All-West Auditions

What a long six months this has been.

The All-Northwest Junior Honor Choir is a regional (Northwest Tennessee) group of young men and women in grades 7 - 9.  They audition alone in front of a panel of random judges and the top 25 of each group are chosen (Soprano, Tenor, etc.)  and perform at a specialized concert.

Last year when Justice auditioned for the All-Northwest Junior Honor Choir, he was in the seventh grade and just hoping to make the top 25 of his group.  When the results were posted, we were really shocked and excited to learn he had the highest score in his group and had earned the first chair.  Not a common occurrence for a seventh grader.  This was great, except that for the next two years, he had no room for improvement.  Not such a big deal, really.  Not in the grand scheme of things anyway.  

THIS YEAR, we ran into a pretty big snag.  He was diagnosed with vocal chord nodules in the summer and struggling with hoarseness that led to the eventual disappearance of both his speaking voice and singing voice.  The doctor told him in about six weeks he would heal, so we waited.  He saw a specialist, and went to a speech therapist to try and correct whatever problem he had that caused the nodules to begin with.  Six weeks later, he was no better.  12 weeks later, he was a little better, but not much.  

Although he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to audition this year, he worked as much as he could on his song selection for the audition.  Whereas last year he was practicing for a couple hours a day, he was lucky if he could get through the songs once each day so he wouldn't further damage his voice.  The week of auditions he decided he was definitely going to audition, so I made plans to take him to Jackson, TN for auditions.

Then, his Dad arranged to give him a Priesthood Blessing.  A priesthood blessing in our church is a prayer for healing, comfort, or counsel given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, who lays his hands on the head of the person receiving the blessing.  We are blessed in that The Coach is a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder, and can give blessings.  He arranged to have another priesthood holder help him give Justice a healing blessing a few days before the auditions.  The blessing gave Justice great comfort, and the very next morning, he woke up and his voice was better than it had been since the spring.  It was an amazing thing to hear, and brought tears to my eyes to hear him sing well for the first time in months. 

So, off we went to Jackson with a prayer that he would make the top 25 this year.  Funny how things can change so quickly… going from first chair and winning a solo part to "Please let me sing well enough to make the top 25 this year."  

I was a wreck.  A complete wreck.  Auditions were running behind and we waited for over two hours until he got in to audition.  Bo was asleep in the car, so I waited outside for him.  

Did I mention I was a wreck?  I know, I did.  

I kept watching the door, and finally he came out and HE WAS SMILING!  

I was SO relieved to see him smiling.  He said he thought it went fairly well, and he thought he would make it based on the reaction of the judges when he was done with his audition.  Apparently while you are waiting outside in the waiting room you can see the judges faces through a glass window.  As people were auditioning, he was watching the judges reaction.  He said they reacted to him differently after his audition was over than he had seen with anyone else.  That gave him a little confidence that he would be in the top 25.  

So we went home, and we waited.  Last year, we found out that he made it within about two hours after the auditions were over.  Two hours passed us by, and nothing.  His confidence started to drop a little bit.  Six hours later, he was a mess.  Still nothing.  Then suddenly, out of the blue, his choir director posted on Facebook that he and several other students from his school made the choir.  He was incredibly happy, and the question of what chair he got didn't even come up until even later in the evening when his choir director sent me a message that said:

"I'm so proud of our First Chair boy!"

And I said: 

"WHAT?????" Because I was clueless, and she didn't realize we didn't already know.  She sent me this picture.   

Turns out she had texted Justice very early in the afternoon congratulating him on not only making the top 25, but making First Chair again for the second year in a row!  His phone is not working, so he did not get the text message.  

What a painful, but character building afternoon of waiting that was.  

I'm SO proud of this kid.  I'm SO happy for this kid.  

And I would be remiss not to mention that during this period he had no voice, that his voice has changed.  The first time I heard him sing just last week I was floored by the changes.  It is deep, it is a little raspy, but it is beautiful.  He has decided that he enjoys singing classical music most, and he sings it pretty well.  

I hated watching him struggle.  I hated listening to him try and fail to sing.  I hated the sad look on his face, and the tears that were shed on my shoulder for the past six months about the loss of his voice.  He likened his problem to the Parable of the Talents, and always questioned what he had done wrong to lose his talent… It was a rough time for him.  

For now, he seems to have his voice back, his confidence back, and he is really looking forward to representing his school and his choir director at the All-West Junior Honor Choir concert at the end of the month.  His Dad is going to chaperone his trip this year, and he is really excited about spending that time with him, too.  And even better, one of his very best buddies made it this year.  He is a great singer but is painfully shy.  This year he had the courage to audition (his last name is Reeder on the picture list) and made it.  Justice is so excited to go on this trip with him.  

Congratulations Justice.   Thank you for not giving up.  Watching you struggle was difficult, and I'm so glad you kept trying.