Illuminate The Audience

Lindsay Joiner Keller was one of the original members of the Festival Singers of Florida.  In addition to being an outstanding singer, Lindsay’s welcoming attitude set a tone in the choir that continues today. I can still hear the laughter that surrounded Lindsay as we began rehearsing Alfred Schnittke’s Requiem and David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion. Her personality filled every room and brought out the best in those who surrounded her. 

 In 2012, Lindsay was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer that took her life on June 15, 2013. During her difficult treatments she continued to be an encouraging presence in FSOF, attending our spring concert in 2013. After the concert, Lindsay and her husband approached me to talk about the concert. She could have talked about how good it was to see her friends again or how she enjoyed the concert, but instead Lindsay talked about the importance of what singers do when they sing in choir—she challenged me to be more demanding in terms of singer communication with the audience through expressive eye contact. Over the years, Lindsay’s words have inspired me and provided a sense of permission to be more demanding of myself and the singers.

Founding FSOF member, Lindsay Joiner Keller

This fall, members of Festival Singers of Florida will be premiering Elaine Hagenberg’s multi-movement work Illuminare, and it is my hope that this will represent a bench-mark performance for Festival Singers of Florida. With over 110 singers, more than 20 of whom are new, it will be more of a challenge to sing with clarity and refinement. When considering the fact that choirs have not been able to meet for the past 15 months due to COVID-19, it becomes clear that this year’s rehearsals will be among the most challenging of our 13-year history. 

As I study Elaine Hagenberg’s score, I find myself thinking about Lindsay and her expectations of members of Festival Singers of Florida. How can we approach Elaine’s musical setting of Hildegard of Bingen’s text “Love abounds in all, from the depths most excellent to beyond the stars and loving toward all, she has given the highest king the kiss of peace” unless our goal is to illuminate the audience to understandings of deeper meanings—performing just isn’t enough. 

After members of FSOF greet each other during our August rehearsal retreat, we will take on the task of becoming connected to each other and to the text and music of each piece we rehearse with the expectation that we can be transformed and transform others through the experience. We will explore our own hearts and minds as we work to identify how we can become a “footpath in the way of peace.”

We look forward to sharing the concert with you at First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, October 2 at 7:00 p.m.