A Weekend of Song – Columbus Day Weekend!

I don’t know about you, but I am SO glad that it’s Columbus Day weekend. I have been working so hard this semester; it’s nice to take a break with my family and relax. Unfortunately, I’m sick. I’ve had a fever all weekend, I have the sniffles, have coughed up a lung (AKA had an asthma attack), and have aches and pains. But am I letting that ruin my weekend? HECK NO. Despite my ailments, this has been one of the BEST weekends I’ve had in a long time.

As you can tell by the title, this weekend has been filled with music. On Friday, I had to sing in Convocation, which is a required class for Music Education and Music Industry students to take. In a nut shell, this is a performance class – you either perform, or you watch the performance. For the majority of the time, you sit the audience and watch your peers. But once a semester, it ends up being your turn to perform. And Friday, October 5th was my day.

Now, I usually do not get stage fright. Unfortunately, because I was so sick, I was terrified that I would not be able to sing at full voice. Luckily, thanks to my sickness tips and tricks, I was able to sing at full voice and perform it to the best of my ability! (Yes, my voice cracked a few times, but I’ll take it, given the circumstances). That performance is available for viewing on YouTube:
🙂 The great part about this performance was the fact that my parents were actually there in the audience, and I could sing to them! All of my closest friends were there to hear me as well, which really touched me. It made me feel so loved and appreciated, and I am so grateful to them. My professors were very supportive as well, which made my day even better. Sadly, after my performance, I went over to health services, where they deemed me too ill to be around society (I have a severe sinus infection), so I wasn’t able to go to any of my other classes. But I got to be with my parents, which was better than anything in the world. Singing in convocation was a great experience, and the fact that I got to sing to my mom and dad made it all the more satisfying. It’s always gratifying to have people acknowledge your hard work, and that’s exactly what happened on Friday. I am so truly blessed to be in such a supporting community at The College of Saint Rose.

Me after singing in Convocation! My parents were being parents and made me take like 12 billion pictures.

Saturday was a great day too! My parents and I traveled with The Golden Notes over to Goold’s Orchard to perform for an hour. Despite the rain, we were able to perform a vast repertoire of different music, ranging from “Good Lovin'” to a Broadway Medley filled with popular tunes such as “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables and “Let the Sunshine In” from Hair.  Here’s a link to a video of our performance of “Survivor”, which features me and Brett Roden as soloists, and Gregg Albertson as solo beat-boxer:
After singing on the main stage, we went around the grounds and did mini flash mobs! It was so fun to see the mixed reactions of the people we sang to! At the end of the day, Mom, Dad and I shared some apple cider donuts and relaxed. It was such a great day of music and family time!

A few members of The Golden Notes! I love my new a capella family!

It was so great to show my parents the different musical things that I’m involved with on campus; it  shows how diverse the music program at Saint Rose is. Today (Sunday), my mom and I are concentrating on forced resting (courtesy of Mama, since I still have a fever) and bonding time! How are you spending your Columbus Day weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Best Wishes!