Features

A day in the life of Carpe Diem

BY LESLIE BARR

The trains rush by the Historic B&O Railroad Station in Silver Spring, where the doors are propped open on an unusually hot late-October evening. Inside, 65 singers sit crammed together on folding chairs and waiting-room couches, the sopranos merging into the altos merging into the tenors and basses. Their music fills the old station as the group practices a passage a dozen times, concentrating, sweating out their parts, but finally each section gets it and the resulting 4-part harmony makes everyone grin with delight.

This is Carpe Diem, a choral arts residency project whose goal is to transform an assortment of local people who like to sing into a community chorus. Sponsored by the arts outreach organization Class Acts, there are participants of all ages, plus 20 children who rehearse their part separately from the adults.

There are teachers and social workers, writers and computer programmers, conservationists, and even a judge. There are families, neighbors, and people meeting for the first time. Some have sung before, and some have only a vague sense of the difference between a flat and a sharp, but Margie Farmer, the conductor, patiently leads the group through the music. Everyone listens intently, highlighting parts in yellow and making little notes in their scores: "Hold!! Breathe!! Watch!!"

It is a lot to learn–five rich, complex songs, four intense rehearsals, and then, a concert at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

The musicians of the group Trio Globo, who will accompany the chorus at the concert, come to play for the singers. The sound of Eugene Friesen’s cello is so lovely and alive that some in the chorus seem suddenly to realize, "Hey, this is real music that we’re making!"

Another time, Howard Levy plays the electric piano (all that is available at the train station). His enthusiasm touches everyone–which is good, because this is supposed to be the last of the four rehearsals, and some are starting to have advanced cases of nerves. How do the basses find that note? How does that melody go, the one with all the accidentals? What happens when the meter changes?

Busy Graham, the director of Class Acts, schedules a last-minute, extra rehearsal, and late on a Sunday evening, the day before the concert, you can almost hear the sound of a community growing as hard work and shared laughter finally come together in the music.

At the Kennedy Center, the chorus is crowded onto a small set of risers. Elbows are digging into ribs, books knocking heads–it is a closer community than anyone ever wanted! But soon, it is only about the music. The children are there, standing in front, singing in high, sweet voices. The soloist, Sabrina Coleman Clark, inspires as she makes singing look easy. Sudha Bhagwat, a classical Indian dancer, delicately performs to a jazzy instrumental, and Sduduzo Ka-mbili, a dancer from South Africa, leaps and spins with grace. Margie leads, and Trio Globo (Eugene, Howard, and Glen Velez, the percussionist) are the great support, carrying everyone along, enjoying playing for the chorus, loving the music. As Margie has told everyone, it is truly "art in time."

After the final applause, the Carpe Diem members ask, "When can we do this again?"

For more information about Class Acts and about Carpe Diem, visit www.classactsarts.org or call 301-588-4677.