It’s been a turbulent start to 2025 in my neck of the woods, to say the least: destructive fires all around SoCal, the sudden and unexpected loss of a beloved friend, the vandalization of one of the churches where I sing, and some truly alarming institutional changes at the highest levels. Given that all humans have an inherent negativity bias, it’s all the more important, I think, to give equal, if not greater weight to the good things that come our way. Such as this weekend, which brought badly-needed rain to our parched hills and valleys, a joyfully poingnant wake for my friend Katie at our local pub, inspirational calls to stand up for the oppressed from pulpits near and far, and treasuring those precious, hopeful signs of light amidst encroaching darkness.
The morning was cool and damp as I walked my dogs, and as I glanced towards the dark clouds in the north, I saw a broad and brilliant rainbow shimmering overhead. So naturally I had to serenade the dogs with one of my all-time favorite songs, Kenny Ascher’s and Paul Williams’s meditation on how beauty and art make us aware of the magic that beckons beyond the reach of our senses, Rainbow Connection, from The Muppet Movie. As usual, the dogs were unmoved, but they did what they needed to do, as shall I moving forward. So here are a few shimmering joys that I’m holding in my heart.
My composer friend Andrew Bearden and I have been collaborating over the past year or so, and in December, SACRA/PROFANA premiered Andrew’s holiday song Making the Darkness Bright, for which I wrote the lyrics! It was incredibly special to get to perform my own words, and seeing the lyrics, in which I deliberately created space for sorrow to live amidst seasonal joy, reflected in my fellow singers’ faces was a gift I’ll always treasure. Andrew also kindly let me dedicate our piece to my dad’s memory, so between that and having my mom visit from Illinois and attend the concert on which the piece was premiered, it was a touching, truly unforgettable night.
I’m also thrilled to report that the most substantial of our collaborations to date, Missa Sacra Profana, wherein Andrew set my words alongside the Latin text of the Mass Ordinary, will be premiered in February, with me singing and Andrew conducting! When Andrew approached me about providing a non-sacred text to go along with the Latin mass, I came up with this thesis:
The mass is the apotheosis of sacred worship;
Choral singing is the apotheosis of secular fellowship.
So that’s what it’s all about! For the opening Kyrie movement, I wanted my text to map perfectly over the Greek text Kyrie eleison/Christe eleison, and to describe the basic units of choral music: breath, voice, and words. The Gloria, a celebratory angelic hymn, was an opportunity for me to link the corporeal (hands, heart, tongue) to the intangible music they produce. I had a great deal of fun with the Credo, a detailed statement of faith, which I turned into an origin story of sorts for sound and music with an assist from astrophysics, evolutionary biology, and transcendentalism. The Sanctus/Benedictus, which delves into and celebrates the mystical and and holy, I used to explore how making music together sustains us in difficult times. And lastly, Andrew requested a strophic text to pair with the Agnus Dei, because he envisioned a chorale-type moment, so I stole the syllabic form from the Passion Chorale (a Lenten emo fave) and summed up the thesis and explorations of the previous movements with special emphasis on the unifying nature of choral singing. I cannot WAIT for all y’all to hear what we’ve cooked up! Andrew’s music absolutely blows me away, and I am SO EXCITED to be performing it!
And the last gem of joy I wanted to share has its origins in my wizard rock band Potterwatch performing all the songs from our debut album Follow The Light (and more!) at LeakyCon in Portland last summer. While the con organizers did us kinda dirty by moving StarKid (of A Very Potter Musical and much more) to the same time slot as our performance panel, the wizard rock folks in attendance were everything we’d hoped for and more: supportive, joyful, inspirational, and mind-blowingly awesome. In addition to getting to hear our friends perform on the mainstage and sing/dance together in panels, OG wizard rockers Hawthorn and Holly organized an amazing night at Rose City Book Pub, which was packed to the rafters, and put together a program filled with wizard rockers classic and new, featuring our incredible hosts, Hawthorn and Holly as well as Brian Ross of Draco and the Malfoys, plus loads of newer folks, including us! You can stream the epic event here!
One of the folks I’m so glad to have met is journalist Lillian King, who interviewed us and other wizard rockers for this fantastic feature on wrockers who use music to fight against bigotry. We’ve been in touch via Discord ever since, and she’s making her own music now, both as part of The Snail Collective and also as Hope and the Howlers (amazing interview here!), which gives me approximately nine levels of joy to see and hear! She also requested some Potterwatch stickers for a secret project, which I happily sent her way. A few weeks later, she posted this to Instagram:
Y’ALL. THESE GORGEOUS PEOPLE GOT GORGEOUS POTTERWATCH TATTOOS! *happyflail*
AND EACH ONE FEATURES DIFFERENT WORDS!!
THAT I WROTE!!!
Purity’s the enemy of working every day (‘Til We Go Off the Air)
We may be facing kings but we’re a company of pawns (‘Til We Go Off the Air)
With you to the end even death transcend (The Love You Seek)
Gotta tell you, friends. I cried a lil’ bit. And my bandmates were equally moved. And I get this enormous, ridiculous grin on my face every time I think about the fact that this labor of love that we started as a pandemic project means so much to other folks, too.
So yeah. That’s a pretty meaningful thing to keep in my pocket as I survey the road ahead and think about how I can show up for and lend my voice to those who really need it right now. And there are so very many.
Love and fortitude to all,
Libby
Libby Weber 