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Theory of Choir
(Why Choir is Essential)

It’s the breathing,
we go deep to push notes upward.
The diaphragm does its proper job,
restoring balance after we limp in for rehearsal
beaten down by the shallow breathing
of rushing from one thing to the next.
We focus on music, this night,

the ebb and flow of dynamics, text,
breathing, and more breathing,
where nothing else could possibly

clutter our heads except
the lissom line of black notes
running up and down the page,

and words catching us off our guard
as we press the two together
turning both into music.
Singing transposes us from
demanding bosses,

final exams, ridiculous deadlines,
that nagging pain in the curve of the back,
We are made whole again in music.
We seek the rhythm of our hearts,

find harmony in the sum of our parts,
We chant our stories one note upon another

and another, we blend as one,
a collective “everyone”
sitting side by side, row upon row.
Like bricks on a path, carefully laid down
one next to the other, one journey of sound
one interlocking message, as we crescendo upward,
assembled at the seam of Here and the Hereafter,

our scores held firmly to our chests.

Annette Langlois Grunseth,
Green Bay, WI

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11 7