Performing at Jane Seymour's Home

Background: On Saturday, February 19, Jane Seymour hosted the inaugural kick-off for her Open Hearts Foundation. She has designed a piece for Kay Jewelers which is now linked with the foundation (each guest performer received a pin). This blurb from the website describes the foundation..."The Open Hearts Foundation is a nonprofit charity established to raise funds to enrich the lives of children in the areas of health, arts, sports and education." As a part of the evening's entertainment, Katharine McPhee and William Joseph were invited to perform. William Joseph wrote a song titled, O America, which is a beautiful piece for a soloist and choir.

The exciting part: Sixty members of our Orange County Mormon Choral Organization (OCMCO) were invited to perform with Katharine McPhee and William Joseph at Jane Seymour's home to close out the night. Our green room ended up being Jane's living room while we waited to go on. Yep, Jane Seymour's living room. I still can't get over it. While waiting to go on, we heard her introduce the piece (not us because, hey, we're not famous...yet), and heard her explain how much she loves the song. Just hearing her voice was exciting! We walked in singing with Katharine and the crowd went nuts! Not only did we get a standing ovation, but the crowd was touching us on the way out and thanking us profusely. There was a lot of alcohol, but I still think they loved it.

Pictures: This blogger did not take a camera (gasp) because I assumed security wouldn't allow it, but those who brought cameras got to keep them on their person. Thanks to one of our choir members who was brilliant enough to hand her camera to our director's wife before we went on to sing, we have some photos!

Katharine McPhee singing the opening verse; William Joseph on the piano

The choir in place on either side of the stage (only half shown here)

Celebrity sightings: Rain had been predicted, so the event was in this beautiful tent. The decor was gorgeous. The woman in the headdress, whose head you can see if you look at the screen, is India Aire. She stood up the minute the choir came in and never sat down. Apparently she was sitting next to Robin Roberts from Good Morning America. I kind of missed that. I didn't recognize many of the celebs, but I did get a photo with William Joseph and our director. That picture will be added as soon as I get it from the camera that took it. If you are interested in checking out who was there, this site has some great pictures of the guests. If you are a Dancing With The Stars Fan, you'll recognize a few people.

Aside from the plain old splendor of it all, I did get to talk to Katharine for a second--I told her how fun it was to sing with her, and she said she loved hearing the choir with her. There was no rehearsal so it was the first time for all of us. And, oh-my-goodness, she is pretty! Earlier in the evening, I got to hear her sing, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, while I was in the tent looking for the couple that was going to help us on stage. I stood in the back of the tent to listen, and it was gorgeous. I will never forget her singing that on American Idol. And just for the record, I voted for her. Sorry Taylor Hicks fans.

Did I mention that I still can't get over getting to do this. Squee.