I was reminded tonight of the best reason to program standards – songs that stay in the repertoire year after year.
I have a lot of reasons.
But tonight was the most heartwarming: having a group of students and former students gather and sing four songs from memory. It included songs that we do every year and songs we’ve done regularly enough that most everyone knew them, and a new tradition of singing Anders Edenroth’s Brimful – the third movement of the suite I commissioned for the Aces, with lyrics inspired by the Aces themselves.
To see these people – some of whom had never met – sing together is life-giving, and it wouldn’t be possible in this way without the standards.
That alone is a reason to keep programming “Longest Time.”