As the Sparks Fly Up (and the lights come on)

Today on my lunch hour I drove to Eastman where one of our Roberts faculty's daughters was giving her master's degree recital in French Horn. Normally I would not have done so, but she was premiering a piece written by our newest music faculty person, our composer in residence, Dan Barta. I was interested to hear his work, to check out his style. He is a delightful person, so vibrant. I guessed his music would reflect his soul.

I was right. As she introduced his piece, she told how her grandmother was battling lung cancer, and how she wanted to dedicate a piece to her. She and Dan talked about the grandmother's favorite hymns, about how difficult her battle was, how unrelenting. The piece he wrote reflected all of that and more. He based it on a verse in Job about how man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards. It was engaging, tantalizing, filled with the difficulties of illness. Interwoven throughout were snatches of the two hymns, reflecting her hope in Christ, the strength of her faith.

I am glad they record it. I want to hear it again. I liked it a lot, and I'm not a fan of French horn music particularly. Then suddenly the lights came on for me. How wonderful it would be if Jairus House could offer that service of having someone write a piece in memory of a loved one who died of cancer - a piece that reflects something about the person, about their likes, their interests? What a great gesture that would be. Dan and I spoke of it, and he was as excited as I am. We are exploring how to get funding to do that.

I am sure I can find a grant for him to write a piece for PrayerSong to sing. After our concert I will do some research and find out how to make that happen. Once I have found one path, others will follow. I will have the first piece written in memory of Kayleen Merry, my continuing inspiration to keep reaching out to cancer patients. Yes, I am sure we can find the funding.