The Great Fall Scramble
There’s something uniquely awkward about leaving summer behind. One day you’re savoring the last rays of sun with a cold drink in hand, and the next you’re in full-blown “September scramble mode.” School schedules are flying at you like confetti, two different shows are suddenly on the production calendar, and the printer has decided to chew up the very choir binder covers you need tonight.
It’s a season where the word multitasking doesn’t even cut it. It’s more like plate-spinning…while juggling flaming batons…while also Googling “available rehearsal space near me” at 11 p.m. Somehow, though, this chaos is also where the magic happens. Because in between the coffee refills, the last-minute venue changes, and the mad dash to collate sheet music, I can already feel it—the season we’re building is going to be extraordinary.
Every binder I tape together, every email I send, every new plan hatched at the eleventh hour is just scaffolding for what really matters: bringing people together. Soon, these details will fade into the background as the choir lifts its voice, connecting hearts, offering healing, and weaving moments of beauty that leave traces of value behind in our community.
This Labor Day, I’ve been thinking about the people who made this possible. Generations of workers who fought—sometimes at significant cost—for rights that many of us now take for granted: fair wages, safe workplaces, weekends, and the dignity of rest. Because of their work, I get to do mine. And while I am deeply grateful, I also recognize how far we still have to go.
The truth is, the modern pace of “do more, faster” often forgets the human being inside the workload. Balance is not a luxury—it’s essential to sustaining creative, community-building work like ours. As I juggle binders and balloon markers for choir entrances, I’m also committed to carrying forward the labor movement spirit: to value people over profit margins, to protect mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and to remind myself that art flourishes not in burnout, but in care.
So here’s to fall, to labor, to the comedy of our seasonal chaos, and to the joy of showing up together—schedules, binders, and all.
✨ This season, I invite you to join us—whether by singing, attending a performance, or supporting the Latinx Choral Project. Together, we’re creating not just music, but a community where everyone belongs.