Madi Goes to China

My most exotic honor choir trip was from Sitka, Alaska to Seattle, Washington. As an 8th grader at Blatchley Middle School, I thought a flight to Seattle was a huge deal.

This morning, I drove Madi and her friend, Erin, to JIS where they boarded a bus and headed to the airport. They are currently on a plane to

CHINA

for an AMIS (Association of Music for International Schools) girls' honor choir trip.

Here they are in the back seat of our car, at the insane early hour of 4:30AM.

 

 

Madi and Erin waiting in the parking lot for the other choir members to arrive:

 

 I still remember my honor choir experience from (cringe!) twenty-six years ago. We sang "Cat Duet" by Gioacchino Rossini. I had a crush on Ty (a boy from my school who was in the honor boys' choir). And there was a girl who wore a Hubba Bubba bubblegum shirt that I coveted. (Pretty eclectic memories.) Mostly, I remember it being an incredible experience - an important step in fueling my love of music.

Of course, I never dreamed I'd be sending my daughter off to her first honor choir event...in China. 

As with most things Madi sets her mind to, she earned her place on the choir after a lot of hard work. It was not easy. Madi leans toward the shy side, so singing solo for audition in front of the entire choir was a bit scary. However, she practiced and developed a beautiful clear tone. We're pretty sure she inherited her high soprano voice (which I'm very envious of) from Nana. She auditioned with 40 other girls and was selected as one of 9 to represent JIS at the honor choir.

As I sit here typing, I find myself thinking about my parents - grateful for their support of my love of music. I wonder if they were as excited for me boarding the plane to Seattle as I was for Madi boarding a plane to China this morning. 

I can't wait to hear about her adventure.