Thanks for sharing that, Ron. Never having auditioned for anything, and not being a trained musician, it's hard to know if your theory is right. Like everything else, there is a lot of personal chosing that goes on that doesn't necessarily reflect the ability of the persons chosen (or not chosen.) I ended up singing at seven or eight Eisteddfods (for example.) I'd hate to say that it was solely because I took care of Howard Glassers's (The man who ran it) cat when he was on his honeymoon. Howard liked my music, and I was somewhat of an anomoly in a festival that was focused on music of the British Isles. After Howard retired, I was never invited to the Eisteddfod again. That's not a complaint. I've run folk festivals and concerts series, and they're a lot of work, so one of the perks should be that you at least can book friends and performers who you like. That means that some really good people don't get booked in a particular festival. But hopefully, they get booked in another festival, and it all evens out. In your case, the parallels break down, because chorale music is less driven by individual personalities.

Adding two new members to my group has been a revelation. The best thing about it is that it challenges me to be open and non
-judgmental. One thing that I'm trying to learn (after all these years) is not to jump to conclusions. A leisurely stroll works a lot better. I've also been forced to face a reality... sometimes we never reap the benefit of a blessing because we don't give it time to
blossom. We give up, or reject it too soon. The best antidote that I know of to avoid that is to shut up and pray a lot. And let life unfold. After six weeks of working with the two new members, we are coming together as friends, and then it follows that the music can come together. I've also discovered an enormous amount about arranging songs for five voices, instead of four. It's been particularly challenging, because we have two basses, two baritones and a second tenor, so we don't have the ideal range to find places for everyone.

I'm glad you stopped in, Ron. It seems like the regular crew has all drifted away, and I find my conversation with myself to be very boring... :-)

Jerry