I'm Thankful for: MUSIC

Music has been a major influence on me and has created a large part of who I am today. As a little girl I watched my sisters and mom in awe as they practiced the piano, longing for the day when I could be old enough to take piano lessons. I caught myself gawking at a lady playing the piano once, you know those moments when you catch yourself doing something really socially awkward? That was one of those moments. My face was literally planted on the piano while I watched her and then I realized what I was doing...and I didn't move, cause I really didn't care, I just wanted to watch, in amazement, as her fingers polished the keys.

Finally my day came to take piano lessons....and although it took a while to make sense of the music it was the exciting of it consumed me in a way. Although not so now, I was a very shy kid and learning to express myself through music was like learning a new language that let me speak about the emotions I felt. It was wonderful to have a new way to express myself and was the driving reason behind why I continued to play on my own long after I lost my piano teacher about a year after I had started lessons. I wouldn't get another teacher till my junior year of high school, but I just kept plunking on alone and got acquainted with music in my own way.

My high school years brought opportunities to publicly perform beyond piano lesson performances and was a fulfillment of my desire to share the music I loved with others. It brought on new challenges as it forced me to play without error or risk embarrassment. I had gotten into playing the trumpet as well in the High School band, and although I never became perfect, I was able to make lasting friendships with fellow band members that still continue today, accompanied by many wonderful and hilarious memories. It taught me that music and the preparation and performance of it brings people together in a very unique way.

Additionally, I was given the opportunity to become the Organist at church. Assuming the role with no prior experience in playing the organ came around the same time I assumed the role of Piano Teacher to three young girls, nothing of which I had done before. The organ came easily, and taught me that not only can music evoke emotion, it can be played with such emotion as to allow others to find gospel messages that cannot be found expect through music. Teaching Piano, on the other hand, was a challenge that I found difficult because for me music had always been like a different language for me - and just as it is difficult to explain why someone speaks English the way they do or why they use the words they do, I found it difficult as well to explain what it meant and why it was done. It seemed like I was the one benefiting more from the experience more than the students.

Throughout my teenage years I felt like it was a growing time, where I was able to gain musical skills that I would never be able to forget. Everything I had learn had become a part of me and came easily. Later in life is when I began to reap some of the most rewarding experiences from the blessing of knowing music. I was able to teach eager Filipino girls who to play on cardboard "piano keys" as there was only one piano for them to learn on and wasn't easily accessible. Teaching them was a joyful experience and was easy to do since they were so eager to learn. In college, I was able to participate in Choirs and musical performances that allowed me to meet some of the most inspiring musicians, ranging from conductors, opera singers, teachers and musical therapists.

I was also able to fulfill a childhood dream of somehow being a part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I would spend hours at home when I was little pretending that I was playing for people who had flocked around me from around the world aching to hear me play...ha ha, it's sounds pretty funny, but I imagined it a lot and loved to pretend I was playing along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Becoming a member of the Bells on Temple Square gave me the opportunity to become a part of them, and now there literally are thousands of people who do flock around wanting to hear us play. It's blessed me with further opportunities to participate with some amazing musicians, allowing me to participate with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Orchestra on Temple Square, Tom Waldron (our conductor), and have training with William Payne, a professor who teaches advanced bell ringing courses. We are also preparing for our Christmas Concert with David Archuleta in December. Most importantly, through this time in the Bells I have come to feel a strong spirit in music, especially working with William Payne who conducted in such a peaceful way, it created strong emotions that could only be felt by playing with thoughtful emotion and a desire to portray those emotions to the listener. It creates a unique opportunity to be a musical missionary :)

For all of these reasons, I am thankful for music!