Friday cat post!

Today we have the second set of Turkish cats, courtesy of my parents.

My mother captioned this one, "Make me an offer."

Sleeping on the job.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/29/09

Here it is, your weekend concert calendar! A little thin, b/c of the holiday weekend, but all the concerts below look excellent - you really couldn't go wrong.

Also, it's not choral, but check out the Post-Meridian Radio Players' presentation of "The Big Broadcast of October 30, 1938." It's two staged radio plays at the Somerville Theatre this weekend. My good friend Mike Veloso composed some of the music.

Friday:

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Josquin and his Legacy"; Union Church, Waban

8:00 pm: Zefiro; "Lights and Shadows," featuring music of Victoria and Gesualdo; Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Providence, RI.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Josquin and his Legacy"; University Lutheran Church, Cambridge

8:00 pm: The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and the Radcliffe Choral Society; "A Cappella Masterpieces"; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Josquin and his Legacy"; First Lutheran Church, Boston

3:00 pm: The Tufts Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; "Choral Motets of the Millenium," featuring Lou Harrison's La Koro Sutro, a piece for chorus and American Gamelan; Distler Performance Hall at the Granoff Music Center, Tufts University, Medford. (This concert is FREE!)

4:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; ""Music of the Tudors," featuring Taverner's Small Devotion Mass and works of Sheppard, Fayrfax and Byrd; First Congregational Church, Hancock, NH.

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

This is AWESOME. Dad, this one's for you! (Note: I embedded it, but you might want to follow this link and watch it in a wider-screen edition, where nothing is cut off.)



Thanks to PC for the link!

Friday cat post!

Back in June, my parents went to China, and sent me some pictures of Chinese cats.

A few days ago, they returned from Turkey, and so I have some pictures of Turkish cats! Here are two Turkish Jellicle cats.

Love the tail!

"You want to put a picture of me on your daughter's what?"

Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/22/09

Make sure you come to the Schola Cantorum concerts this weekend - I am singing in them, they are really great, and how can you resist Byrd's "Though Amaryllis" when it is done well?

Friday:

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; "Music of the Tudors," featuring Taverner's Small Devotion Mass and works of Sheppard, Fayrfax and Byrd; St. John's, Boston.

8:00 pm: The Harvard Glee Club and the Princeton University Glee Club; "Harvard-Princeton Football Concert," featuring choral music of Josquin, Alonso, Janácek, Gustafsson, Thompson & Carter plus college fight songs; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Saturday:

4:00 pm: The Boston Conservatory Chorale and Women's Chorus; Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, Boston.

5:00 pm: Libana (and others); "Playing for the Planet"; First Congregational Church, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; "Music of the Tudors," featuring Taverner's Small Devotion Mass and works of Sheppard, Fayrfax and Byrd; St. Joseph's Church, Providence, RI.

8:00 pm: The Orpheus Singers; "Music of Haydn, Boykan, and Palestrina"; Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston

8:00 pm: The Master Singers of Lexington; "Cello and Chorus" (with special guest Rhonda Rider); First Parish, Lexington.


Sunday:

4:00 pm: "45th Choir Festival: Service of Ecumenical Song"; Gordon College, Wenham.

5:00 pm: King's Chapel Choir Concert Series; "Happy Anniversary!", featuring works by Purcell, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Handel; King's Chapel, Boston.

6:00 pm: The Bullock Brothers; St. Paul Evangelical Church, Lexington.

7:30 pm: Belmont Open Sings; "Bach's Mass in B minor, Part 1"; Payson Park Church, Belmont.


Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

I am a little behind the times - my father sent me a link to this article six months ago - but have an interview with Texas-based conductor Lois Ferrari. Gotta say that I love her press photo!

Friday cat post!

This is the last from the set of pictures I took last August (August! How time flies.)


This reminds me very strongly of Oomi's ancestors in Greece or Egypt, sprawled out on a patio somewhere sunning themselves, perfectly self-content.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/15/09

Here it is, your weekend concert calendar! Things are beginning to heat up a bit with the performance schedule as the weather cools down...

Friday:

8:00 pm: Blue Heron; Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks; St. Paul Church, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Hosted by BEMF.

Saturday:

7:30 pm: Marsh Chapel Choir & Collegium with Boston University Chamber Chorus; "Haydn's Die Schöpfung"; Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston.

7:30 pm: The Vocal Section (TVS); "Raising the Roof, a program of gospel, R&B and spirituals"; Wakefield UU Church, Wakefield, MA.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: The Paul Madore Chorale; "The French Connection: An Afternoon of French Choral, Solo and Instrumental Works"; St. Mary of the Annunciation Church, Danvers, MA.

3:00 pm: The Chatham Chorale; "Poulenc's Gloria and Fauré's Requiem"; St. Anthony of Padua Parish, New Bedford, MA.

Also this Sunday, Sylvia Berry will be performing at my own church, First Parish Cohasset at 4 pm. She is a renowned fortepianist, and she will be playing works of Haydn and Beethoven on a replica of a Viennese piano from circa 1795. Please help me spread the word about this concert - I'm very excited about it!

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Today I bring you two goofy videos!

The first, which I picked up from numerous sources, as it's making the rounds, is Sebastien the Cyber-Conductor. I liked the last bit best, with the options of "Bad Conductor" and "Mean Conductor," but it's all quite funny; made me laugh out loud!



The second is Maestro Cirque du Soleil, via my friend EKR. This one takes a bit of time to warm up, but once he starts actually conducting it gets good. Although I also have to confess that the beginning is not much of an exaggeration of the difficulties of dealing with scores.

Friday cat post!

One of Oomi's rather striking characteristics that doesn't always come across in photos is that she has an incredibly shiny coat. Shiny!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/8/09

Well, it's Columbus Day weekend, so choral pickin's are slim. In fact, I have only one event to pass on, but it's gigantic!

Sunday, 4:30 pm - 9:00 pm: Gigantic Gospel Extravaganza and Anniversary Celebration for The Blue Hill Gospel MC's of Boston. Special guests to include The Joy Boyz, Little Sammy and the New Flying Clouds of Philadelphia, and others. Victory Chapel, 301 Columbia Rd, Dorchester.

Also, in other special events, please note that on Friday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, the Handel & Haydn Society will open its season with Andreas Scholl in a program called "Viva La Voce!" at Symphony Hall in Boston.

Life update

I realize I haven't quite outlined everything I'm doing this fall. I had an e-mail exchange yesterday that I found rather amusing, and that goes straight to the heart of how busy I am.

---------------------
From:Person
To:Allegra

Hi there!

I was just curious if people are still joining chorus/if you guys are still accepting new members?

Thank you,
Person

---------------------

From:Allegra
To:Person

Yes! We are! Would you like to come to rehearsal tonight? It's TIME to TIME in PLACE. I would love to accept you as a new member.

-Allegra Martin

---------------------

From:Allegra
To:Person

Oh, wait. It occurs to me that I'm not sure which chorus you are talking about. Are you a Lasell student? Or are you interested in Cantilena or The Notables or First Parish Cohasset?

All the best,
Allegra Martin

------------------------------------------------------------

Yes indeedy. I am currently an adjunct faculty member at Lasell College, where I am directing the chorus; I am the music director for Cantilena; I am the music director for the Notables; I am the music director at First Parish Cohasset; and I am teaching at Mission Hill Elementary School in Roxbury. And that's just the conducting/directing; I'm also singing in Anthology and Schola Cantorum.

I finally have everything I ever wanted, and I am going insane because I don't know if I can handle it. Isn't that always the way? At any rate, it will be a very tough year, so good vibes, free food, and people coming over to do my laundry for me will be gratefully accepted.

Monday link

It's orchestra-conductors-day today!

Congratulations to Shi-Yeon Sung, who as assistant conductor of the BSO stepped in at the last minute to conduct last Tuesday's performance with commendable poise. (James Levine had to have some unexpected surgery for a herniated disc.) Jeremy Eichler gave her the thumbs-up.

I also recommend this article in Variety about the progress women orchestral conductors are making. It's nice to finally see an article whose sole thesis is not "where are all the women" but instead "hey, here are some women (although they're not yet at the top)." I must admit, however, that using the adjective "female" in these sorts of articles always seems strange to me.

One thing I learned from the article was that Marin Alsop is a MacArthur fellow. How did I miss that? I love the MacArthur awards; one of my favorite daydreams is someday winning one, although I can never quite figure out what it is going to be for.

Two audition opportunities

Two quick audition hits.

The North Cambridge Family Opera Company is holding auditions for adults and children for their spring production of Springtime for Haman.

Vox Lucens, a small and snazzy Renaissance choir, is looking for low altos. Or they were; I promised to post this notice a couple of weeks ago and forgot. (Oops.)

Friday cat post!

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!

Curiosity got the cat out of the bag!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/1/09

Weekly Concert Calendar time!

Friday:

7:30 pm: Boston University Choral Ensembles; "Fauré's Requiem"; CFA Concert Hall, BU, Boston

Saturday:

3:30 pm: Liberty Belle Chorus; "Can't Stop the Beat"; Westford Academy Performing Arts Center, Westford, MA

8:00 pm: Boston Singers' Relief Fund; "The Singer's Voice: A Gala Benefit Concert"; Church of the Covenant, Boston

Sunday:

3:00 pm: "Music to Cure MS: The 7th annual concert to benefit the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis"; Park Avenue Congregational Church, Arlington, MA

If I missed anything, leave it in the comments!

overheard in FPC

Overheard at choir practice tonight:

(Note: we got onto the topic below via a discussion about the hymn "We Are A Gentle, Angry People" about whether we were, in fact, an angry people. This is, of course, an extremely UU sort of discussion to have. Most of the choir came down on the side of not angry, but I balanced them out with definitely angry. Chalk it up to reading political blogs.)

A certain tenor psychologist: There are only five basic emotions. Mad, sad, glad, fearful and guilty.
A certain bass: What about lust?