From Choir to Friendship to Sesame Street

I'm posting this here even though technically it's not really a choir post. The truth is that choir started a connection that led to a friendship through social media and then resulted in my visit to Sesame Street.

I went to New York City with Ileina and Liana this past week. It was a chance for them to see the city I had come to love from the Choir Tour in 2015.We visited many different places and saw Wicked. We chose to go on Ileina's birthday to celebrate her 13 years on earth. It was such a memorable trip. We did so much in so little time and we were able to visit so many different things.

Before the trip I had let my friend Paul Rudolph, Music Director at Sesame Street, know that I would like to attend one of the shows of Glank, his musical group. It's a very creative group. He said the band was not going to be performing while we were there but that Sesame Street would be filming their season opener and he invited me to attend. I was shocked and excited. Super cool!

So, how did this all happen. Let me explain.

Sesame Street came and performed with the choir for the Christmas program in 2014. It was my first year in choir and it was such a magical experience. After the concerts I began to follow the Sesame Street social media accounts on twitter. In some strange way I found Paul on instagram and was fascinated with the musical work he was doing outside of Sesame Street. It was a great account to follow. We ended up becoming friends on Instagram. I would comment on something he would post and he would comment on something I would post and it was just a friendly way to connect. We didn't meet during the Christmas performance at all.

In the summer of 2015 the choir went to New York City and Paul and I met outside of Carnegie Hall right before a performance.

 It was strange because we knew each other from instagram and I believe he was the first to say, "Hey, so you're skinikini from instagram!" I was like, "Yup! So nice to meet you." We didn't talk much because it was busy but I did tell him it was great to finally meet the person behind the instagram account and I asked him a question about the band. It really is an awesome musical group, you should really check it out. You can find them on instagram under glankglankglank.

We continued to keep in contact on instagram and eventually on Facebook. When he learned I was coming to New York he extended an invitation. He was so kind and to be honest it was a dream come true for me.

Sesame Street for me represents everything about my childhood. Being a child of immigrant parents and learning how to navigate the American way of life is challenging but having examples on tv was what I turned to. Sesame Street is home to the little boy in me.

When we entered the set the emotions set in. It was real. Everything was real. The stoop. I could see in my mind Bob and Maria. Linda signing. I could see so many of the places I remember but now it was in person. I shed a tear or two.

I met people on set. They were filming so things were quiet. Everyone I met with was kind and wecloming. Such a wonderful group of people. They were so amazingly friendly I felt at home immediately.

I watched the process of filming and the people working with the muppets and realized that their process was much like the choir's process in creating music. A lot of rehearsal. A lot of cooperation. A lot of working together for a final goal. A lot of repetition. A lot of give and take from everyone. The segment they were filming was short but it took many takes to get it just right. Fine tuning specific things here and there. It was marvelous to witness it all.

I asked Paul if they had rules on scented products because the choir does and he looked surprised. They don't have that rule. I explained why we have it and he understood immediately. It was great to connect with them.

I met those behind the wonderful characters and they were all so generous. A lot of hugging took place.

By the sign. It was amazing to be in this place with these people.

This was an amazing experience and I'm so grateful that it happened. The connection with Sesame Street began with choir but my friendship with Paul through social media happened on our own and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we had to connect in real life and on Sesame Street.

I guess it goes to show that you can never know what will happen in choir and the connections you will make. I'm so thankful for the choir and what it has blessed me with in my life. I still don't understand how or why I am so blessed but I continue to be extremely grateful.

I should mention that I had a conflict about sharing this experience, especially on social media. When I returned I emailed Choir President (Ron Jarrett) about it and he gave me his blessing to share it without worry. I would also like to say that I, in no way, represented myself as a spokesman for the choir. Paul and I just became friends on instagram and the rest is history.