July 30, 2025

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Wednesday Night Shenanigans

by Cathy Lard, Music Minister

Have you ever wondered what we do every Wednesday night in choir rehearsals? We laugh!

I’ll often start rehearsing a piece with, “Okay, everyone, let’s start at the beginning.” Which is invariably followed by a certain someone saying, “A very good place to start!” We all laugh and then work together to learn notes and harmonies – until someone else cracks a joke or a pun and the laughing starts again.

There was the time when we were working with a guest flautist and someone asked, “What do you get when a flautist twirls his instrument to make circles in the air?” (Keep reading to find the answer…)

Or the time when I accidentally put the pages wrong in the music binder and no one had a clue where we were or what I was talking about. (Okay, maybe that was more than once…)

And of course, many of our hymn tunes resurface during the year but with different words – and we get to play our own version of, “Name That Tune!”

And just one more because it’s my personal favorite – the time when someone looked at myself, Art, Tim, and Ruth standing in a row and said we had a “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” (Get it? Yes, I know…)

No matter what mood I come in with, I always leave rehearsal with a smile on my face. The basses provide puns, the altos tell funny stories, and the sopranos….well, we show up with style and sing the high notes! 

I also always leave feeling a sense of belonging. Our choir family is a true family – we check in on each other, we share each others’ joy over exciting trips and childrens’ marriages, we hold space and support for each other when we get bad news or a difficult medical result. We reminisce on why a hymn feels special to someone or go down the rabbit hole when a subject comes up that someone wants to discuss. It truly is like being part of a family – except no one holds grudges and the frustration someone may feel probably has more to do with a bad joke than an actual offense. 

I am blessed that I get to do two of my favorite things every week – make music and share connection with others. And I am grateful to be given the opportunity to do that with both the choir and the congregation of Epiphany. As my dad would say, I’m a “lucky ducker”.

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