Halelujah

I guess I can say "Halelujah!" that it's almost the end of medical school. But this halelujah actually refers to one of my extracurricular activities - the Queensland Choir. We are singing Handel's Messiah this year and this is the final week of rehearsals. Last week, with my unlucky viral infection, my voice dropped an octave and I could only sing about two notes. Singing then would probably get me kicked out of the choir. So, with my voice recovering over the weekend, I feel like I should join the last two rehearsals before our concert at City Hall this coming Saturday.

This will be my final performance with the Queensland Choir. The Messiah is always fun to perform. It was one of the first concerts I had performed in during my undergraduate years with University Singers. In the following ten years or so, I had performed it with other groups a few times. The complexity and intricacy of the masterpiece makes it a challenge but also a joy to perform each time. And each time I gain a new appreciation for Handel's genius.

After this concert, the choir will break for the summer and next year, I will be far away from Brisbane. During the three years that I had been able to sing with the Choir, I had a lot of fun learning new music and making new friends. With no formal music education and not able to play any instrument, I can count on singing as the artistic complement to the scientific side of my life. Being able to sing with a dedicated group of enthusiastic singers and lose myself in the music is incredibly stress-relieving, even during rehearsals when we get yelled at by the conductor.

Halelujah!