It is October and rehearsals are well under way. We have been singing since August and the old and new singers are beginning to sound like a real ensemble after singing together for six weeks. We have had our usual concert cycle ‘dramas’ but most have been nothing more than merely annoying. We will have a wonderful concert in about a month and then it’s on the the next event.

The angle of the sun is beginning to slant and the golden shadows I see from my kitchen window tell me it won’t be too long before the garden is covered in white. I enjoy watching the seasons from my window–it reminds me where I am in my own life and is comforting to this Midwestern gal.

Autumn is my favorite season–bittersweet compared to spring, but still the beginning of something new. The weather in Chicago is at its most beautiful–warm during the day with an intense sun and chilly when the sun sets . The leaves are beginning to color and brighten our landscape with patches of painted splotches. It is the time for new things as well as leaving the old behind.

During our fall concert cycle, I feel a surge of happiness, of being able to do what I love, what I know and what means the most to me. This is my favorite time to work with singers because anything seems possible.