I come from a musical family, so singing has always been an important part of my life. I remember in 2018, when my mom told me that I passed my audition to be in the Let the Children Praise honor choir; I was so thrilled! I was 12 years old, and we performed in January 2019. Since then, I have had the privilege of being joined first by my younger siblings, and then by a whole crowd of wonderful friends. We have learned a lot together and memorized a wide collection of pieces. It is so special to be able to spontaneously sing in parts with my siblings while cleaning the house or with friends in the church parking lot.
"Let the Children Praise" has given me many sweet and wonderful memories. One memory I fondly look back on is sitting on the floor with my siblings around the CD player and singing along with the practice track. We practiced for hours at a time, because we knew that the more time we put in, the bigger the chocolate bar we would get on the day of the concert. We took this competition seriously, and once we had the music memorized, we practiced everywhere: in the car, cleaning the kitchen, drawing at the table. Mr. Hawkins told us to “practice until you can’t sing it wrong,” and that’s what we did.
One thing I love about Let the Children Praise, is when Mr. Hawkins has us sing with the adult choir. My favorite was when we sang Requiem for the Living in 2023. We sang two of the five movements, Lux Aeterna and Agnus Dei. They were beautiful pieces, but our voices paled in comparison to the wonderful singers in the adult choir. Their voices are so strong and magnificent. Listening to them sing is humbling for me, and it inspires me to work hard so that I can be like them someday.
In my opinion, there are two magical moments when you are part of a choir. The first is when, after we’ve learned our parts at home, we gather and sing our parts together for the very first time. It’s incredible to hear all those individual voices weave together to create a beautiful whole. The second is when we move from the choir room to the sanctuary and hear our voices blend and echo around the room and up to the high ceiling. Even though we sound great in the choir room, the sanctuary adds magnitude and beauty to our songs that we haven’t heard before. It gives me chills every time.
Deo Cantamus means “We Sing for God." Those two moments are what inspire me most to praise Him with my voice. When we sing together as a choir, we are using our talents for His glory. It is so wonderful to be able to give back to God the talents he gave to me. It has been a privilege to be in this choir, and I pray that God will continue to use it for His glory for many years to come.
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