Friday cat post!

Time for your Friday cat post!


My brother says, "Oomi is currently racing around the house, picking up pens, and trying to burrow them under the rug in the living room." I would add that you will probably see a great many paper bags in this series, as Oomi seems to be very fond of them.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/29/09

So...

This is pretty weird, but I can find almost no choral concerts in Boston this weekend. I mean, there is an almost freakish lack of choral concerts. Does this weekend have some sort of choral pall over it? Even Schola Cantorum (with whom I'm singing) was supposed to have concerts this weekend, but had to reschedule for next weekend because of a dearth of tenors. Well, I can't figure out what those tenors might be doing, because NOTHING is going on, choral-wise. There are a number of fine concerts going on, so there should be plenty to do, but there's not much for me to report on.

Here's what I got:

Sunday:

At 4:00, the Choir of St. Mary, St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Charlestown, MA will give a choral concert under the direction of Leonardo Ciampa. This will be at the St. Mary - St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 55 Warren St., Charlestown.

See what I mean? That's all I got! Comment if you know of any other choral concerts, please!

Verdi's Otello - still needs men's chorus!

So, one of the many plates I am currently spinning in the air is that of Chorus Master for the Harvard Lowell House Opera's production of Verdi's Otello. Aaaand...we still need men for the chorus. Lots of them. The Lowell House Opera is totally open to the community, and is eager, in fact, to have more community members participate in the production. Details are below - please forward to all the singing men you know!

The Lowell House Opera, the oldest continuously performing opera company in New England, is holding ongoing open CHORUS AUDITIONS for all voice parts for its production of Giuseppe Verdi’s OTELLO in March 2009. The work will be performed in Italian with projected English supertitles, with full costumes and staging, and with full orchestra. The production will include approximately 70 cast members, 120 orchestra members, and 50 technical staff members. Though the Lowell House Opera is based at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and provides valuable opera performance experience to Harvard students, it also includes many students and emerging professionals in the greater Boston area and features professional opera performers from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Channing Yu returns as Music Director and Sarah Eggleston returns as Producer; Anna Fischer makes her LHO debut as Stage Director; Allegra Martin will serve as the Chorus Master. Performances take place in the beautiful Lowell House Dining Hall, which is converted to an opera house for the production run. Rehearsals will take place February 2009. Performances are scheduled for March 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, and 14, 2009. This is an all-volunteer production. No pay/no fee. There is no age limit. For more information, please contact Sarah Eggleston, Producer, at lho@hcs.harvard.edu or 617-620-6077.

Job-hunting: a query

Dear all other conductors in the world,

When you are asked for professional references, who do you list? Often, if you are (for example) the music director at a church, you are the top potato where music is concerned. Who do you cite when you want someone to be able to talk about your conducting skills?

I already somewhat know the answer to this - ask the minister; ask the president of the board of your community choir; ask old professors or if you have been someone's assistant, ask them; but I would like to know what other people have done in the past. A lot of the choirs I've conducted I have founded myself, and they didn't have boards. Or, in one case, a friend who's a composer asked me to conduct a recording session; is it kosher to have close friends give references?

Discuss!

Rant

Some of you may have heard of the experiment where Joshua Bell played in a commuter station during rush hour about a year and a half ago. I mentioned it in passing. The experiment was done for an article for the Washington Post, which later won a Pulitzer. And now apparently it is making its way around the internets.

The kicker was that during rush hour, almost no commuters stopped to listen to Bell playing. Although the article explores a number of different directions, the easiest conclusion is one of hand-wringing; oh noes, we are a society unable to appreciate true great art, running around like ants, oh woe for the common masses, unable to be inspired by blah blah blah whatever.

Well, I draw different conclusions.

First of all, and to be fair the article does mention this briefly, I think it shows that context matters. (I commend the mention of Kant in the article. And I never thought I would commend someone's mention of Kant.) In fact, context matters so much that there is no piece of music that is appropriate all the time. Sometimes I love listening to Beethoven; sometimes I just can't take it. Same thing for Josquin. Sometimes I really enjoy Brahms, and sometimes I can't stand Brahms, I really have to go listen to some U2 or Peter Gabriel or Christina Aguilera or Mos Def or Metallica. It all depends.

If it's rush hour, I am not in a place to appreciate some solo Bach violin music. If I try to stand still out of guilt or a sense that I ought to stop and appreciate the art, I will be fidgety, I will be thinking of everything I have to do, I will be wondering how late I'm going to be, and how angry my supervisor might get with me. If I go to the symphony, on the other hand, I've been anticipating it for weeks, I have time to get into the right frame of mind, I know I'm going to set aside some dedicated time for listening, and I will enjoy myself. The same result will not be achieved if someone makes an unprecedented demand on my time early in the morning. And that's OK. It's OK that context matters. It doesn't mean we can't appreciate art. If you have just eaten Thanksgiving dinner, and one of the Iron Chefs knocks on your door and offers you a five-course meal, it's OK to be less enthusiastic than if you only had a small bowl of cereal earlier in the day. We know that with regard to physical activities, our immediate past and the context matters, but it matters just as much with mental or soulful activities. In fact, it's arguable that it means that I value music more highly if I don't think it's appropriate for every time and place, and if I don't consider myself "on call to be appreciative of art" 24-7. It means it's special.

And on the flip side of why context matters, I present you this paper forwarded to me by my brother: "Music as Torture/Music as Weapon." A quick skim of that article should provide ample evidence that context matters a great deal when it comes to music.

The other thing that pisses me off about this article is the classical snobbishness. Nobody would be amazed if some people went by Bob Dylan in the subway. (Well, except that everyone would recognize him.) Same thing with Talib Kweli. It's acceptable to not like folk, or pop, or hip-hop; but if you don't appreciate GREAT CLASSICAL MUSIC then clearly you are a boor, and probably you are not as intelligent as other people and also not as moral and upstanding, and you probably also smell, you member of the unwashed masses, you.

Now, I happen to be a classical musician. I like this music. A lot. I am, in fact, happy devoting 90% of my time to it. And I can be snobbish too. But I'm not really comfortable with that part of myself. And I'm especially uncomfortable with the way that so many people seem to think it's OK to diss other genres of music. Especially country and hip-hop. All genres of music can be done well, and to be done well they require mad skillz. It is not somehow indicative of higher morals to prefer classical music.

Other thoughts from people? (Please leave them on the original blog post and not a feed.) I basically have put off writing this blog post ever since I read the article, because it is so hard to organize my thoughts on this topic. So, I just spewed some out. Stay tuned for a future entry on why Baroque music and country music are so similar.

Friday cat post!

So my brother has not been so good about providing me up-to-date pictures of his cat. I give you his excuse this week: "Still can't load photos. Oomi peed in the tub so I locked her in the basement and I can hear her smashing things."

I trust even three episodes into our Friday cat posts, you are getting the idea that Oomi is a high holy terror.

Instead, I present you with an Oomi classic from last fall. This great work of internet cat cinema is called "Oomi in a box!" I can't figure out whether I think it's hilarious because I know R, who is the starring human, or if it's just inherently funny. You tell me.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/22/09

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the choirs are so delightful,
So since we've places to go,
Oh, please don't let it snow!

Luckily, snow is not on the radar (for once) this weekend, so you can enjoy quite a variety of concerts!

Friday:

Exsultemus, directed by Eric Rice, will be performing at 8:00 pm at the First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, Boston. They will be performing sacred music of Tudor England by Tallis, Byrd, Taverner, and Gibbons. Exsultemus is one of Boston's most stellar professional choirs, and if you haven't checked them out yet, you really should. This program will really show them off well. This concert will be repeated on Saturday in Andover and Sunday in Newton.

Handel & Haydn, under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington, will performing at 8:00 pm at Symphony Hall, 301 Mass. Ave, Boston. They will present a concert performance of Haydn's magnificent opera L'anima del filosofo, which is a retelling of the Orfeo and Eurydice story. This concert will be repeated on Sunday.

Saturday:

Convivium Musicum, directed by Michael Barret, will be performing at 7:00 pm at the Cambridge Friends Meeting House, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge. They will be singing "Music of Byrd & Tallis from Cantiones Sacrae 1575." One of Anthology's sopranos sings with them, so go check it out! This program will be repeated on Sunday in Newton.

Exsultemus, directed by Eric Rice, will be performing at 7:30 pm at Christ Church Andover, 33 Central Street, Andover. They will be performing sacred music of Tudor England by Tallis, Byrd, Taverner, and Gibbons. Exsultemus is one of Boston's most stellar professional choirs, and if you haven't checked them out yet, you really should. This program will really show them off well. This concert will be repeated Sunday in Newton.

Women Singing OUT!, directed by Claudia Frost, will perform at 7:30 pm at Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH. They will be presenting the first of their 10th anniversary concerts, "Broadway or Bust!" a winter spectacular highlighting a century of showtunes. This program will be repeated on Sunday.

This one is not choral, but it is in support of a chorus! The Concord Chorus will present "Broadway and Beyond - Cabaret and Silent Auction." Bidding starts at 7 pm, and the program will start at 8 pm. The entertainment for the evening will be presented by Pamela Enders and Will MacMillan. This will be at 51 Walden St. in Concord.

The Westford Chorus, directed by Daniel Rowntree, will present "A Renaissance Ball" at 8:00 pm at Stony Brook Middle School, 9 Farmer Way (off Rt. 40), Westford.

Sunday:

The Newton Community Chorus, under the direction of Richard Travers, will perform at 2:00 pm at Our Lady of Help Christians Church, 573 Washington St., Newton. They will sing Poulenc's Gloria and Stabat Mater.

Women Singing OUT!, directed by Claudia Frost, will perform at 2:00 pm at Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH. They will be presenting the first of their 10th anniversary concerts, "Broadway or Bust!" a winter spectacular highlighting a century of showtunes.

The Seraphim Singers, directed by Jennifer Lester, will perform at 3:00 pm at St. Paul Catholic Church, Corner of Bow and Arrow Streets, Harvard Square, Cambridge. They will present a program called "Distinctly English: Choral Masterworks from the British Isles." The Seraphim Singers are one of the finest amateur choruses in Boston, and regularly tackle incredibly difficult repertoire, so they are worth a listen!

Exsultemus, directed by Eric Rice, will be performing at 3:00 pm at Parish of the Good Shepherd of Waban, 1671 Beacon Street, Newton. They will be performing sacred music of Tudor England by Tallis, Byrd, Taverner, and Gibbons. Exsultemus is one of Boston's most stellar professional choirs, and if you haven't checked them out yet, you really should. This program will really show them off well.

Handel & Haydn, under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington, will performing at 3:00 pm at Symphony Hall, 301 Mass. Ave, Boston. They will present a concert performance of Haydn's magnificent opera L'anima del filosofo, which is a retelling of the Orfeo and Eurydice story.

The Andover Choral Society, under the direction of Allen Coombs, will perform Mendelssohn's Elijah at 3:00 pm at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover.

Convivium Musicum, directed by Michael Barret, will be performing at 4:00 pm at the Episcopal Parish of the Messiah, 1900 Commonwealth Ave., Newton. They will be singing "Music of Byrd & Tallis from Cantiones Sacrae 1575." One of Anthology's sopranos sings with them, so go check it out!

New president!

Sing it, Jay Smooth!

Friday cat post!

It's Friday! And that means another picture of my brother's cat Oomi (and, in this case, my brother also makes a special guest-starring appearance.)

In most of the pictures of Oomi that I've seen, her expression is remarkably similar to this one.  And no, I don't think they feed her that much catnip...

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/15/09

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday to everyone!  In honor of MLK, there are a few pretty awesome-looking concerts this weekend (check out the one on Saturday evening at Sander's Theater) as well as some fine choral music that is not related to MLK.  It may be January, but it's a strong choral weekend nonetheless.

Friday:

Of course, you already know that the Cantata Singers are performing Friday night - a number of you have free tickets!  They will be presenting at all-Britten program.  The performance will be at 8 pm at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston.

At 8:00 pm, the Lexington Pops Chorus, under the direction of Robert A. Lague, will present their winter concert.  The program includes Haydn's Missa Brevis, Britten's Jubilate Deo, and much more.  This will be at Hancock Church (on the green), 1912 Mass. Ave, Lexington.  This program will be repeated on Saturday evening.

Saturday:

At 2:00 pm, the Stoughton Senior Serenaders, under the direction of Helyn Hall, will perform gospel songs and tributes to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman.  This will be at the Stoughton Public Library, 84 Park St., Stoughton, MA.

At 7:00 pm, Convivium Musicum, under the direction of Michael Barrett, will be presenting a program which will include Byrd's 8-voice canon Diliges Dominum.  This will be at Christ Church, 149 Asbury St., Hamilton, MA.

At 7:30 pm, there will be some Joyful Noise at Sanders Theater at Harvard University!  The Harlem Gospel Choir, one of the best in the world, will be featured, along with the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School Vocal Ensemble, led by Musical Director Gene Kelly, and dance by OrigiNation’s NIA Dance Troupe, led by Musau M. Dibinga, with choreography by Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga. State Representative Byron Rushing will serve as Master of Ceremonies.  Sanders Theatre is located at 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA.

At 8:00 pm, the Lexington Pops Chorus, under the direction of Robert A. Lague, will present their winter concert. The program includes Haydn's Missa Brevis, Britten's Jubilate Deo, and much more. This will be at Hancock Church (on the green), 1912 Mass. Ave, Lexington.

Sunday:

At 4:00 pm, the Seraphim Singers, under the direction of Robert Barney, will present a program of Choral Masterworks from the British Isles.  This will be at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, 16 Highland Avenue, Cohasset, MA (right across the street from my church!)

At 4:00 pm, Coro Stella Maris will present "Byrd: Gradualia - Courage and Contemplation Under Duress" under the direction of Amelia LeClair.  This will be at Grace Episcopal Church, 384 Essex St., Salem, MA.

Cantata Singers ticket giveaway!

Want a pair of free tickets to the Cantata Singers concert this upcoming Friday?

The Cantata Singers contacted me last week, and asked if I would like to host a free ticket giveaway on my blog.  To which I of course said yes!  So, here is the deal: I have five pairs of free tickets, and they will go to the first five commenters on this post!  Leave your full name in the comment, and I will give your name to the Cantata Singers' ticket manager; your tickets will be waiting for you at will-call.

This year the Cantata Singers are concentrating on Britten - there is Britten on every concert, and on Friday, the entire concert will be Britten.  They will be performing:

Lachrymae (Roger Tapping, viola)
Five Flower Songs
Phaedra (Janna Baty, mezzo-soprano)
Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Michael Slattery, tenor; Michael Thompson, horn)
Rejoice in the Lamb (First Boston performance of Imogen Holst’s orchestration)

The performance will be Friday, January 16, 2009 at 8 pm at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston.  

From their press release:
"Explore five of Britten’s most colorful, searching and mature works, the products of his most fertile years. His passion for the singing voice shines throughout. The Lachrymae for viola solo and string orchestra, based upon John Dowland’s “If my complaints could passion move,” and the delicate Five Flower Songs showcase Britten’s ability to breathe fresh air into a 19th century medium. His emotional Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, composed for Peter Pears and Dennis Brain, is fed by an inspiration unsurpassed in any other of his music, before or after. Phaedra, a solo cantata composed for the great Janet Baker, and Rejoice in the Lamb for chorus, soloists and organ, round out this rich and varied feast by the composer whom the Daily Telegraph called, in Britten’s obituary, “the truly towering talent of his age.”" 

From me:

Britten is my favorite 20th-century composer.  The Cantata Singers are, by any reckoning, in the very top tier of the multitude of choruses in our fair city.  And you could hear them for free!  Just be one of the first five commenters!

Friday cat post!

So, it is a new year, and like everyone else, I have been thinking about New Year's Resolutions.  It's difficult for me to make resolutions, because it always feels like there are three times in the year that qualify as the beginning of the year, not just one: January 1, my birthday in March, and the beginning of the academic year in September.  I tend to reevaluate my professional goals in the summer, before September, because musicians are basically on an academic yearly schedule.  But I am nevertheless going to make some resolutions now, in January.  One is to practice voice five times a week (because my voice teacher is getting annoyed with me.)  And I also have some resolutions regarding this blog.  I want to make a definite effort to interview a conductor once a month (instead of once every two months, as happened last fall.)  And I also want to institute a couple of new features.

In particular, I have done some thinking, and I have concluded that there is a very important lack on this blog.  There is one common thread that connects great blogs everywhere ranging from Ill Doctrine to Shakesville to PeaceBang.  And that is...cute pictures of cats!

Now, sadly, I don't have a cute cat of my own, but my brother does!  So every Friday, he has agreed to let me post a picture of his cute cat on my blog.  His cat is less than a year old, and is a very rambunctious youngster named Oomi.  She likes hiding in bags, and tearing around the house like a crazy thing, and I'm sure we will learn more about her personality as this series progresses.

Oomi says, "Basement Cat is underneath ur tree, stealin' ur presents."

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/8/09

Happy New Year!  There are distinctly fewer concerts in January, since everyone is still recovering from the December holiday music season, but there is still some very good stuff going on this week, although your options are a bit scant.

First of all, I myself am singing with Cappella Clausura on Sunday at 2 pm at Forsyth Chapel (in the Forest Hills Cemetary).  This will be a repeat of our October concert, where we presented a contrasting set of motets and madrigals by the same Renaissance composer.  Our January concert at Forsyth Chapel tends to fill up, so if you would like to come (and I hope you will!) then don't be late!

Friday:

At 7:30, the Mizero Children of Rwanda stop by the Arlington Regent Theater on their "Forgiveness Tour."  The Boston Globe Calendar says, "These young cultural and peace ambassadors take audiences on a journey into the lives of the Rwandan people through music, dance, costumes and drumming."  (Click on the link, there's a nifty picture.)  The Regent Theater in Arlington is located at 7 Medford St., Arlington.

If you want to go a bit afield, Mermaid Music productions is putting on Amahl and the Night Visitors.  This will be on Friday at 8 pm at the Adams Memorial Opera House, 29 West Broadway, Derry, NH, and Sunday at 4 pm at Ste. Marie's Parish, 378 Notre Dame Ave, Manchester, NH.

Saturday:

I got nuthin'.  Stay home and bake some cookies.  When was the last time you did that, anyways?  

Sunday:

At 2:00 pm, Cappella Clausura presents "Before and After the Veil: Works by Aleotti" under the direction of Amelia LeClair.  This will be at Forsyth Chapel, 95 Forest Hills Ave, Jamaica Plain.

At 3:00 pm, the Nashoba Valley Chorale will present Beethoven's Mass in C, Brahms' Schicksalslied, and several works by Schutz under the direction of Anne Watson Born.  This will be at the Congregational Church of Littleton, 330 King St., Littleton.

Monday link

Happy new year to all!

Today's link comes courtesy of friend CH.  I give you...

The Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz, words and music by John Stump, arr. by Accident

(You have to look really closely at the score to appreciate it.  "Insert peanuts!"  "Add bicycle!"  "Like a Dirigible!")