There's a change from KSL.  We are going to be on at 6:30 p.m. tonight and KCSG at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. tonight.  Hope you will watch.  Thanks to all. 

Stace Hall from KSL emailed me and said that the story about the "awsome Sing To Live Chorus" should be on the 10 p.m. news November 13, 2012.  Hope you all will watch and let me know how you feel about it. 

We are working on funding the Sing To Live Chorus show through Kickstarter. I will let you know about it soon. 

On November 7, 2012, Stace Hall came to our rehearsal and took some video of our rehearsal.He also interviewed Lloyd Simpson, Glory Jean Brewer and me for KSL news.  He said he read about us from this blog and got with his producer and they wanted to help us.  We certainly appreciate that and the help it will bring.  Stace will email me when KSL will run the story and I will post it on the blog.  We are currently rehearsing for a few Christmas parties we have been invited to perform at.  We will sing traditional Christmas songs and maybe a couple not so traditional.  We are currently working on the Twisted Sister song "We're Not Gonna Take It."  A few of the words have been changed that fit our uniqued medical conditions.  It will be our main song that introduces us.  After Christmas we will be working on our June 15th show at the O. C. Tanner Amphitheater.  We are all excited to perform this show.   Anyone who wants to join are welcome and needed.  Just leave a comment on how to get in touch with you. 

We will keep you informed of what we are doing and what concerts are upcoming. 

We performed a short program at Town & Country Bank on Friday Oct 12, 2012.  They have a beautiful bank with a wonderful lobby.  They have concerts every Friday at noon.  We were asked to perform and we were excited to do it.  Town & Country Bank records the songs and puts it on Youtube.com.  Below are the links to the songs.  Please take a look and leave a comment.  Thanks.

1.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxZd7Vkj8dA&feature=channel&list=UL

2.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=574QJZKl8wk

3.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHaqCF17we0

4.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IOvddnosBg&feature=channel&list=UL

5.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96QZ7Cs5jmY

6.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-0T6BZgaKM

7.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZBY7PAkK0E

We had our debut yesterday at Red Mountain Resort.  It was a "Live Strong" event and there were two doctors that lectured and a traveling art show.  We performed 7 songs and Judy and LuAnn both talked about their cancer.  Geoffrey Myers was our accompanist and what a great job he does.  He is a one man orchestra.  He is able to have every instrument at his fingertips.  He is great.  I will have pictures and videos as soon as I figure out how to do it.  It should be by Tuesday.  Thanks to all the were there and to all that sang.  It was great fun and our Sing To Live chorus members did great. 

The Spectrum, our local newspaper ran an article about us on Sunday September 23, 2012.
Here's a link to it.  Please tell all you friends.  Thanks.

http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20120922/LIFESTYLE/309220012/For-choir-members-music-wonder-drug?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

We had a great rehearsal on Wednesday and we are almost ready for our first performance. 
That performance is September 29, 2012 at Red Mountain Resort at 1:00 p.m.  It is Live Strong Day.  It is open to the community and there is no charge. 

We are coming together as a wonderful group of singers.  We invite anyone who might be having a rough go at life to come and join us.  Our rehearsal is only an hour and a half to two hours and we meet at Tonaquint Intermediate school.  It is a lot of fun. 

We are ready and going strong. 

Look for us in The Spectrum newspaper Sunday September 23, 2012. 

I forgot to take my camera to our last rehearsal and don't have a picture of another member.  But I need to tell you that in just 4 rehearsals we starting to come together as a group but more importantly we are becoming a family.  I feel that we all care about one another and rejoice in the accomplishments of each individual.  There is so much encouragement for each other and we all want to help each person succeed. 

We are getting ready for our first performance at Red Mountain Resort 1275 East Red Mountain Circle in Ivins, UT.  It is September 29, 2012 and is free to the public. We will be performing at 1:00 p.m.  We are rehearsing inspirational songs and we want to bring hope to all that hear us. 

I would like to tell you that Judy, the person in one of the first posts, came to rehearsal 2 weeks ago with a hat instead of her turbin and last week she didn't wear a hat.  Her hair is starting to grow and she looked great.  Everyone told her she was beautiful and many commented that she has a beautifully shaped head.  She is wonderful and is singing great. 

We are fortunate to have Geoff accompany us.  He is a great musician and you will be able to hear him and his great orchestrations on Sept. 29. 

We are going strong and will be seeking funding for future shows on Kickstarter.com  We are looking forward to our show at the O. C. Tanner amphithearter on June 15, 2013 and our Christmas show are the Scera Shell Thearter in December 2012. 

As you can see we are going to be busy. 

Just a quick look at what is happening in Wales.  They are still singing, growing, and serving people to live life.  Take a minute and read the article.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17436552

We had another rehearsal on Thursday Aug 30, 2012.  We had a few new people and a few of the originals and a few that were not able to come.  What a joy it is to sing with these people.  Geoffrey came and played the piano for us and we had a great rehearsal.  One of the things we did was I had everyone face the wall and sing as if they were on stage and sing like they have always wanted.  We practiced Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  Geoffrey played beautifully and all the members sang absolutely wonderful (some have said they can't sing).  It transported them to another place and they left all inhibitions about performing and singing behind and they sang with their hearts.  What a fantastic sound they made.  After that, we sang as a unit but with the same intensity as when they were singing to the wall.  With just 11 people we sounded like a full choir. 

Singing brings about emotions.  A song can take you back to a time and a place.  You can remember a certain person, event, or feeling when you hear a certain song.  Singing can also heal.  I hope that is what we are helping some of the members of Sing To Live chorus do.  At times there are a lot of laughs but sometimes a memory of a loved one that has past or some other special occasion comes to mind and a some tears might fall.  What a great support group to be with when those emotions come to the surface. 

There have already been some very tender moments happen with this chorus.  They are all very special. 

Lloyd loves to sing.  Lloyd is one of the most upbeat people you will ever meet.  He sings at home, in the car, everywhere, and he's really good too.  Last November he sang in the Senior Sampler Senior Week talent competition.  Lloyd was one of the finalists that sang in the evening show at the Cox Auditorium.  This was his first ever singing in front of an audience, the first time on stage, and first ever competition.  He did a great job.  Lloyd sang "Sway" and one of the judges, Michael Ballam could not believe that he had never sung on stage before.  Michael said that he was so relaxed and his stage presence was very professional. 

Lloyd had a career in Salt Lake City working in the heating and air conditioning business owning his own for many years.  Lloyd moved to St. George a few years ago after retiring and we are glad he moved here to St. George.

Lloyd has had his battles with cancer and has overcome them.  He also had a bout with a heart problem and he has bounced back from both of these with great enthusiasm and health.  Lloyd has studied a lot to help him with his health.

He is such a joy to be with and very creative.  He loves to come up with ideas for songs, (writing many songs of his own)  and videos. 

We are so glad he is with our Sing To Live chorus.   Thanks Lloyd

Meet Dean.  Dean moved to St. George about 10 years ago.  He worked with aircraft for a majority of his life.  He was a crew chief in the United States Air Force working on a number of different jet fighters.  He continued working with aircraft after his the Air Force working  for Bonanza Airlines, Boeing and E systems. 

His experiences with cancer have been with his father and brother.  His father had Leukemia when Dean was a young man.  His father was a roofer and Dean believes that the Leukemia came from his father reroofing all the roof in Southern Utah after the testing in the desert.  Dean's dad was a downwinder.  His older brother also had Prostate Cancer.  Both men are big heroes to Dean.

Dean loves ice cream.  He said that he loves all flavors too.  He also loves music.  He listens to everything from classical to country to rock.  He loves to sing.  He finds himself singing most of the time.  He will sing to himself like some people talk to themselves.  He said, sometimes it just makes more sense when you sing it. 

We are grateful and excited to have Dean be in the Sing To Live choir and we are very grateful for his service to protect our country. 

Thanks Dean and Here's To The Heroes.

I went to a choir reunion last month at Utah State University.  Dr. William Ramsey was our choir director.  He left USU in 1975 to go to take a position at Stanford University as director of choral studies.  He left quite a legacy at USU and we all loved him.  He returned last month and directed former members in a concert at USU in the Kent Concert Hall.  We rehearsed for about 6 hours on Saturday and we had the concert Sunday evening.  I need to tell you about one thing he taught us while in rehearsal Saturday.

We sang O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.  At rehearsal after going through it once he asked us "who has never heard this?'  About half the people singing raised their hand.  He look at them and said, "You just did."  We rehearsed it again and again he asked, "Who has never sung this?"  Again about the same people raised their hand.  Again he said "You just did."  To me it was one of the classic Ramseyisms.  The funny thing is some of the people just didn't get it and Sunday evening at rehearsal with the band he asked again, " Who has never heard this?"  Now some in the band and some in the choir raised their hand.  "You just did."

I have used this comment a few times since and it does bring a laugh.  Use it in your choir rehearsals and you'll make choir a fun time for all.

Now, who has never heard of this joke.  (You just did.)

Let me tell you a little about a wonderful and beautiful person, Judy.  Judy moved to the St. George area about 8 years ago.  She moved from the Washington D.C. area where she worked for 30+ years.  She commuted to work an hour each way and enjoys being in Southern Utah 95% of the time.  (It does get a little warm here.) 

Judy joined our choir and I am so glad she did.  She brings with her great class and refinement that elevates all of us. 

Judy was diagnosed with an evasive form of breast cancer last February and has gone through both chemo and radiation treatments.  The radiation treatments will soon be done and both radiation and chemotherapy doctors say her prognosis is very good.  The cancer was diagnosed early and they treated her quickly.  We are glad they have done such a great job because she does and will bring so much to our choir. 

Judy has great friends that have helped her get through all of this.  Friends she exercises with, friends from her church, her pastor, a non-denominational Bible study class with wonderful people that have helped her.  We are glad she has been taken care of and we hope to be included in this list of friends too. 

Judy likes the outdoors and nature.  One of the reasons she loves Southern Utah so much. 
We are glad she moved here and we are especially glad she is singing with the Sing To Live Chorus. 

Thank you Judy.

We had our first rehearsal.  We might have been small in numbers but we sounded great.  We are about 25 strong right now.  Only a few we able to come to rehearsal on the 23rd but we had 3 new people.  We are rehearsing for our first gig at Red Mountain Resort on the 29th of Sept.  We will be ready with a great show. 

We will sing On A Wonderful Day Like Today for our opener. A few songs like The Impossible Dream and You Raise Me Up as inspirational songs. Here's To The Heroes as a tribute to all of our heroes and I'll See You Again as an encore (we are thinking positive and hoping for an encore).

Yesterday was an inspiration to me.  All of the members of our chorus are great, wonderful people that have had some trials.  They have gone through some rough times.  I will tell you about one of them tomorrow.  We all go through life and have our own trials.  I find that when you help someone else, all of a sudden your trial is made a little lighter and the other person is also feeling a little better. 

That is what we are about.  Sing To Live is here to help each other.  We lift each other because we are all contributing through our voices into one common goal and that is to bring enjoyment to others through song.  We make a joyful sound when we all sing. 

We are putting out the call for all who want to join.  Whether you have sung all your life or whether you have never sung, we want and need you. 

I will tell you a little about Judy tomorrow.

Singing for health reasons may seem revolutionary but this way of life was practiced hundreds of years ago.  In the time of Socrates and Plato you would need to be a musician before you could be a physician.  Music, sound and vibrations have affected the body from the beginning of time.  We are just now starting to study the effects of singing.  Here is an article of a recent study of the affects of singing and cancer patients. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22837766

I know we will have similar results. 

We are having our first rehearsal on August 23, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.  at the Tonaquint Intermediate School room E09.  I will post pictures and an interview with one of the participants. 

In Wales, singing is a way of life.  Everyone sings in Wales.  Dr. Ian Lewis started a choir in January 2011 to be a support group for cancer patients.  His study is inspirational.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCRPTAgFCLE

Take a few minutes and watch his interview before their concert.