SCORE Ensemble Stars

I bought this pair of copper stars last Memorial Day weekend with today in mind. This afternoon, my husband John's music ensemble, The American Children of SCORE, performed their annual holiday concert. I've worn the same pair of earrings to every Virginia SCORE concert for 17 years, but I wore that pair on April 30th for the spring concert. This year I'm wearing each pair of earrings only once. So last May, at the Delaplane Strawberry Festival, I bought this pair. Stars, with turquoise beads. SCORE!

SCORE's symbol is a star. Five points, for the five elements:

1. S: the children play Strings,
2. C: they sing Chorally,
3. O: they play Orff instruments (xylophones and glockenspiels, designed by Carl Orff to use in teaching music to children),
4. R: they play Recorders,
5. E: they learn to play as an Ensemble 

Ensemble. Working together. John sits at the piano, guiding the children with his eyes, nods of the head, occasional waves of the hand. In his arrangements, each element shines as all five are woven into glorious sound. Simple melodies with repeated themes played on strings. Children's voices, singing true. Patterns the children relish playing with mallets on their percussion instruments. Clear, vibrant recorder tunes. They learn the patterns, they listen for each other's parts, they  enjoy the interplay of sound and song.

Ensemble. That may be what's missing in American government right now. Learn. Listen. Share. Together. Create beauty for the glory of all.

Perhaps once a week, members of our three branches of government should gather to work together for an hour and a half under the direction of a master conductor/arranger. Lose your ego, do your best, work for the good of the group. 

Ensemble. Pat-a-Pan:

God and man today become
More in tune than fife and drum,
So be merry while you play,
Tu-re-lu-re-lu,
Pat-a-pat-a-pan,
So be merry while you play,
Sing and dance this Christmas Day!