In Verses & Song

  Hope Born On Christmas Morn  a poem for the season by Stacie Eirich   I loved sending out Christmas cards to my worldwide fellow Stay-at-Homie singers this year! I added hand-written poems that I hope brought them joy in darkness, as singing and connecting in our choral community has brought to me throughout 2020. In a year that could have been silent and dismal, connecting and singing with the Stay at Home Choir, the Self-Isolation Choir, and the Chorus of Opera North have all been bright lights. I'm thankful for these opportunities to continue singing, and grateful to have so many new friends.  From my home to yours, I wish you a🎄Merry Christmas! Yes, it is different this year - but we have so much to look forward to. We'll be together, stronger and brighter and more beautiful than we knew we could be in 2021. Hope was born on Christmas Day, and Joy will dawn with the New Year!  Be safe and well this Christmas; may 2021 bring us together again.  Listen...

In a year of challenges, isolation and great sadness...I have also found joy. Yesterday evening, I joined The Stay at Home Choir, performers and artists across the globe to celebrate that joy, in Live with Carnegie Hall: Global Ode to Joy .  A concert that was born from conductor Marin Alsop's idea to turn Beethoven's 250th birthday celebration into a global movement for joy amid a pandemic, it was truly an unforgettable experience that spoke, to me, of our uniquely human emotions, our ability to persevere, and our capacity for joy.  What is joy to me? Joy is nature, joy is poetry, joy is song. Joy is connecting with others.  What I never would've predicted, though, is how a pandemic and months of quarantine and social-distancing could also lead to joy. To real, meaningful connections and artistic creativity, beautiful memories, new friendships and an inspiring movement that I'm so grateful to have been a part of.  Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith's po...