The choir glides on stage. One at a time, they stop at their designated spot on the creaky risers. After they shift so they are evenly dispersed across the space, the curtain is raised. Momentarily, they see nothing but white lights. When their eyes adjust, they see a crowd of indistinguishable faces. The director faces away from his choir and begins a brief speech to start off the concert. Some members of the choir, the more seasoned performers, relish this moment. They welcome the suspense and the warmth of the stage lights on their faces. For the newer members, however, nerves create waves of adrenaline in their bodies and make the tips of their fingers shake. The stage lights are too hot for their suits and long dresses.
When the director is finished speaking, he turns to his singers and signals for them to unfold their sleek black binders and glance at their sheet music. Their starting pitch is played on the antique grand piano located just off stage. Each person grabs the note out of the air and tucks it in their ears, ready to transfer it to their voices. They connect with the director through their eyes and with each other through the collective inhale. Then they sing.

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,

And black are the waters that sparkled so green.

They are no longer individuals. The music transforms the scene, and they are more than people making noise in front of some onlookers. Cherubs grow from the shadows created by the stage lights and move as one, circling above the audience. Higher and higher they float until they fill the ceiling. Gold leaves grow from the black stems that stretch from the staff lines of the sheet music, across the stage, along the floor, winding around the audience. Red roses blossom from every empty space. The flowers on the dome of the ceiling are watered by the angels and grow bigger and more brilliantly than the others. Petals fall from above in the form of notes and soar through the air. The members of the audience extend their arms and cup their hands, eager to receive their gifts.

The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us

At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow;

Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!

As the petals land in the palms of the audience, different pitches ring through the air. The cherubs pass the gems from person to person, causing the sound to echo through the room. Encircling the room in an intricate pattern, the angels weave the notes together to build chords. Sometimes, two angels travel closely together and create dissonance; when they move so they are parallel to one another, the chord resolves. The audience members are captivated by the sights and sounds surrounding them. The melody pauses, and the angels hold the notes in midair, just out of reach of the audience. It is a moment of expectation. When the choir resumes singing, the angels release the petals cupped in their dainty hands. The song is more layered with harmony than before. More ruby-colored petals fall as the melody swells and the tempo quickens.

The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,

Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas

The final cadence rings through the room; then, silence. Enthralled, the audience tries to hold on to the ending notes, but they disappear when the director lowers his arms. The choir releases what’s left of the air from the last breath they took and breathe normally once again.

Focusing on each other’s expressions, they allow proud, self-indulgent smiles to spread across their faces. One person reaches for the next, holding onto the energy they passed from person to person during the song. No longer are they on stage. They are in a classroom, meeting their director for the first time. Accompanied by an electric keyboard, they sing scales, singing together for the first time. They meet in a practice room during lunch to run their concert piece a few extra times to ease their worry over learning the song in time for their first public performance. They are leaving school to compete in a competition in a faraway city. On the bus ride back, they celebrate their success by sharing food and soda. They are warming up for tonight’s concert, hoping that this performance goes as well as the rehearsals.

The crowd cheers ardently, bringing the choir back to the present. Keeping their fingers intertwined, they take their bows.