The old saying, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” Is quite true. But 5 years ago today….
Yep. That’s me. On stage at Carnegie Hall. Now, before you start thinking how great at music I am, I paid for the opportunity to sing on stage at Carnegie Hall. But it was an absolutely life changing experience.
Throughout my life, music has been a constant. I’ve had amazing experiences, played and sung unbelievably powerful music with many gifted musicians. I’ve played the organ in beautiful churches, sang in sonically beautiful settings and so much more. Music has taken me lots of places. But I never expected or dreamed of Carnegie Hall.
That experience changed my life. You see leading up to that, I had wrestled with leaving full time church music after my dad’s passing 2 and a half years earlier. There’s a lot more detail that isn’t necessary to share here, but being on that stage, singing in those rehearsals made me realize how much I missed being a performer. Sure, I played the organ every Sunday, but I hadn’t sung in a choir since college. And it was something that I loved so much. So after that experience, my wife and I discussed more and decided that yes, it was time for me to leap out of full-time church music to…..something else.
My degree is in vocal music education, and I love teaching, so that was the direction I headed. Of course, 2 months after I announce to my congregation that I’ll be resigning my full time position in June, the world shuts down…..I continued with the plan. Classroom teaching was a part of it for a bit, but teaching individual lessons was what I ended up having the opportunity to do more.
Now, 5 years later after that experience, I’m thankful beyond words for this journey of building my own business. I’ve grown in so many ways. And it has given me much joy. If you would have asked me in 2001 when I graduated from college what I’d be doing, this wasn’t on the list. But neither was singing at Carnegie Hall. Music takes you so many places. I’m looking forward to where it takes me in the years to come.