God Above All: ASC concert

The Arizona Saints’ Chorale Christmas concert: “God Above All,” was very surreal experience. Forrest let me know a week before the concert, during rehearsal, in front of the Gilbert choir, that I would be saying a few words to introduce myself and the song that we would be performing, Thou Art God. What I didn’t know was that the other three were going to say their words without a piece of paper in front of them, so I probably looked a little unprepared or stale, but you know, it is what it is.

My song was right after Abrahm’s Gaudete, which is an absolute banger of a song. He did very well on it. To preface what I impromptu said before I read my words, both Abrahm and Forrest declared that they had met their wives at ASC. I started my introduction by saying, 

“Contrary to popular belief, I did not meet my wife at ASC.” And a good majority of the audience found that funny.

These were my words:

“How fun was that?!

My name is John Gonzales. I was lucky to be taken on by the Arizona Saints Chorale for this season. I have loved working with such talented individuals and to have made many beautiful and long-lasting friendships.

Over the course of the time I've been with the Arizona Saints Chorale, we have pondered our own testimonies of Christ. His character, his life, his mission, his sacrifice, his triumph over death and sin, and ultimately, his Love for us and each and every one of his children. I hope you have felt that tonight. As you consider donating tonight to the nonprofit organization, Step Up to Justice, you can take the time to examine how you can spread the light of Christ to those that are in need.

Please contemplate your feelings about the Savior of the World as we conclude with the next few pieces, and specifically as we declare that ‘Christ is our Savior this very day.’”

I really meant what I said, and besides the thing that I started with, I didn’t really want to be funny in light of the sacred song that we would be singing next. I got up there, and I conducted the piece, and it was beautiful. There was a music binder up on the stand already that I had to replace, after I presented the choir to the audience, and I forgot to sit them down afterwards, and it was funny.

Another thing leading up to the day was that I was unsure if directors/conductors normally sat out of the singing of the songs. I actually had a great struggle with this internally without even knowing, for when I brought it up with Sarah with no fervor to sing in the ensemble, when I had done all this preparation to know the music I was singing, she adamantly refused to believe that I was fine with the fact that I wasn’t singing. We talked through this and worked through it and I finally decided to call Forrest to see if I could sing with the ensemble during most of the performance. He, of course, said yes, with little to no hesitation, which was a relief, but also made me feel a little ridiculous because I made something so small, so big.

A huge reason I wanted to be in the choir singing was because I have grown to love Forrest’s The First Noel. I didn’t think it would grow on me, but it did. It was also fun to sing his Ding Dong, Merrily on High, and experiencing singing in the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. I got out of singing Gaudete, but the choir did so good on that one. Lastly, I sang The Work of Christmas, but didn’t feel like I knew it as well. I really enjoyed hearing the women sing Away in a Manger, especially that one chord in the song where the women sound like angels.

There were a lot of great stirring solo pieces, including a beautiful Bass/Piano solo by Sam, and a vocal solo by Chad.

One really great thing about this year’s concert was that since it is the 5th anniversary of the formation of Arizona Saints’ Chorale, they did a raffle of tickets to Disneyland. Because of the raffle and general donations that were raised, we earned $2500. Benggy won the tickets, but gave them up for grabs. The second winner was Tyler Robertson. I know the wife has a baby that comes to Mesa locale.

All in all, a great experience.

It was a good experience because it has really stretched my capabilities as a budding choral director. I really have Forrest to thank, and the other two directors, for giving me this opportunity to join their ranks. I am grateful for them allowing me to do this, and I can't wait for next semester's rehearsals and concerts, where they will be performing one of my pieces: Supplication to the Lord.