The first weekend of August, we headed up from the coast to the desert for our first visit to the community of Antelope Valley, CA. I was giving a vocal workshop that Saturday at a local church & then perform with the workshop attendees on Sunday at service & and afternoon concert.As Maggie (our trusty Magellan GPS) told us we were nearing the church, all we saw was flat desert land & lots of sand. We thought for sure Maggie made a boo-boo, but as we kept driving on what seemed like a lonely road, there on the right painted warm white was Unity of Antelope Valley, our destination & the place where inspiration & magic would happen that weekend!GERRY KENT
Years ago, even before I had a career sharing inspirational songs around the country, I received an email from Gerry Kent (in the picture above), a fan who had really connected with my music, in particular a tune called "Believe" which had been such a transformational song for him.To conquer his immense fear of singing, he decide to perform "Believe" as part of a project in a class he was taking. With no accompaniment, he stood up in class & with everything he had, he sang "Believe" - jitters & all, he did it!
From there, he started taking vocal classes at the local community college & next thing I know he's emailing me about being in his first theater production. The emails didn't stop there...next time he wrote, Gerry now had leading roles & recently his choir sang at Carnegie Hall! Wow - I was so happy to see how he was growing in his joy & experience of singing! He often mentioned in his email too that he hoped someday we could sing together :)
Well "someday" came this summer...somehow Gerry finds out that I'm going up to Antelope Valley. I didn't even know he lived in that area, so I am surprised to hear that he calls Rev. Nancy (the minister of the Unity Church) and volunteers himself to promote & market the event & really support my entire visit there (down to booking my hubby & I a nice hotel room). We're both mutually excited that after all these years, after being connected through a song, we get to connect in person.Of course we both email each other about singing a song together. I throw out "The Prayer" that Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli had done & that was on one of my CDs. I know Gerry had done it before, so it would be a killer song for us to do together - big ballad & crowd pleaser for sure. So Gerry says, YES & we're set to finally meet & do a duet together!
Saturday after the vocal workshop, we decide to stay to practice "The Prayer." Gerry seems really nervous & tells me it's fine if I want to cut the song, he's not gonna sound good, he doesn't want to embarrass himself & on & on. We finally practice the song & he makes it through - it's not perfect (for either of us) & it's a high key for him, and some of the melodic lines are shaky, but we make it through.
As we practice a couple more times, I am FLOORED to find out that Gerry has never ever sung "The Prayer," as I had thought. Neither does he study with a vocal teacher nor did he have any help on this very difficult song. Did I mention that he had to sing in Italian all while soaring up to these high tenor notes? Gerry did not sound like a polished pro, BUT as an amateur singer, he did incredible figuring out his part, learning the Italian, & just blew me away with his "cojones" to take it on, to say yes (despite his fears), & to go through with it.
So there we are Sunday at the concert, Gerry shows up & fears & all he is ready to do this. All I can say is "The Prayer" was stunning & probably one of the most powerful performances I've been a part of...Gerry had not only dreamed of this moment (to sing with lil' old me) but he stretched & grew like never before by rising to the challenge & the crowd was on their feet with hearts open, tears streaming, clapping & cheering!!!
You GO GERRY!!! What an inspiration you are to me & all the people lucky enough to know you!!!
Two more highlights from my magical desert trip include:
**Being a part of Vivienne Daniel's comeback to music & her passion of singing that she had left many, many years ago while in an abusive relationship. She had seen a poster of the weekend's events & came to check out the church & my vocal workshop. Who knew she'd be doing her "debut" back to singing at my concert with "What a Wonderful World" in spite of her nerves and embracing a new church family that she'd soon be serving as a solosit with her music gifts & skills!
**Experiencing a "No 'Tude" Church...I told Rev. Nancy Oristaglio, their spiritual leader, that I had never been in a church community like this where I felt absolutely no ego, no 'tude (aka "no attitude") & only connectedness, love & support from the minister to the staff to every single awesome person that we met there that weekend. Their sense of service & joy, the way they walked their talk is a reflection of Rev. Nancy & all that she role models with her graceful & grateful way of being in the world! By the way Rev. Nancy is a singer herself, loves music & is so warm & welcoming - this is the place for all closet-singers to get their spiritual groove on :)If you find yourself in the desert area, visit this wonderful community & get ready to face your fears & jump into joy & SING!!! www.UnityAV.org
