I don’t do 6 a.m.

I don’t do it for wild weekend parties. I don’t even do it for this newspaper. But somehow, my sorry, sleep-deprived carcass was on a bus headed to (of all places in the middle of winter) the Adirondacks last Friday.

It wasn’t just me. Fifty-two women crawled out of warm beds (rather begrudgingly) for a trip to the North Country voluntarily for the SU Women’s Choir 2006 tour.

I know it’s not the most alluring picture: Fifty-two sleepless women in pajamas balancing black choral binders, skirts and pantyhose. We didn’t particularly enjoy that part, either. But this isn’t a story about sleepy singers. This is a story about what people do for the love of music.

(italics!) Ars larga, vita brevis (italics!)

Art is forever, life is short. It was the first thing we sang at rehearsal at the beginning of the year. I thought it was a simple warm-up; I didn’t realize it was a mantra until we arrived in Saranac Lake.

Barely off the bus, we hopped on risers to practice with, in my humble opinion, is the best high school choir in the history of the world.

Our mission was to sing a concert in a gorgeous church with amazing acoustics to help raise money for 25 students and Helen DeMung, their director, to travel to Sienna, Italy, to debut a new piece of music at the request of the composer, Glen McLure.

It didn’t take long to realize we were the lucky ones.

‘I love the fact that we were able to do more than just the two performances at (Lake Placid High School and Saranac Lake High School),’ said Barbara Tagg, the women’s choir director.

These are some seriously talented kids.

‘It was really nice to sing with boys,’ said Alyssa Limberakis, a four-year Women’s Choir veteran, who, like most of us, dropped her jaw when the 30-plus student choir started its program.

The community was equally amazing. If you’ve ever gone on a choir trip, you’re familiar with the home-stay. If not, home-stay is traditionally an awkward experience where you’re forced to live with a family whose son or daughter has usually coerced them against their will to house another singer.

We’ve never met people like this. The families fed all of us with home-cooked lasagna and desserts with a welcome reception in a local church. When we arrived at our home-stays, most of us were greeted with another round of home-cooked food.

All willingly, Pat and Kathy Hogan hosted four of us, simply to open their home to fellow music-lovers. Their sons are both now in college, and never even sang with the chorus in high school.

‘When you live in the Adirondacks, you have to balance out the whole Adirondack sport thing,’ Kathy Hogan said. ‘You have to take advantage of the opportunities.’

Aubrey Richer got hugs and kisses from her home-stays. Limberakis got an e-mail Monday thanking her and Women’s Choir for coming.

Thanking us?

Despite snows that would have driven off even the heartiest Syracuse student, the church was close to filled.

That’s the kicker. In that small town in an area known for the Olympics and sports, a spirit has grown. Students are growing up hearing music, and the town is supporting it with open arms.

Three students are now considering SU for the music program just after this concert, and two more are already planning on coming, Tagg said.

It’s that attitude, the ‘I’d do anything just to sing’ will that grows and grows until all of a sudden you realize that waking up at 6 a.m. is the best decision you’ve made in a long time, at that when it all boils down, ars larga, vita brevis.

Published on March 6, 2006 at 12:00 pm