{"id":2382,"date":"2007-12-17T00:16:58","date_gmt":"2007-12-17T07:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2007-12-17T00:16:58","modified_gmt":"2007-12-17T07:16:58","slug":"excellence-unchained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2382\/excellence-unchained\/","title":{"rendered":"Excellence Unchained"},"content":{"rendered":"

I joined the Lake Grove Presbyterian Church choir about nine years ago.\u00a0 (Geno, chill.\u00a0 This is a story about excellence<\/em>, not Bible Boy!)\u00a0 There was an interim director who led about twenty singers. The assumption of the director, and most of the elder hierarchy in a still dying denomination, was (is) that choirs and classical music are essentially pass\u00e9, that contemporary music, a rock and roll praise band and \u2018Jesus is my girlfriend\u2019 anthems are necessary to put people in the pews. Armed with that assumption, the director aspired to mediocrity and almost succeeded; why put effort into something that\u2019s dying?<\/p>\n

I was on the search committee to find a permanent director.\u00a0 I had concerns about the person we picked \u2013 Wendy Bamonte, a wisp of a thirty-something with a terrific cv in instrumental music, but less so in choral.\u00a0 She was hired, but I took my concerns to the pastor anyway, who took them to Wendy, who called me and said: \u2018Let\u2019s talk.\u2019\u00a0 We did.\u00a0 It turned out she\u2019s every bit as direct as I am, and out of that, um, lively discussion, developed a friendship that I\u2019ve had with her and her husband since.<\/p>\n

Wendy isn\u2019t one who accepts conventional wisdom simply because it\u2019s conventional.\u00a0 She had (has) a vision:\u00a0 provided excellence both in the choice of music and its preparation, choirs and classical music aren\u2019t only not dead, but on the cutting edge of the future.<\/em> No one believed it, of course, but it was nice to have someone passionate about something, as quaint as it seemed.<\/p>\n

But she\u2019s been driven from the first year eight years ago.\u00a0 Interested less in genre than in the excellence of the music, we\u2019ve done everything from baroque to gospel.\u00a0 She\u2019ll spend two weeks picking exactly the right music for a twelve week sermon series. She has the personality, drive and tact to get the most in the least amount of time out of unauditioned amateurs.\u00a0 Unlike those who protect themselves from anyone better, she brings in world-class directors for choral workshops.\u00a0 She\u2019s very, very good at what she does, but still takes the time Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I joined the Lake Grove Presbyterian Church choir about nine years ago.\u00a0 (Geno, chill.\u00a0 This is a story about excellence, not Bible Boy!)\u00a0 There was an interim director who led about twenty singers. The assumption of the director, and most of the elder hierarchy in a still dying denomination, was (is) that choirs and classical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,30],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-real-estate","8":"category-supplanting-the-nar","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18341,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18341\/overnight-news-states-commit-mass-murder-for-budgetary-purposes-federal-government-nods-in-approval\/","url_meta":{"origin":2382,"position":0},"title":"Overnight News: States commit mass murder for budgetary purposes, Federal government nods in\u00a0approval.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"If the Coronavirus was a tailored pathogen \u2013 germ warfare \u2013 against whom was it tailored? 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I'd apologize, but I'm cutting ruthlessly. We're just getting a lot of truly excellent entrants. Voting runs through to 12 Noon PDT\/MST Monday. I'll announce the winners of this week's awards soon thereafter. Here is this week's short list of nominees.Jim\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1602,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1602\/clip-show-pleasantville\/","url_meta":{"origin":2382,"position":2},"title":"Clip Show: Pleasantville","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't even begin to tell you how much I get out of Pleasantville. Everything about the film -- theme, plot, character development, graphic style -- is stunningly original, truly a triumph in a film that draws on so many different cultural, historical and filmic archetypes. The face acting is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18411,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18411\/overnight-news-you-might-have-rhymed-dogs-doggerel-and-the-music-of-a-thriving-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":2382,"position":3},"title":"Overnight News: \u201cYou might have rhymed\u201d \u2013 dogs, doggerel and the music of a thriving\u00a0mind.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Shakespeare has Horatio say, \"You might have rhymed,\" and that reproach is never far from my mind. To live around me is to live in a world of verse: Couplets, a lot, but songs, too, written on the fly as conversation. But: No cheating: Everything rhymes, scans and makes sense\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15583,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/15583\/google-discovers-what-computing-is-actually-for-in-short-well-treat-you-as-a-single-user-across-all-our-products-which-will-mean-a-simpler-more-intuitive-google-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":2382,"position":4},"title":"Google discovers what computing is actually for: “In short, we\u2019ll treat you as a single user across all our products which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.”","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Across all products is important. 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