Let music never die in me...

Okay, this post will probably end up being lengthy...and for that I am sorry, but music has just been a big factor in my daily life right now. Mostly in negative ways, actually. Which is incredibly sad.

Where to start.... let's go in chronological order, so what became an issue first.

Remedy Drive. Wow, I just love these guys. I've been listening to them since before they were Remedy Drive and they were just Remedy. I have three signed posters from them, a T-Shirt, all their CDs (except for the EP, sad day) and I can't even tell you how many concerts I've been to. I even know some of their family (their uncle was my english teacher and I went to the same church as him and his family) and I have been to a relatives house after a concert and had snacks with them. Yeah. (I doubt they remember me, I was a sophomore or something like that.) Well, this last weekend I was talking to a friend about them, and he didn't realize they were all brothers. So then I was listening to them and was wondering when they were going to be in Nebraska again, they're here fairly often after all. Well, I was met with the news that (I think?) David is the only remaining Zach in the band. Which breaks my heart, honestly. I'm sure the new guys are fine...but it's just not the same. You know? Following a band since their infancy makes you very protective of the members. I even had a dream that I ran into their uncle and was asking him questions about it. Yeah. Music let down number one.

This next music encounter is positive. My friend Ben was in Nebraska with his a cappella group, Living Water, from Yale. It was good to see him, and here the group. They were fantastic. If you ever get a chance to see them, good luck with that, do it! It will be well worth your time. I was blown away, and it made me really miss my a cappella group from high school.

Now... high school leads to this disheartening situation. Nebraska is in a deficit, what state isn't? Well, they're having to make budget cuts... and that means that the Public School system in Grand Island is kind of getting screwed over. And it's all the programming that was so important to me in high school. They're cutting the High Ability Learners program... which kept me sane through scholarship season as a senior. Also, they're cutting German, probably because it's not a "valid" language... I say they should cut French then too, come on! Grand Island was founded by German immigrants, doesn't that give it a bit of a leg up? I guess not. There is also a high possibility that they will be "riffing" fifth grade band and orchestra. Which may not sound all that bad (but really it is, honestly), but that means that those teachers that are tenured will be guaranteed positions within the system... so there is a very likely chance that the current music teacher at my high school will be replaced by a fifth grade band teacher. Yes, let's say it all together now: "What?" That's not the most disappointing thing for me, surprisingly. Why, you ask? Let me tell you.

I am convinced that the current teacher is great. I know he is. He student taught there when I was a junior. He also student taught for quite possibly one of the best teachers to ever come through the department. Mr. LaBrie. Now, he doesn't teach there anymore, he teaches at a private university now, where he should have been all along, honestly. That's right, my high school music teacher was on par with a college professor. My high school has bad luck with music teachers. The kids in the grade after mine had a new teacher every year. Yeah. It sucks. And I know one of the prime arguments right now is that the kids just need some stability. I agree. What really irks me is that some of the kids are saying they won't do music anymore if they get a new teacher. That's bull crap.

Music is bigger than the teachers you have in high school. The kids in the class after mine went on after LaBrie resigned. Now that's hard. Yes, this current teacher is good, and the situation is bad, but if the kids of 2010 could do it, so can the kids of 2012 on down. Quiting the program is not the answer here. Quiting has never been the answer in music. Yes, this all sucks, but it can be overcome, regardless of the results of the voting in the coming weeks.

Every year since I was a sophomore I sang "The Awakening" with Chamber Singers. It was always during the last concert, a kind of sending off for the seniors. I don't know if they're continuing that tradition or not, now that LaBrie is gone. But the epiphany of the song is, "Awake, awake my soul and sing! The time for praise has come! The silence of the night has passed, a new day has begun! Let music never die in me. Forever let my spirit sing. Wherever emptiness is found, let there be joy in glorious song. Let music live!" It's beautiful, and will forever echo in my soul.

"I dreamed a dream, a silent dream, where no birds sang, no steeples rang, and teardrops fell like rain. I dreamed a dream..." [The Awakening]