The TCP Mission - what it means to me.

2010 has been a tough year so far for The Choral Project. The mission for the group is "Healing our world through music and words." This season, we have really had to live this mission. Through music and words we are healing from the loss of one of our talented and loved members, Daniel Lee Hooper, who died on January 24th after a routine surgery. The rest of the choir was rehearsing at a weekend retreat. We got the news on Sunday evening and it sent a shock throughout the choir and stunned the friends and family of those who knew Daniel Hooper. Daniel Hughes, our Artistic Director and Conductor of The Choral Project, was affected more than any, since Hooper, as I call him, was an integral part of Daniel's life. They joked together that they may be the same person in different time zones. Daniel thought of Hooper as a futuristic version of himself. They played piano duets together, they lived in the same house together, they discussed the same music, whether audibly or telepathically. So much of their lives where intertwined. I had no idea of how much I would miss him, but now that Hooper is gone, the void is overwhelming. Music, especially one of Hooper's favorite choral compositions "Musica Animam Tangens" by Joshua Shank, has played a huge part in healing The Choral Project's world and mine.

As if that is not bad enough, last Monday, February 22nd, Daniel Hughes and his partner, Keith Byron, were in a car accident on the way to a Choral Project rehearsal! A city bus smashed into them as they sat at a red light preparing to turn right. Both Daniel and Keith are OK, but Daniel sustained a gash in his left forehead and got several stitches. Both Daniel and Keith are still sore after a week. Once again, music and words play a big part in helping to heal our world.

We are now heading to ACDA in Tucson, AZ to sing, because that is what we love to do. We express our love through music. We speak words of kindness and encouragement to each other and to the world. It seems natural. It seems right.