2022 Utah High School Men's Honor Choir - "I Sing Out" (by Mark Hayes)

At the end of this Presidents' Day, I'm feeling gratitude for the many amazing U.S. presidents that have added beauty, goodness, strength, unity, order, & freedom to our country since its inception. 🇺🇸 But I also have been feeling EXTREMELY concerned, disturbed, & defeated by the tidal wave of chaos, corruption, & darkness that has swept over our nation since the 2nd inauguration of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named a month ago. 🌪 Most days, I feel powerless to help make any significant changes in our country as our government takes a turn for the very worst...it's all VERY frightening & dystopian. 😫

But I know that my voice STILL matters, & so does YOURS. 🗣 You & I can continue to speak out against injustice & inequality. 🚫 We can help lift each other's burdens. 🫂 We can all try daily to spread love, peace, hope, joy, & light! 💖 In that spirit, I thought it would be fitting tonight to share this video of me accompanying the 2022 UMEA (Utah Music Teachers Association) High School Men's Honor Choir on "I Sing Out" (a triumphant, uplifting, powerful song by Mark Hayes)! ✨ I hope this song inspires you to action like it does for me (the lyrics are attached below). 💪

Bravo to our incredible Honor Choir director, Justin Bills, & all these talented young singers & their choir teachers! 👏 And thanks to Juliet Luper for filming this video w/ my phone on 1/22/22 at Abravanel Hall in SLC! 🙏 It was SO wonderful to see you again on Wednesday night, Justin, & to watch your Salem Hills High School Choirs (& the orchestra) perform their SPECTACULAR annual Broadway Best concert! 🤩 Music is SO healing & needed during these overwhelming times... ❤️‍🩹

LYRICS:

"Somedays it seems like love's in short supply.
Instead of understanding, what I hear is 'an eye for an eye.'
There's gotta be a better way. I'm primed to do my part.
So starting today from deep within my heart,

I sing out peace. I sing out hope.
I sing out boldly so that everyone will know
Life gets better, the future's brighter.
Burdens feel much lighter when I sing out.

I sing out joy. I sing out love.
Here's my chance to show the world what I'm made of.
With my voice I can inspire. I empower, I enlighten.
With my voice I can change the world.
From the very best part of who I am, I sing out.

I sing out loud & strong.
Feeling stronger, singing louder,
Every note brings joy & power.
We are the voice the world is waiting for,
And so we sing like we've never sung before.

We sing out peace. We sing out hope.
We sing out boldly so that everyone will know
Life gets better, the future's brighter.
Burdens feel much lighter when we sing out.

We sing out joy. We sing out love.
Here's our chance to show the world what we're made of.
With our voices we inspire. We empower, we enlighten.
With our voice I can change the world.
From the very best part of who we are, we sing out.
With our hearts we sing out!"

Here's a video of me accompanying Justin's SHHS Men's Camerata on this same song in Oct. 2021:    • SHHS Men's Camerata sings "I Sing Out" (by...  

And here's another video of this same "I Sing Out" Honor Choir performance filmed by Shalane Stubbs:    • I sing out  

And here's an exhilarating choral/piano/orchestral performance of "I Sing Out" by the Boston Gay Men's Chorus in 2017:    • I Sing Out I Boston Gay Men's Chorus