Month one in London is in the books! My time with Musequality has been fun and challenging. Last week was our World Busk, the culmination of our efforts. Performers around the globe donated their talents to raise money for music projects in disadvantaged locations.
Musequality?s Philharmonic, a collection of professional musicians who are friends of the charity, played from 8-9 in the morning in one of London?s busiest tube stations. The acoustics were beautiful and resonated through the whole room. The music drifted down the escalators and drew up its catch. Curious eyes appeared to behold the phenomenon creating such heavenly sounds. Normally gloomy and emotionless Monday morning faces turned into cheerful eyes and big smiles. Some, however, kept heads bowed and blankly strode towards the next set of escalators. The contrast reminded me of Jesus? words: ?Him who has ears let him hear?. Some ears that morning were tuned to the music. It refreshed and lifted their mood. Others were unaffected and continued on.
The former seemed to dominate. Time after time businessmen and women came up to me and expressed how the performance made their day, and we should be here every morning. In less than an hour we raised over 500 pounds.
Wednesday was the big day. Thirty-three groups of over twenty-five members would be performing at exactly the same time in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the ?Largest Busk at Multiple Venues?. I facilitated a choir from CITI bank at Canary Wharf tube station. We held our breath as the seconds counted down to 18:00 BST, the exact time when all of the groups would begin busking. CITI?s choir sang ?Shackles? by Mary Mary. Across the ocean in my hometown of Albany, TX, over 70 members of the community sang songs from the Fandangle, our annual outdoor musical. Local media covered the event. Watching the news report the next morning was humbling as people whom I?ve never met expressed their support for Musequality and the GWR attempt.
My favorite busk of the week occurred in Horsham, a town a few hours south of London. The day trip not only allowed me to see more of the countryside and surrounding towns, but also reminded how contagious enthusiasm can be. A talented group of 9-12 year olds from Pennthorpe School cheerfully sang for 3 hours in their town center at the request of one of their peers, Daniel, who found Musequality online and asked his music teacher and charity director for help organizing a group. Without one complaint, the buskers repeated the same four songs over and over to raise funds for other children to have a similar opportunity. By the end of the afternoon, they had been asked to perform for two more gigs.
I am so thankful for the opportunities and experiences I have had this summer. Some of my favorite memories from the past week include standing a few yards from the stage at a One Direction concert in Wembley Stadium (Feel free to judge), watching the entire royal family parade down the mall during the Trooping of the Colour, attending church at Hillsong, wandering through Camden, Borough, and Covent Garden markets, a rowdy World Cup viewing at a local pub, and a breathtaking view of the London skyline from Primrose Hill.
In the next two weeks I will wrap up my duties with Musequality and travel to Scotland and Spain.
Until next time!
