Category Archives: people

57–“Virtual Choir 4” from “Frazzle” and “Transcending Boundaries”

7/16/13

Virtual Choir 4
Watching screen shots by Elisabeth

To be seen,
to be seen singing,

to allow
sounds to emerge

and release,
to take the step

driven to connect
or belong or create

a tiny piece of beauty,
trusting.

To open heart
and mouth,

let energy go forth
meshing with others

in the same quest,
hoping.

To strive and persist,
to learn and teach,

to wait for the outcome,
patient.

To join without boundaries,
to encourage, to support,

to accept grace and be
generous.

To demonstrate flight,
each a feather on a wing,

at least a little bit…
fearless.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright 2013

From my books, Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine, and Transcending Boundaries: Inspired by Eric Whitacre and Virtual Choir.

Listen here: https://youtu.be/_scl4qd8Aes (Video begins with an introduction and de-stressing, join in.)

I have been a singer all my life, usually in choirs (church, school, or community). When I first heard about Virtual Choir, created by composer/conductor, Eric Whitacre, I was determined to be part of it. Though I was not a particularly tech savvy person, and very shy as a singer in some ways, I still was moved by the music and the possibility of connection. When Virtual Choir 3 came along, I read all support comments on their Facebook page to see if I could manage it. I learned the music and practiced, putting together a recording setup in my office. I was so affected by all the encouragement from the support team (for other people), I overcame my “issues” and got my video in (alto 2). I was unable to find myself in the final film, but that did not diminish my joy in being part of it all.

When Virtual Choir 4 was announced, I was eager to do it. I donated to the Kickstarter campaign. I practiced to learn my part and upgraded my recording setup. In the final film I found myself right away, which was awesome. When Elisabeth, from Chicago, one of the support crew, decided to help singers find their videos by taking hundreds of screen shots, I watched all of them (no sound, just the faces) and was powerfully moved by all the people I was connected to, from all over the globe.

These videos have gotten millions of views on YouTube. Listen here to VC 3 and here to VC4.

This connection has blossomed into an online community, a Virtual Choir family, that supports each other in hard times and celebrates together in joyful times. When possible they meet in real life and may even sing together. I am blessed to be part of it. Thank you, Eric, and all.

For more poem videos in the series

THROWN AGAIN into the FRAZZLE MACHINE: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing

Transcending Boundaries: Inspired by Eric Whitacre and Virtual Choir

54–“Gorecki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” from “Transcending Boundaries”

8/26/12

Gorecki: “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”

Thanks for the link, Eric Whitacre

In the stillness
non-essentials fall away
light shines in darkness.

Life is re-built
from mostly re-used bricks
previously battered down.

And in the shadows
music builds for those
with patience to listen

to beauty becoming.
Those who trust long enough
to invest the time

who will breathe with
ascending notes, climb the mountain
be washed clean

come back down to life
transmuted water to wine
and back again.

Intoxication.
Dedication
to feeling.

The Phoenix rising
from everyday ash
willing.

And in the end
a shift in key
a point of light toward

the hoped for
healed reality.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2012

From Transcending Boundaries: Inspired by Eric Whitacre and Virtual Choir

Listen to the poem here: https://youtu.be/Ha3xxshEn6s

Henryk Gorecki was a modern composer (1933-2010) from Poland. His Symphony No. 3—which he called A Symphony of Sorrowful Songs—was composed in 1976 and received a lukewarm reception at the time. It was based on 3 laments, including writing by a teenager to her mother on a cell wall in Gestapo headquarters. Fifteen years later a recording with Dawn Upshaw as soloist became a classical phenomenon. This music is incredibly beautiful and moving, building slowly out of near silence. Patience is rewarded. Truly healing music.

Note: The correct English pronunciation of Gorecki should be “Goo-RET-skee.” I found this out while listening an NPR interview with the composer after I did the recording.

For more poem videos in the series

Transcending Boundaries: Inspired by Eric Whitacre and Virtual Choir

53—“After Lisel Mueller” from “As Easy as Breathing”

“…be still enough

to hear direction
even when heart

pounds in the darkness…
sometimes….”

From “After Lisel Mueller” in my book, As Easy as Breathing: Reclaiming Power from Healing and Transformation. (p. 286 in the paperback, also in eBook formats) Listen here: https://youtu.be/p-qpdvOrGaA

Before I wrote this poem in mid-May of 1999 I had been deeply discouraged and had decided to stop writing. Lisel Mueller lived near me and, in 1997, had won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her book, “Alive Together.” I already had tickets to hear her speak, so I decided to go. It was life altering. I learned so much from that one talk/reading. Some of her poems soaked into me as if she wrote them specifically for me, and others not as much. During the book signing Lisel Mueller was gracious and generous, taking unhurried time with each person. It felt like we were all at her house for afternoon tea.

This poem “popped out” as I drove home. (I did pull over to write it down.) And I discovered I was not going to stop writing poems, since “After Lisel Mueller” flowed out from me in one piece just like this. The words were very compelling and clear. My energy shifted, I was recharged in every sense of the word. Later I gave her the poem and she wrote back to me with an encouraging handwritten note. I am grateful still.

Let these words flow over you and recharge you. Breathe out and breathe in…

This poem is also track 35 on my CD. You can listen to all tracks here: Full Blooming: Selections from a Poetic Journal.

For more poem videos in the series

52–“Listening to Peter Mulvey” by Margaret Dubay Mikus

12/13/10

Listening to Peter Mulvey

The attempt to do something
that matters, that lasts,
meaning something to someone,

moving a heart to tears
of joy or sorrow that is familiar,
speaks to someone

or for someone,
to say something that hasn’t been,
but needs to be.

It could all be for me—
I am someone—but I refer
to the part of me, the connection,

that is someone else.
I am aware all is not light and laughter,
if not evil, then darkness

surely exists.
But in that pitch black
is still a crystal, a seed, a promise.

That is where I live.

From upcoming collection: Resist the Slide into Darkness by Margaret Dubay Mikus. Listen to this poem: https://youtu.be/vS1G_Rgx4R8

I first heard Peter Mulvey at Folkstage, a live radio show on WFMT radio in Chicago, hosted by Rich Warren. Peter’s music, stories, humor, and humanness were more than entertainment, they were nourishment. They moved me and stayed with me, like velcro, inspiring many poems including this one. I’ve seen and heard Peter many times since then, always with the same penetrating effect. My heart is opened in some way by his artistry and generosity. He creates a space of grace. I chose this poem because it says something relevant for today, these times we are in. What music inspires you to be and do better?

For more poem videos in the series

51–“White Woman from Illinois on Mandela” from “Frazzle”

“He might be the first to say
he was ordinary,
a man making choices with great clarity,

understanding consequences
to holding hate and anger close,
how one gets burned
and nothing gets accomplished….”

From “White Woman from Illinois on Mandela” in my book, Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing. Listen here: https://youtu.be/hHvHZ7noO94

My internet was down today and I wasn’t sure I could get a post out. I didn’t freak out, but let it go…what will be will be. Yet a way to do it presented itself (in the form of my husband), and I took it. These videos have become my lifeline, kind of, and I needed that.

I read this poem in my voice lesson on Wednesday. Now that I’m choosing what to read each day from all the possibilities, I wanted to pick something that caught the feeling for me, the urgency maybe. I had some ideas, but I waited until the inner voice was clear. And I trusted: Read about “ordinary people” doing extraordinary things. Yes. Isn’t that part of hope, remembering…?

For more poem videos from the series

THROWN AGAIN into the FRAZZLE MACHINE: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing

«‹3 456 7 ›»

Virtual Choir 4 Watching screen shots by Elisabeth

Gorecki: “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”

Listening to Peter Mulvey

Virtual Choir 4
Watching screen shots by Elisabeth