here goes...

*The deadline for the men of the choir to speak up and say they want to purchase their creme coat for $10 was this past Friday. All coats that aren't spoken for can be purchased by other choir members. Exciting, exciting. (Farewell my creme coat...may you enjoy your new owner!)
*Final venue arrangements were made for next year's 2021 tour as announced HERE. The choir is hoping, of course, that COVID-19 doesn't claim the 2021 tour as it did the 2020 tour. 
*Speaking of tour, the deadline to sign-up for going is coming up soon (July 1) and those who's passport has an expiration date of Jan 2022 or earlier need to get started right away in getting a new one. From what I understand, the passport process has turned into a bit of nightmare given staff reductions and whatnot. 
*All choir members who still have music at home have been asked to return it to the Tabernacle so that the choir librarians can do what they need to do and prepare for the day when we will get to sing again. I'll be taking in the music from my carpool people some time this week. It'll be interesting to do that as it's been a long time since I was in the Tabernacle.
*Some choir members are posting accounts of choir-related dreams they are having, on Facebook. Some are actually quite humorous to read through. Others epitomize the sadness that several are feeling during this extended break of not singing.
*And some choir members are reading through some recent letters that came in from individuals who wanted to share how much our music has helped them during these trying times. 

So this past week, the Tabernacle Choir organists put on a performance entitled PIPING UP! This performance actually launched a series of performances that the public can stream every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can find this first kick-off performance HERE. At the time of this post, we're up to 32K views. Go organists! I'm sincerely glad that you get to continue showcasing your talent and inspire so many. (And if you don't have time to watch the whole first performance, catch the ending of it HERE where all five organists unite to give us a really cool visual and listening experience)

That's about all I have. I've been thinking less about choir during each week for the past few weeks, so that's been good for me. Sometimes I have a tendency to want to include my choir friends in that distancing just so I'm not reminded of the current reality of not being able to sing together. But hopefully I can get better at not doing that. We all need each other. And on a general level, friendships are more important now than they ever have been. I don't know...some days I feel very messed up and not sure how to process everything going on in the world, let alone navigating the choir void. But all I can do is my best.

Until next time, God be with you.