Mark has left for Dubai last August 28 to work at a newly-constructed hotel inside that country's premier business district. Please join us in praying for his safety and for success in his career.It seems that the previous post has stirred up some pretty serious discussion among our clients. After singing with the Children and Youth Choir at Holy Mass two weeks ago, Diane received some text messages that apparently voiced concern about the supposedly inevitable departure of our two beloved members.
Before anything else I would like to apologize, in behalf of the group if my preceding post lacked the necessary details so as to facilitate a growing anxiousness among our friends and our clients. It was certainly not my intention to do so, believe me. I started this blog so everyone can have as close a glimpse as possible in to what we do. So in the interest of Truth, I wish to clarify some things to put down any wild speculations some may have regarding the details that have just emerged.
We are not going away
No way! This group was not formed by mere individuals that discovered each other's gifts and talents and then, BOOM! Totally Mesmerized! One must simply understand that all of us in our group have served our Lord through the Holy Eucharist for more than eight years already. If for that span of time we still did not know the meaning and value of commitment then we have just fooled ourselves. Our foundation is not our gifts and talents. Our foundation is our love for God and His Church. Unlike band members (or any other group for that matter) who can only rely on each other for their survival (unless they believe in something higher and bigger than themselves) we have our Faith in God before us more than anything else and this has served as a foundation on solid rock that can never be shaken that easily.
Despite this, one may still ask, 'Why in the name of commitment does two of your erstwhile members have to leave the group?" We answer: Only Mark has left for the meantime. He has all the right reasons to. He has a wife and son to feed and the nature of what we do in this group can hardly supplement that need. Kuya Harold has taken similar steps to assure him of a future career abroad but as of now his focus is on securing a job here. So to be clear, only Mark has left and I urge you to pray for Him and his family. His departure does not mean he is quitting. In fact, he will still remain an honorary member while overseas and he will join us again after a couple of years when he has fulfilled his contract. He will be meeting with Kuya Joel who is one of our founding members and has worked there for almost two years. Kuya Joel will be singing with us when he takes a vacation here this December.
We are just getting better
We never jump into something we can't jump out of. We have singers most of whom are more experienced and more talented than we are, who are willing to sing with us when the need arises. Case in point: Kuya Arvin - the guy who will fill-in for Mark. Diane and I have sung and rehearsed with him during our short stint with the Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral Choir in Imus. This choir is composed of parishioners/choir members from the Diocese of Imus. Kuya Arvin is a trusty but humble tenor who has a great voice, wide vocal range and has all the notes figured out. He would gently correct me whenever there is a note that I sang that was out of tune and that goes for all the other voice sections. He can also be counted on to sing bass 1 from time to time. He was a huge part of Himig Batingaw and a good number from their ranks have gone on to be successful singers and musicians. Just this evening, he joined us in our rehearsals and he was just awesome!
So for all our friends Totally Mesmerized is here to stay and be assured of our continued dedication to choral excellence for many years to come.
Welcome Kuya Arvin!
