The Choir Room Podcast
This podcast exists to promote and encourage two long-time traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling…The Choir and Corporate Singing. We hope to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing, and all things choir related.
A weekly podcast featuring discussion and interviews with choir directors, choir members, and other guests representing church choirs, college and university choirs, community choirs, show and theatre choirs, composer of choir music, and other.
Segments include tips and instruction from skilled and professional disciplines within the choir community covering topics such as choir culture and community, choir directing, vocal training, ear training, sight reading, and more. A monthly virtual live audience episode allows the listener to engage with hosts and guests during instructional and Q&A segments via the live recording, chat, email, on various social media platforms.
A production of Metromusic & Arts, Inc.
- www.metromusic-arts.com
- thechoirroom@metromusic-arts.com
- mail@mmertomusic-arts.cm
The Choir Room Podcast
Singing Through Life's Challenges: The Spiritual Essence of The Hymn, Disney's "Encanto's" Adassa on Balancing Career and Family in Music With Christ at the Helm.
As the harmonies of "Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" resonated in the Choir Room, Dorian Johnson enlightens us on this deep content rich hymn of the church. Mietta Stancil-Farrar navigates us through our CRQ to discuss the rich tapestry of choir beyond the church walls, uncovering the wide-reaching impact of gospel music from serene nursing home gatherings to the raw vibrancy of street outreaches.
Then, along with our live audience, we welcome the incredibly gifted Adassa, the voice of Dolores from Disney's "Encanto," a wife, mother of seven, singer, songwriter, and now voice-over actress adds a spark to our conversation about the spiritual and lifting power of singing in this two part podcast.
Adassa shares personal insights and stories, including a moving narrative of a singer who, in the face of a health crisis, discovers a resilience that transcends her identity as a performer, reminding us that our essence is far greater than our accomplishments, all while balancing a demanding career with family responsibilities.
As this heartfelt episode draws to a close, we reach out to you, our listeners, to help the Choir Room's message resonate across the globe. Your engagement—through likes, shares, and heartfelt comments—fuels our mission to share the transformative power of choir and singing. With a look towards the horizon, we hint at the exciting continuation of our dialogue with Adasa, underscoring the gospel's timeless message: It's not about the messenger, but the profound love echoed in every note we sing.
http://adassa-official.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHMxhvHLK9Y/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb6biETgTBo
https://music.apple.com/us/album/in-jesus-we-are-one/1700334364
https://music.apple.com/us/album/carol-of-the-christ-single/1712949639
Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.
Welcome to the choir room. Episode 35 of the Choir Room Podcast. I'm Greg Thomas, your host. Welcome to the choir room, joined by my co-host, dorian Johnson. Hello, and me at Estanso Farrar Hello. Welcome to the choir room. Hello Reminds me of something, hello.
Speaker 2:Ha, ha, ha ha.
Speaker 1:This podcast exists to promote and encourage to longtime traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling away, and that is choir and corporate singing. We hope to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing and all things choir. This podcast is also a production of Metro Music and Arts, whose purpose is to perpetuate and promote the Christian and positive idea through the medium of music and other arts. We've got a live audience here in the choir room today and they're going to help welcome our guest contributor. She's a wife, a mother, an actress, a singer, a songwriter and a voiceover artist and so much more, known for her role as Dolores in the hit Disney film En canto. Adasa is with us, so stay tuned as we hear from this incredible artist and we hear from our own, Dorian with the hymn of the week and Mieta with the CRQ To the choir room.
Speaker 3:Here's Dorian. Thanks, greg. This week's hymn of the week is oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. And we've been looking at the grace of God shown to us in salvation and we've been seeing, looking at the love of God that has shown to us not only in salvation but throughout our lives as his children, and often in Paul's epistles. We see interspersed in the letter a prayer that Paul will often pray for those to whom he's writing in Ephesians, chapter three, starting in verse 14. We read this For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Speaker 3:This hymn was written by Samuel Trevor Francis in the late 19th, early 20th century, and, while he's not one of the most prolific hymn writers that we've highlighted over the past few weeks. This hymn is memorable because, as the theme of the hymn highlights the vastness and the great depth of the love of Christ, the typical tune to which this hymn is sung reminds one of the ocean's rolling tide. Verse one says O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness, over me, underneath me, all around me, is the current of thy love leading onward, leading homeward, to thy glorious rest above. The second verse says O the deep, deep love of Jesus spread his praise from shore to shore. How he loveth, ever loveth, changes never, never more. How he watcheth or his loved ones die to call them all his own, how for them he intercedeth, watches or them from the throne. And so not only are you reminded of the great sacrifice of Christ, but also reminds us of Christ's high priestly ministry as he intercedes for his people forever before the throne of the Father. And verse three says this O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love, the best tis an ocean, vast of blessing, tis a haven sweet of rest. O, the deep, deep love of Jesus tis heaven of heavens to me, and it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to thee. And I would challenge you as you think about the ocean and perhaps you live near the ocean and have a chance to go and stand on the shore and look at the vastness of that ocean, think of the love of God and how vast that love is for us.
Speaker 3:Indeed, we are told even in the Old Testament of what God does in relation to us and the ocean as well In Micah 7, in 18 through 19,.
Speaker 3:It says who is a God like you, partening iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance. He does not retain his anger forever because he delights instead fast love. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. And as we read that, it may not strike us how significant a statement like that may be, but in the time of Micah, the sea was something that could not be explored. The sea was, in fact, dangerous, but just as we think and can comprehend going to the very depths of the ocean, they couldn't think of the ocean or the sea in that way. And so, in telling us that our sins would be cast into the depths of the sea by our God is telling us that we would be forever separated from them. And it's all because we will never be separated from the great love of our God and Savior.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 1:Vienna has this week's CRQ.
Speaker 2:Thanks, greg. It's so good to see everyone in the room this evening. Our CRQ for tonight, and feel free to join in in our answers as well. I require only rehearses for Sunday services. What else can we get involved in that makes choir more interesting and fun? You require only rehearses for Sunday services. What else can we involve ourselves in to make it more interesting and fun?
Speaker 1:Well, I'll be the first to jump in and say that this is the first time in a long time that we've had a CRQ identify what kind of choir we're talking about, and oftentimes we will guess at what kind of choir the person is referring to.
Speaker 2:So this is the joy to get choir identified Because we are clear that it is a Sunday. I should say it is a church choir, because the only rehearses for Sunday services is what's said here. Check out your local churches that may have choirs. That's, that's one way, and try to develop some friendship and fellowship with them. It's also a good time to just spend more time with the singers that you serve with, to set aside moments of not necessarily rehearsal, but perhaps a little fellowship, or get together or Chatting you, if you will, you know, with just those particular Someone's clapping. Yeah, you know one of those types.
Speaker 1:I don't think I've heard that terminology before.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, you've never been a part of a chatting shoe.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, we've been out to eat after rehearsals or after a concert or a service, but I've not heard that terminology chatting shoe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, chatting shoes are nice. You know and try to find out. You know what's going on with your choir members, sure you know. Just see what's happening with them. And you know you did again. It's good to have fellowship with other churches if you are in a community where that is, you know, allowed, because sometimes people don't get the Opportunity to fellowship outside of their church. But if you have that opportunity, find some of the churches in the area and get up with them. You know, talk with them and see. You know what's going, what's happening there. You can do seminars with choirs, other choirs, other people come and you can fellowship and have some fun in that area as well. What say you guys?
Speaker 3:well, I mean, one of the things that that we often talk about is just how the choir becomes, or is this sort of community within the community of the church?
Speaker 3:And so I mean, I I think there are plenty of ways for the choir and some folks are actually Responding in the chat in terms of doing outreaches and choir retreats and workshops. But I would even say, are there ways to serve with the choir in other ways within your church? Is there like a cleanup day or something like that that you could do, where the choir is doing something besides just preparing for Sunday service, but they're serving together Because, ultimately, as the people of God, we we want to be serving. We want to be serving in some way, and so I think there are definitely ways that we can Be be focusing our other talents that we may have and on on other things that are that are needed, and and there certainly needs outside of the church as well, and I think there are plenty of plenty of opportunities, and so I'm sure, if they went to their pastors or their elders and asked them, you have anything else for?
Speaker 1:us.
Speaker 3:They might regret that question. They might regret it, but but, but, but. Yeah, I think they're Tons of other things that you can be doing as a choir together that will make it even stronger community and even stronger choir. Ultimately.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know I'm kind of stuck at the chat and chuffing right now. You got me thinking about dinner. Oh, let me add that when I started early in ministry with choir and ensembles and groups et cetera, that I did a lot of outreach ministry, a lot of community work with our choirs. We went out to different events. We would go to nursing homes and orphanages and prisons and et cetera. So those are things that the choir can get involved in as well. When I was serving with choir in Patterson years ago, we would go out every Tuesday night. We had a midweek service and Tuesday night we would take the group or the ensemble or the choir and we would have our boombox because we couldn't get it.
Speaker 3:We were just dating them, dating themselves, all right, you hear that right there he's dating himself.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:We didn't have a big boombox on our shoulder and we would just sing to the tracks Well, you know, we didn't call them tracks and we would sing to the music, but this was a full choir and we would do some things outside of the four walls of the church. Now, when I met Dorian over 20 years ago, we met at a street an outreach, full choir, full band, and I was filling in as I was still serving at another church. But I was attracted to that already because it was something that I grew up doing taking our choirs to the streets and at that time my choir was already involved in prison ministry, nursing homes, going into schools and doing assemblies, which are other things that your choir can get involved in as well. Now, if you're not hosting or conducting a community outreach, you may have to seek out those other opportunities. A city official might be getting inaugurated and they're looking for a choir, or the museum the local museum may be doing a special event. We've done the Star Spangled Banner for the New York Mets, and so there are many opportunities outside of the four walls of the church Now, if the opportunity presents itself.
Speaker 1:We've had the privilege of taking our choir to Jamaica, the Philippines, africa. Several times I've gone with groups to Russia, to Italy, france, spain, and these weren't concerts, these were evangelistic services as a church choir. And the choir didn't just sing, they participated in medical outreaches, they served with Doctors for Life, some of the other organizations that were on the ground as a part of this evangelistic event, bringing the gospel in song but also showing that gospel, demonstrating that gospel in medical services, children's ministry work, and the choir actually got involved in those things as well. So they didn't just sing, they got involved with the actual missions work of these evangelistic outreaches. Now let me say this be careful what you ask for, because many times we've gone out on Saturdays to do special events with the choir and we were exhausted Sunday morning, thank God, we had a big choir, but Sunday there were some people missing.
Speaker 2:How about a whole weekend and totally fried for Monday?
Speaker 1:Nothing gets done on.
Speaker 2:Monday.
Speaker 3:And we often will talk about the question behind the question. But I think there's also kind of a comment behind the question about it's kind of getting boring. I would just say that as people who lead in music and who lead others, that we should never discount the power of what God has given to us as a ministry. So if that choir needs to be reinvigorated or refocused or something just rehearsing for Sunday services, that's a big responsibility.
Speaker 1:You may not need any more than that.
Speaker 3:Indeed it is, it's a big responsibility, so don't take it lightly.
Speaker 2:Well, listen, listener, the one that submitted this awesome question for tonight. You've heard it all tonight and I think those are some great, great responses to what it is you're trying to do with your particular singers. And again, and just to reiterate what Dorian just said, understand that what you are already doing is significant, you know, and it really does take quite a bit of your time and prayer and Bible study and all of that stuff and singing it all. It's all significant. So I would say, home first. Indeed, let's take care of home first. Charity begins at home and it spreads abroad, and so once you start to take care of the home base, then God will open up those doors and open up those avenues and those venues for you to be able to fellowship and do other things outside of what you've already been called to do. So I hope that helps you tonight.
Speaker 1:I see in the chat we got a few additional responses to the CRQ. Some people suggested Crusades and Outreachers, which we did talk about, and if it's not a church choir, perhaps it's a school choir, college or university or community choir. Someone suggests here you can get involved in workshops and seminars, you can sing around campus doing spontaneous performances and, yes, get involved in community events where the choir can perform. Again, we welcome your questions, your CRQs. You can send those to thequireroomatmetromusic-archcom again, thequireroomatmetromusic-archcom and we will certainly address them here in the choir room. We've got a live audience with us today. We're so glad to have you guys with us here in the choir room and we are especially glad to have our guest contributor today. She is the voice of Dolores and the hit Disney film En canto and the song that stayed at the top of the charts for weeks. We don't talk about Bruno. No, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno. Now, that's the part of her career that seems to be getting the most publicity, but I know her also for this.
Speaker 4:It's a blessing to be able to be here and to experience the wonder of hearing multiple voices combining as one, because that's what you get when you're listening to the choir, and to hear the choir singing in Spanish is an experience in itself, so it's just wonderful. You're going to feel excited, you're going to feel uplifted, you're going to feel inspired. It's just a wonderful experience. I hope everyone gets to enjoy.
Speaker 1:From the church choir to the studio, from the studio to the stage, from the stage to film, and with all of the ups and downs in career and with life in general. She's a wife, she's a mother and things just keep getting better for our friend, our guest tonight, adasa, a great big choir room. Welcome to Adasa, make it bigger, adasa. Thank you for your yes and welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 4:Thank you for having me Happy to be here, my husband as well. I think that choirs have a huge heart in our hearts and they're very important because sometimes people think it's more important just for the singular artist to shine. But in reality, you know, when you bring a choir together, you're bringing the essence of multiple people that are being both absorbed and expressed by everyone, and it's that harmony within the choir that makes something great. When Gabriel and I were on tour with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, we were on the world tour and we had just an incredible time with them. Let me tell you, one of the most, I would say, soul-stirring moments was not just being on that stage and like 30,000 people in that stadium.
Speaker 4:it was the day, sunday worship and it was nothing but the choir, which are 360 members plus orchestra. So, yeah, like what you were saying, where they fall lots of people, they're still doing it and it's insane. It's crazy. It's absolutely crazy and we were sitting there front row, hearing the choir behind us, and I was just crying. We were both just crying because the spirit that was felt in that room could not be created by a singular person. It was just the massive talent of so many individuals coming together in such a passionate way. It was an honor for me to be able to show the stage with them, and what goes on in the preparation for a choir is on another level.
Speaker 1:Now, I saw some of that production and I noticed the choir singing Spanish with you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they did. They did a few pieces in African and Spanish. They had a few different languages in which they did not just English, and it was beautiful to see that tradition, those roots that they were bringing to the stage and it was truly something worth watching and being a part of. I started in choir when I was a kid. That's where I started singing in church with my mom. That was the first time ever.
Speaker 4:I was very little, I was like six, seven years old when I started singing, but since the age of four I knew I wanted to sing. My mom was just like, well, you can harmonize. And I was like I'm going to learn and I did, and then I started singing at church and then I joined my choir in school and that's what made me just solidify the fact that I wanted to be a singer. That's what I wanted to do. And then, once I started doing more stage work, I was like I want to be an entertainer, I want to take it to the next level. But being with the choir it just made me realize, whoa, there are certain steps of being an attire, that, being a solo artist, you don't get your chops up Like I'm. Like I think I would not be able to get into this choir because I can't read music. Well, and they are just amazing site readers because sometimes they're like you're saying you know that you get one practice before Sunday service, maybe two, exactly Because you can get sheet music.
Speaker 1:I mean it happened when you sent it over and I was like, uh, great.
Speaker 4:Can you tell me a melody real quick, like can you reference Jack? I failed that class horribly but I have much respect for what choirs do and there is no such thing as a voice unheard. It takes every single member to make it what it is and being a part of choirs being part of just something heavenly. So never see it as less than it is something great to be a part of.
Speaker 1:One of the CRQs that we received a few months ago was from a choir member and the question was what is the significance of learning to read or learning to sight read, music and choir? My guess is that this person was not involved in a choir that required them to sight read. You mentioned 360 voices and I must have seen about 65 to 71st and 2nd tenors, and not to mention alto sopranos and desk hands et cetera. When they sang, clearly they didn't sound like one tenor but they sounded like one solid group, and you mentioned that you didn't have many rehearsals with them, but clearly they were rehearsing.
Speaker 4:Oh, we did, we did. And let me tell you, the choir director was like you know that I mean on point. If just any rush that was happening he would stop and it just fine tuned the choir. And you know, they were doing three practices a week and I think it was two hours per practice to prepare for the tour. And then we still did another two, three hours of practice while we were there. And I say wait, but like, not so much, I would sit and watch, and it was so incredible because you needed to be prepared. And so if you're not a great sight reader and you're still part of the choir, I would say do your preparation at home.
Speaker 4:Because, you don't want to go there and be like I'm sorry, what Harmony are we trying to do? Like that is not the place, because everybody's so professional and they take it seriously. So for those who can just do it on the fly, it's because they're exceptional sight readers, you know maybe they don't have as much preparation necessary or needed, but I would say it's just better to go prepare because you don't want there to be a from the top because someone's lagging and everybody's like and it's John over here. You know you don't want to be John in the choir.
Speaker 1:Call him out.
Speaker 4:Seriously, you had the demo, but being able to say it gives you the intricacies of where your part is, as opposed to when everything splits.
Speaker 3:So you know where you are.
Speaker 4:Because even when you receive a reference, it's not necessarily like when I got one from Lin Manuel. Everybody's part was separated, so we can hear it individually and then at the same time it was as a group. So you're like oh.
Speaker 4:OK, great, Because if you cannot have your part just isolated for you to be able to reference, then you need to sight read so you can be able to follow which one of the ones that are stacked in there is true. So I think it's a good thing to review. I'm honestly doing it just by taking piano lessons to be able to be a better sight reader, because that's starting to help me. So for anybody out there, simply piano works. I am not a big instrumentalist.
Speaker 1:That's a plug. That's a plug and she's not getting paid for that.
Speaker 4:I am not getting paid for that, I just think it's super easy, has great songs and I'm actually playing both my hands.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome, good for you. Now let's talk about preparation. Let's stay in this vein for a moment. You are a wife, you're a mother, you have this demanding singing career. You married to a guy who has a demanding recording career. You two still manage to work together, still manage to parent together. I'm sure none of that is a cakewalk. So tell us what your daily routine is. I mean, you've got to prepare physically, you got to prepare mentally, you got to prepare spiritually, I'm sure, in order to prepare even vocally, take us through a day in the life of Adasa.
Speaker 4:Well, my day always starts with a prayer, so I start with a prayer. I read my scriptures. My husband and I do our scripture study. That's how I prepare, because first I have to prepare my spirit for anything that I'm doing. I also homeschool our kiddos, so usually I have to double up on what I do, because I don't have a specific amount of time that I necessarily can just go and vocalize for two hours. So if I'm washing dishes, I'm vocalizing. If I'm cleaning or I'm cooking, I'm vocalizing. So I do my exercises.
Speaker 4:I did a course over the pandemic and it's free online and it's in Spanish, but it's something that I put out there. Sometimes I'll just go to YouTube and play my own vocal course and then I have a couple of other instructors that I also use for my vocal preparation, because I need to double up on time. I don't have endless hours, and then I do carve out a moment in the day where I do hit the treadmill and I have an elliptical. So that really is what I do Now. Right now I haven't been on the road because I took a little bit of time just for family during over Christmas and we were doing a lot of family things. But when I start training for the road which I have to do now because we're going to go to Thailand on tour and all this thing that's where I have to train. And I do it on the running machine Because what I start doing is first I get in there and I walk, I walk, I walk, I walk fast, I walk fast, and then I start singing while I'm walking and then I start trying to jog and sing, because all of that friction, that bounce helps you just to be able to sing stronger, sing better, maintain the notes when you're on tour.
Speaker 4:But for a while which was really hard for me because I'm a perfectionist, I'm a very detailed person when it comes to vocals when I got sick, I barely had enough energy to be able to just stand up, so having I could not vocally prepare for the blessings the Lord had in store for us. So that was the hardest part is to understand that whatever I needed to do was in His hands and I would just need to testify with whatever strength I had and be able to join in and do what I needed to do with the effort that I could give. And that was the hardest lesson that I learned, because when I was being cast in the film and I was so excited right before we received the call that I got the part. I got super sick and then I lost the ability to speak and to talk and to sing and to move. I mean, I was paralyzed from the neck down and Greg and I know each other because he's part of a masterclass of my husband Gibbs, and so some some of the people within the class knew, but people in the industry did not, until we finally had to work the carpet and then I had to number one, tell our casting director before I even started recording. This is the situation, this is where I'm at.
Speaker 4:And in that time it was my family and I had had COVID and then, when we realized this was just, you know, we got hit with a second wave of COVID and this was something that I was gonna have to do it. And after seeing neurologists, they just came back and told me we don't know if or when you overcame the ability to walk and talk and we're just gonna have to monitor, and that's what we did for a while. So the hardest part was once we got that call back and got the part, how was I supposed to train when I couldn't even speak.
Speaker 4:Like for the biggest thing, like your whole career, like my whole career. I had done a lot of things. I did stuff with Snoop and with Flowrider and, you know, daddy Yankee Pippo and I toured for so many years and I had 20 years in the music industry and then this opportunity, which has been the opportunity since I was a kid, since I watched the Little Mermaid.
Speaker 4:I wanted to be part of that world, like I wanted that, and then to be in the worst possible physical condition and vocal condition I could have ever been in. And then I knew this is not about me, this is not about my talent, this is not about anything else except going out there and doing what I can and taking the light of Christ with me. Like that was it. And so I had to eat a big slice of humble pie.
Speaker 4:It was hard, but, honestly, one of the hardest moments that I had was when I became paralyzed while I was in the bath and I thought I'm gonna drown in this bath and I couldn't speak and I just was like this is how I'm gonna go, like this is how can this be? And somehow my husband felt inspired to come into the shower and he took me out and placed me on the bed and I was soaking wet and I was naked and I was just crying and I'm like I'm useless, I feel there's no reason for me to exist and this is gonna be the reality. I mean, I couldn't wash a dish, I couldn't take care of my kids we had a two year old and during that time and I couldn't hold my babies, I couldn't cook, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't sing. So everything that I had identified myself as being a singer.
Speaker 4:I'm a singer, I'm a performer, I am a mother, I am a wife All of that just completely disintegrated. And my husband just looked at me and said this is our reality and we're gonna make do and I love you and if all I do is come here and sit in the bed next to you and get to speak with you, then that's what we're gonna do, and it was difficult. It was difficult to know that that would be my potential reality.
Speaker 4:And at the same time, I felt so blessed. This man that I've been married to for over 25 years just showed me love. I thought I knew love up until that point, but there was a deeper, more humbling kind of love on the other side of that. So, like I said, it depends on where you are physically, but the Lord prepares a way for you to be as prepared as you need to be. And then, now that I've regained my strength, I'm a lot more conscious of my body and what I can give and what I can't. And so I don't take things for granted. I don't take a song for granted. I don't take an opportunity to share my testimony with anyone for granted.
Speaker 3:So every day is the most important day and every morning I wake up.
Speaker 4:That's why I pray and I just thank God. Thank you for being able to open my eyes, to move my legs, to move my hands, to be able to speak, because those basics, when they're taken away from you, you don't even count them as anything until you no longer can count them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, is it safe to say that at some point you realized that your identity was wrapped up in the fact that you were a singer?
Speaker 4:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you found yourself bedridden. You realized it was so much more to life, so much more to your everyday, that if you never got to sing another song, you realized that you were loved, you were cherished and that God had a plan for your life.
Speaker 4:That was the deepest thing. I am not what I do, and that was the biggest lesson. I am not what I do I sing, that's what I do. But I am a daughter of God, I am my wife, I am a mother, and sometimes being a mother doesn't look like it usually does, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I am. And so when you take away what you do and you go down to the core of who you are, you heal a lot better and there's less pressure. And when I finally was able to walk that carpet with everyone and Disney was so careful with me because at that point we had to jump, it's just to get to that red, you know, that purple carpet I think it was purple that day because I couldn't get vaccinated at that moment. We got vaccinated afterwards but because I had just had so many neurological issues that doctor advised against it.
Speaker 3:And then I said you know, what.
Speaker 4:I don't need to go, like I'm already part of the movie. That's like beyond my expectations, it's okay. And then Disney was like no, we're gonna talk with Bob Chapec. And it went all the way to the top and the producer signed off Liabilities and they just treated me so nice but like kept me isolated from Mary the Gantzilly, like walked that carpet, took that family picture and they were like okay, back to your hotel. Right after the preview and the premiere they tested me like 10 times in a day. Like Gabriel too, we're getting jab left or right. But I felt blessed. I felt blessed. But, yes, what I do does not define me anymore, so it gives me the freedom of not having to live up to anybody's expectations. I don't look at the numbers anymore, I don't study what is this person doing and I wanna beat them.
Speaker 2:I wanna be better than them, and I wanna sing better and I wanna look better.
Speaker 4:All of that just goes away and I'm just like Lord. How can I share my testimony through music today? How can I influence the new generation? How can I be of service to someone else? And then I find that there's always an opportunity to do so, every day.
Speaker 1:You made me a believer though at times I'll make you. There is so much more to Adas's story and we're gonna hear the rest of that. On next week Her husband will join us, her husband Gabriel Candiani. They'll tell us how they met, get into the family dynamic with their seven children, individual music careers and how they managed to hold it all together. She does some impromptu singing and then, of course, we talk about the project In Jesus we Are One, their cover of my composition, carol of the Christ, and then we'll follow that with Q&A from this great audience here with us tonight.
Speaker 1:Thank you, guys, for coming Now. One last thing to all of you who are here and all of you who are listening we ask that you do us a big favor. We've reached 12 countries and we wanna expand that number this year, in 2024. So we ask that you share this podcast with your family and your friends, your colleagues, your choir members, your choir director. We want everybody's input. We want everybody tuning in to help us make this podcast what it needs to be.
Speaker 1:So, if you're enjoying it, we ask that you like it, share it and send us your comments. Again, like, share and send us your comments. You can send those comments via email to aquireroomatmetromusic-archcom. You can subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts, or you can subscribe again to the choir room at metro music-archcom and then send it to anybody you think would be interested in all things choir and all things singing. So remember to join us again next week, episode 36, which is part two of this incredible interview with Adasa and Gabriel. And remember, if ever we put the messenger before the message, we have failed to present an unblemished gospel. I'm Greg Thomas, john.
