Praise, Harmony, and a Bucket List √

Way back in the 1980's my brother-in-law, Don, attended a concert in Minot and came home with an LP recording of the group Acappella.  [Yes, I did say LP. . .as in a recording on a big black circle of vinyl, prior to the days of cassettes, CD's and MP3's.]  As he offered to let me listen, I remember him saying, "You're going to like this music!'  He was right!   The album was "Sweet Fellowship", and we have been loyal supporters of their music ever since.

Back then, the group traveled the United States in a big red bus, and we watched their schedule closely, getting to as many concerts as we could.  In 1994, my husband and I went on our first cruise up the Alaskan Inside Passage with Keith & Sharon Lancaster, who are the founders of Acappella.  It gave us a chance to know the singers on a personal basis, making attending their concerts even more fun.  On a second cruise, this time to the Bahamas, we took our daughter and son along.

In the years since, we have attended many more concerts, and have taken four more "Praise & Harmony Singing at Sea" cruises.  Destinations included Western Mexico & Acapulco, New York City, Halifax, St. John & Boston, and Belize & Cozumel.  Just this past summer we joined them for the sixth time on a return trip up the Alaskan Inside Passage.

In 2005, Keith began a new ministry of producing Praise & Harmony Acappella Worship CD's. Singers were recruited through a format of audition tapes.  It was a requirement to submit a recording, with 4 voices singing the parts of soprano, alto, tenor and bass.  Each album would include 2 CD's, one with a large group of singers, and a second training CD, which featured only 4 voices singing the individual parts.  This way, the listener could learn how to sing the various parts, while being treated to a full set of 25 Christian worship songs.

Since then, 16 more recordings have been made, with another set to be released later this year.  Each time another album was produced, my heart longed to be a part of one of the recording sessions.  Unfortunately, to do so I would have to recruit three more singers, and travel to the southern tier of the United States.  It just didn't happen, but remained as an item on my "bucket list".

Last month I received an email with an interesting proposal.  Because of COVID-19, a recording which was intended to be done in Alabama this summer, was being handled in a new way.  Keith was recruiting singers for a "virtual choir" to record a new song written by his son, Anthony Lancaster.  The instructions were to learn one of the four parts, and then submit a video of yourself singing it. Later, all submissions would be compiled and the new song would be released.

Here was my opportunity to sing on a Praise and Harmony recording!  Over the course of a couple of weeks, I learned the alto part, and then managed to get it recorded and submitted prior to the deadline of April 30, 2020.  Just over a week later, I received an email saying I was now a part of the "Virtual Singing Family", and the debut of "Hero of Israel" would be on May 9, 2020.  What a blessing it was to be a part of this project, and cross a very special item off of my bucket list.  "Singing on one of Acappella's Praise & Harmony recordings" could now be followed by a check mark!

In the end, a total of 220 voices were used to produce the final recording.  The virtual singers came from many different church backgrounds, age groups, and locations.  Countries represented were the USA, Canada, U.K., Brazil, Chile, Germany, Italy, France, Zambia, Australia, Singapore, Nigeria, and Ecuador.  142 of the singers had never before recorded on a Praise & Harmony project.  We now have a private Facebook page where we are introducing ourselves, and getting to know each other.  Hearing the song for the first time felt like a foretaste of what singing in heaven will be like!

You can hear the recording, along with some thoughts from Anthony, on YouTube by following this link:

"Hero of Israel"

By the way, what's on your bucket list?  Psalm 37:4 says if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  I used to think this verse meant God would give us whatever we wanted.  As I read it with His eyes, however, it says He will plant in us new desires, ones which He can then use for His glory.  The following verses use the words "Commit your way to the Lord", "Trust in Him", "Be still", and "Do not fret".  Perhaps this time of COVID-19 isolation has a deeper purpose we won't see until eternity. . .one of turning our focus to the Lord, so He can direct us to the desires He already has planned for our future!

To purchase any of the music produced by Acappella, follow this link to their music store!

Accappella Music Store