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.