I got dressed and made my way down to the School of Sacred Music (SSM) Alumni breakfast, which is held annually at these conventions. Each year, we honor a very deserving individual- with some form of presentation and acknowledgement of their importance to our conference and to the SSM. In years past we have honored Professor Eli Schleifer, Joyce Rosenszweig and this year we honored Professor/Cantor Benjie Ellen Schiller.
So, over some quiche, a little blintz, some pastry, fried dough balls and some coffe, we sang Benjie's Psalm 150 and offered some words of praise. I think she handled the attention quite well, given the fact that she is a very humble person.
After breakfast, I had a meeting with a colleague and friend who is putting together a class for her congregation on a subject I have spoken about in the past. It is always very nice to spend time with colleagues, but it is also a wonderful thing to be able to help each other out. Sitting in the hotel at any given time are some of the most capable and knowledgeable people within contemporary cantorial and Jewish musical life. Between the 140 or so cantors and 26 GTM members who attended this conference (plus the presenters and a bunch of vendors), there is a strong collective finger on the pulse of what concerns Jewish music currently. So to spend time with a good friends and to be helpful in any way is a blessing. There have been many times I have sought out the help or advice from one or more of these fine people, and to be on the giving end is a good feeling.
After a quick lunch on-my-own and a leisure stroll on Beale Street, I returned to the hotel to hear some new music. I have to say I am quite impressed with the professional musicianship of the combined choirs used for this demonstration. The vocalists, some of which have never uttered a word in Hebrew in their lives, did a fantastic job. And the music, much of which I will never be able to use in my own congregation, was exquisite. I must give a great deal of credit to the organizers, including Cantor Robbie Solomon and Cantor John Kaplan. I have some videos of this to share.
It was a mad dash to the elevators so we could all quickly change and prepare for the installation service and following banquet. I think that the moment was unique to any other of the installation services I have attended. It was comfortable and 'laid back' and spoke more to the kind of people besides me who were being installed. I have participated in these services in the past, and have found them to be a bit more formal but perhaps that was only my perception. I was very proud to be standing next to a great group of dedicated people who I treasure. I look forward to making a difference together over the next three years.
We left the services, and once again a mad dash to the elevators. It's a quick trip up to the top, where the ducks live, and where we would be eating a fine meal, dancing to all sorts of DJ'ed music and watching the sun set over that villa that the ducks of the Peabody call home.
I even made some new friends. There was a nice couple sitting outside, near the duck palace, and as it turns out they are one-half Memphian and one-half Detroiter. It's always amazing to travel and to run into people who share a link to your past, in some way. We talked for a few good hours over a drink or two downstairs, and I learned a great deal about what it means to be living in Memphis, what it means to take deep pride in where you come from and as always- to be a representative to the Jewish people and to cantors. Let's face it- not everyone knows what a cantor is.
The rest of the evening was a blast. Let's just leave it at that, and you'll have to ask me outside of this blog. I will protect the rights of my co-pilots by remaining brief, and leaving detail to the imagination. I was safe, respectable and did not embarrass myself. It was a nice night to be lose on Beale, with the sights and sounds of the one of the main thing this city has going for it.
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