Back Bay Chorale Bach performance

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Back Bay Chorale's performance of Bach's B Minor Mass. It was quite an enjoyable experience, although it produced quite the internal intellectual quandary in me!

First things first, since I suspect that the vast majority of people to read this will be members of the chorus poking around the internet for reviews. The chorus's tuning was admirable, as was their rhythm; they were crisply in tempo the entire time, no mean feat. And their runs were remarkably clean for a chorus of their size; there was tons of space in the fast passagework, which was absolutely crucial. I really can't say enough good things about that amount of space in the phrasing. The majority of the singers were quite engaged, but there were some members who needed to get out of their books more (ahem, I noticed a few tenors in particular.) The orchestra was also very good; I especially enjoyed the flute solos.

The soloists were all extremely classy. Kendra Colton's instrument is a little too heavy for Bach for my taste, but her execution was flawless, and Krista River, Aaron Sheehan, and Sumner Thompson, all heavy hitters in the Boston area, were superb. I was also delighted to hear Sonja Tengblad given the chance to shine; I heard her at the Boston Singer's Resource auditions last month and her voice is ever so pretty, although I felt she was pushing a little given the size of the forces and the hall.

I had only one true complaint the entire night, and that for the maestro. Dr. Jarrett, come over here where no one can hear us. Now, I know you are more experienced than I. And I thought your gesture was both precise and expressive, something I envied greatly. You led the entire evening with intense focus and great aplomb. I know a number of your choristers, and they all not only love you, but think you are the greatest thing since sliced bread. And your excellent leadership clearly extends beyond the podium, because on a night with approximately a billion choral concerts the best seat I could get was in the back row of the balcony. But please, please, PLEASE do not mouth the words, especially to your soloists! You have done this before, and it drives me nuts! I admit this is one of my particular pet peeves, and I heartily disapprove of it when done to choruses, but doing it to soloists looks even worse. It gives the appearance you don't trust them and need to micromanage them. You know Krista River will make the magic happen, so please don't mouth at her. However, aside from that, I was amazed that you were able to lead such a large ensemble to such a tight performance of some very dense music.

And the subject of the size of the forces brings me to the main issue that pretty much dominated my experience last night. I'm not an early music expert, but I do love it, and I have always preferred a light, clean, crystalline sound for Baroque music, especially for Bach. I want everything to be as transparent as possible. So looking down at the giant stage with the sizeable orchestra and the massive chorus, I was pretty skeptical, and the Kyrie didn't really shake me out of my skepticism; it sounded like everyone was working very hard to stay clean, and didn't pack a clear emotional punch. But then the Gratias Agimus movement came, and it was really profoundly moving, as was the next chorus movement, the Qui Tollis. And I spent the rest of the concert waffling about questions of size. On the one hand, despite the chorus's rhythmic precision, and the amount of space they left between their runs, the size of the forces really precluded the highest level of lightness and transparency. On the other hand, the slightly slower movements sounded wonderfully rich in a way that a smaller force couldn't have managed. The Sanctus section really exemplified this dichotomy for me; the Sanctus, with its fabulous swingy sound, practically demanded an enormous choir, but then the Pleni sunt coeli, with its nimble runs, begged for a lighter sound. Big choir, little choir? This was the major question of the evening for me. I walked into the concert thinking I knew the answer; I walked out in a state of fluctuating doubt. The concert didn't answer the question; by posing a strong defense of the advantages of a large ensemble (with the Dona Nobis Pacem providing the perfect closing argument) it opened my mind up to the debate in the first place, a debate I hadn't really been open to before. So, well played, Back Bay Chorale.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/13/10

Wow, there is a lot going on this weekend. Good luck deciding what to do Saturday, especially. (Provided you're not actually performing, in which case the decision is pretty easy!) I think this is the peak weekend of the spring season!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus; "Music for a Spring Evening"; First Parish Arlington. Features an encore performance of "Three Poems of L.M.Montgomery" by Kenneth Seitz.

8:00 pm: Cantata Singers; All Schütz program; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Las Ensaladas of Mateo Flecha"; Union Church, Waban.

Saturday:

7:00 pm: Somerville Community Chorus; 25th Anniversary Concert: "In Praise of Music"; First Church Somerville.

7:30 pm: Braintree Choral Society; Mozart's Missa Brevis and works by Beethoven, Morley, and Vaughan Williams; Thayer Academy Center for the Performing Arts, Braintree.

7:30 pm: Broadband; At the Beacon Coffeehouse; First Baptist Church, Newton.

8:00 pm: Back Bay Chorale; Mass in B Minor by J. S. Bach; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Cambridge Chamber Singers; "Monteverdi Madrigals (Mostly)"; Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston.

8:00 pm: Brookline Chorus; "The Heart of New England" - works by Argento, Pinkham, Thompson, and Mechem; All Saints Parish, Brookline.

8:00 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Beyond the Gamut: Chromaticism in the Renaissance"; Church of St. John the Evangelist, Boston.

8:00 pm: Spectrum Singers; "Fugure: Rising Stars!"; First Church Congregational, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Las Ensaladas of Mateo Flecha"; University Lutheran Church, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Newburyport Choral Society; "Music from the Romantic Age"; Belleville Congregational Church, Newburyport.

Sunday:

2:30 pm: Newburyport Choral Society; "Music from the Romantic Age"; Belleville Congregational Church, Newburyport.

3:00 pm: Masterworks Chorale; "The American Five: Barber, Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Ives"; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

3:00 pm: Coro Allegro; Davies' Prayers from the Ark along with music of Britten, Barber, Dinerstein, Hindemith, and The Manhattan Transfer; Church of the Covenant, Boston.

3:00 pm: Dedham Choral Society; Brahms' Requiem and Vaughan Williams' Toward the Unknown Region; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

3:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Las Ensaladas of Mateo Flecha"; First Lutheran Church, Boston.

3:00 pm: Trinity Church Choir; "A Festival of Anthems: 20th-Century English Choral Masterpieces"; Trinity Church, Boston.

4:00 pm: The Williams Chorale; Music of Mozart, Pitoni, Haydn and more; Immanuel Lutheran Church, Attleboro.

4:00 pm: Sounds of Stow Festival Chorus; "Springfest: The Works of Eric Whitacre and John Corigliano"; First Parish Church, Stow.

4:00 pm: Choral Art Society; "Earthly Delights: Songs of Land and Sea"; St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Scituate.

7:00 pm: Cambridge Chamber Singers; "Monteverdi Madrigals (Mostly)"; St. John's Episcopal Church, Arlington.

7:00 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Beyond the Gamut: Chromaticism in the Renaissance"; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline.


Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Cantilena review!

I'm delighted to say that Cantilena got quite a positive review in the Musical Intelligencer. An example of a particularly delightful quote would be: "This is Allegra Martin’s first season as director, and programming is her strong suit." W00t!

I do wish, however, that the reviewer had opinionated more! I would have liked to know her opinions of particular pieces, especially the commissioned pieces. I think perhaps reviewers are not always aware of how avidly the chorus and performers will pounce on reviews as a source of feedback; as someone whose strong suite is programming (ahem, in case anyone forgot that in the last 1.6 seconds) I find it very valuable to know which pieces people enjoyed hearing when thinking ahead to the next season.

I was very happy with the concert; everyone sang beautifully and with great energy. The one disappointment was that the recording engineer totally failed to show up, or respond to any phone calls, so we were left high and dry and did not get to record the concert. The name of that recording engineer would be Michael Breault of Dracut, by the way. JUST in case anyone wants to know!

Cantilena in the Globe!

Cantilena made the g-section of the Boston Globe today! Hurrah for getting into print media! You can see the online version of our blurb here. Don't forget to come to the concert tomorrow!

The Boston Globe also has a delightful article about the Concord Women's Chorus concert, which is happening tonight...but further down in the Classical Notes is the heart-breaking news that the Boston Secession is no more. So sad - this is an enormous loss for Boston.

Friday cat post!

Last week we had Oomi in a bag; today we have Oomi in a cupboard!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/6/10

First of all, this is a very exciting weekend for me personally. On Sunday, the chorus I direct, Cantilena, will be performing a program called "Music About Mothers: From the Divine to the Deranged." It is going to be SUPER exciting, and you should all come! I feel very invested in this concert! And we are going to be premiering a piece we commissioned by Michael Veloso, setting poetry of Rachel Barenblat! Basically, you should come, because we will have something for everybody to relate to. 7 pm, First Parish Arlington; be there or miss out!

Friday:

7:30 pm: Treble Chorus of New England; Annual Spring Concert with special guest Dance Prism; Rogers Center, Merrimack College, North Andover.

8:00 pm: The Boston Camerata; "Alexander the Great: Hero, Warrior, and Lover"; First Lutheran Church, Boston.

8:00 pm: MIT Concert Choir; Bernstein's Chichester Psalms; Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Boston Boy Choir; Duruflé's Requiem; St. Paul's Church, Cambridge.


Saturday:

7:00 pm: Paul Madore Chorale; Bizet's Carmen in concert; Wiggin Auditorium, Peabody City Hall.

7:00 pm: The deVaronistas; Spring Concert; Pleasant Street Congregational Church, Arlington.

7:30 pm: Heritage Chorale; Works by Mozart, Dvorak, and Morten Lauridsen; Wellesley Congregational Village Church.

8:00 pm: Concord Women's Chorus; 50th Anniversary Gala Concert - "American Women of Note"; First Parish Concord.

8:00 pm: Convivium; "Beyond the Gamut: Chromaticism in the Renaissance"; First Church Congregational, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: The Mastersingers of Lexington; Fauré's Requiem and Corigliano's Fern Hill; First Parish Lexington.

8:00 pm: In Choro Novo; "Soar into Spring"; Marsh Chapel, Boston University.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Highland Glee Club; Spring Concert; War Memorial Auditorium, Newton.

3:00 pm: ENC Choral Union; Haydn's Creation; Wollaston Church of the Nazarene, Quincy.

7:00 pm: Cantilena; "Music About Mothers: From the Divine to the Deranged"; First Parish Arlington. (Conducted by ME!)

7:30 pm: Quincy Choral Society; Brahms' Requiem; Sacred Heart Parish, N. Quincy.


And for G&S buffs, this is the second (and last) weekend of the MIT G&S Players' production of The Gondoliers!

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Oomi in a bag!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/29/10

Oh, it's that time of year again. Among the thousands of concerts this weekend, you should clearly prioritize the ones I'm singing in! I will be performing music from Spain with Schola Cantorum on Friday in Boston, Saturday in Providence, and Sunday in Brookline. It's a very beautiful program, and a very tight ensemble, and I hope you can make it!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; Missa Ave Maris Stella by Victoria, and works by Guerrero, Cardoso, and Lobo; Church of St. John the Evangelist, 35 Bowdoin St., Boston (right near Gov't Center.)

8:00 pm: Handel and Haydn; "Bach Portrait"; Symphony Hall, Boston.

8:00 pm: Halalisa Singers; “A Branch of May: Songs, Chants and Dances from Around the World"; First Parish Lexington.

Saturday:

6:30 pm: Mystic Chorale; 20th Anniversary Gala Bash!; Arlington Town Hall.

7:00 pm: The A Cappella Singers; "Director's Choice"; Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church, Natick.

7:30 pm: New England Classical Singers; "My Spirit Sang all Day," a collection of spirituals, gospel, and madrigals; All Saints Episcopal Church, Chelmsford.

7:30 pm: Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus and the Boston City Singers; Annual Combined Concert; St. Andrew's Church, Wellesley.

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; Missa Ave Maris Stella by Victoria, and works by Guerrero, Cardoso, and Lobo; Holy Ghost Church, Providence, RI.

8:00 pm: Neponset Choral Society; Cherubini's Requiem in c minor; St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Foxborough.

8:00 pm: Broad Cove Chorale; 35th Anniversary Concert; Inly School Arts Barn, Scituate.

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Newton Choral Society with the Boston Civic Symphony; Verdi's Requiem; Regis College, Weston.

2:00 pm: In Choro Novo; Spring Concert; Amazing Things Art Center, Framingham.

2:30 pm: The Fine Arts Chorale; All Britten concert; Old South Union Church, Weymouth.

2:30 pm: Neponset Choral Society; Cherubini's Requiem in c minor; St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Foxborough.

3:00 pm: Handel and Haydn; "Bach Portrait"; Symphony Hall, Boston.

3:00 pm: New England Classical Singers; "My Spirit Sang all Day," a collection of spirituals, gospel, and madrigals; Eliot Presbyterian Church, Lowell.

3:00 pm: The Arlington-Belmont Chorale, with the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra; Works by Rossini, Mozart, Fauré, and Schumann; First Parish Arlington.

3:00 pm: Halalisa Singers; “A Branch of May: Songs, Chants and Dances from Around the World"; First Unitarian Society of Newton.

3:00 pm: Memorial Congregational Church Festival Chorus and Bay Colony Brass; works of Rutter and Tallis; Memorial Congregational Church, Sudbury.

4:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; Missa Ave Maris Stella by Victoria, and works by Guerrero, Cardoso, and Lobo; St. Paul's Church, Brookline.

4:00 pm: MIT Concert Choir; Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem; Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge.


For opera buffs, check out the Boston Opera Collaborative's evening of light opera and musical theater "Tonight, Tonight!" For G&S buffs, check out the MIT G&S Players opening weekend of The Gondoliers and the opening weekend of Hot Mikado at the New Repertory Theater. And if you are interested in auditioning for the Christmas Revels, auditions for adults and children are May 2 and 4 - more details at the Revels website!

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Oomi says: SMELL MY FEETS!

(I don't even know, guys. My brother is the one taking the pictures, ask him.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/22/10

Well, today you get an abbreviated Concert Calendar, b/c I am busy writing my notes for the upcoming Cantilena concert. (May 9! 7 pm! First Parish Arlington!) There's a lot missing; feel free to leave it in the comments!

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Orpheus Singers; "Music of Elgar and Weelkes; Songs of Love, Nature, and the Soul"; Emmanuel Church, Boston.

8:00 pm: The Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus; Fauré's Requiem and Mendelssohn's Psalm 42; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Highland Glee Club; Spring Concert; First Baptish Church, Needham.

3:00 pm: Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus; Benefit Concert for MUSE (Music Serving Elders); Newton Presbyterian Church.

5:00 pm: Cappella Clausura; "Messa Paschale by Cozzolani"; Grace Episcopal Church, 385 Essex St., Salem.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link - The Boston Cecilia concert

Last Friday I had the very pleasant experience of hearing The Boston Cecilia's "When Britten Met Haydn" concert. I got there late (battery died, called AAA, had to get a jump, you know, the old story) so I sadly missed the first piece. But the three pieces I did hear were great! I especially enjoyed the Britten selections, which showed off tenor soloist Aaron Sheehan splendidly. He really has an amazingly pretty voice. And the chorus did wonderfully as always, performing with a great intensity, reaching out and communicating both text and emotion with the audience to a degree that was really admirable. (You can bet I will be mentioning this to my own chorus tonight in rehearsal!)

Sadly, but in these days not too shockingly, The Boston Globe did not review the concert (as far as I can tell.) But happily, there is a new site these days for classical concert reviews. The Boston Musical Intelligencer is a (somewhat new? insiders, fill me in!) site whose goal is to list and review as many classical music concerts as possible in Boston. Keep your eye on them...and check out their very positive review of Cecilia's concert. Says reviewer Brian Jones, "How can a reviewer do justice to a program and performance this fine? Presiding over the entire occasion was the generous spirit, intelligence and musicianship of Donald Teeters, one of Boston’s musical treasures." I couldn't agree more!

Caturday cat post!

Oomi has a catnip mouse!
The new mouse also has a bell.
Watch her chase it through the house,
Just as always, raising hell.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/15/10

The spring rush has begun, methinks!

Friday:

7:00 pm: Voices of Imani; Spring Concert; Trinity Chapel, Boston College, Newton.

7:30 pm: Boy Choir of the Choral Academy Dortmund; Program will include sacred works by Rathgeber, Franck, Britten and Faure, selections from several operas, and German folksongs; Trinity Episcopal Church, Concord.

8:00 pm: Boston Cecilia; "When Britten met Haydn"; All Saints Church, Brookline.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Boston Conservatory Women's Chorus; Kocsar's Missa in A and Kodaly's Quattro madrigali; Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, Boston.

8:00 pm: The Oriana Consort; "From France: Choral Celebrations ... in chants, motets, choral songs, and Requiems"; First Church in Boston.

8:00 pm: MIT Chamber Chorus; "A Musical Festschrift: Music of Samuel Barber"; Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge.

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Boston Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival; Cohen Auditorium, Tufts University, 40 Talbot Ave, Medford.

8:00 pm: Boston Conservatory Chorale; Orff's Carmina Burana and Barber's Reincarnations; Fenway Center, Boston.

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Last Thursday night I went to see the play Opus at the New Repertory Theater in Watertown. Everything I've ever seen at New Rep has been great, and this was no exception. It's a play about a string quartet, and how the members interact with each other. As a member of a quartet myself, I was very excited to see it, although considering the dysfunction of the group onstage, I'm happy to say that it didn't feel entirely familiar. But it all rang very true to life (esp. the passionate conversations about one crescendo in one particular bar) and the acting was truly excellent. This coming weekend is the last weekend, so go see it!

Here is a link to the Boston Globe review; here's a link to the Boston Globe interview with the playwright; and here's a link to buy tickets!

Friday cat post!

Oomi is enjoying the sun just as much as the rest of us - now she can lounge in the sunroom (which is rather chilly in the winter.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/8/10

The concert series that I started at my church in Cohasset is having its final concert of the season this coming Sunday. The Renaissance choir Zefiro (who I used to sing with!) is coming to do a program called "The Spirit and the Flesh." It should be a beautiful day to drive down to a beautiful town on the South Shore. *nudge*

Friday:

7:30 pm: Boys Choir of the Choral Academy Dortmund; Bach's Cantata 150 Nach dir, Herr, verlangt mich, also works by Buxtehude, Telemann and Rathgeber; First Lutheran Church of Boston.

Saturday:

9:30 am: Scott Metcalfe presents a workshop on English Renaissance music; Trinity Episcopal Church, Concord.

7:30 pm: Youth pro Musica and Treble Chorus of New England; World premiere of Kinderkreuzzug ("The Children's Crusade"), by Ralf Gawlick; St. Ignatius Church, Boston College, Chestnut Hill.

7:30 pm: New England Classical Singers; "My Spirit Sang All Day"; Old Town Hall, Andover.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Chanticleer!!!; Celebrity Series of Boston; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

3:00 pm: Youth pro Musica and Treble Chorus of New England; World premiere of Kinderkreuzzug ("The Children's Crusade"), by Ralf Gawlick; Trinity Episcopal Church, Concord.

3:30 pm: The Oriana Consort; "From France: Choral Celebrations ... in chants, motets, choral songs, and Requiems”; Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, Cambridge.

4:00 pm: Pilgrim Festival Chorus; Handel's Judas Maccabaeus; The Church of the Pilgrimage, Plymouth.

4:00 pm: Zefiro Ensemble; "The Spirit and the Flesh: Music by Palestrina, Monteverdi, and Duruflé"; First Parish Cohasset.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

It's been crazy times over at Longy recently, from what I hear - lots of changes. And here's a huge one - Longy might become part of Bard College?

Longy insiders, share your opinions on where the school is headed!

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to share the quote in this morning's order of service at my church. It was written by our minister, Jan Carlsson-Bull, and it really touched me, so I thought I would share.

“Easter is about our readiness to be astonished that the stones of our tombs, whatever form those tombs take, have been rolled away and there we are holding hope when we thought all was lost.”

It is a picture-perfect Easter day here, sunny and warm and exceedingly beautiful. And I am proud and relieved to report that all the music this morning went excellently well. Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Friday cat post!

This week's post features a returning guest star, Toby. Toby is the cat that lives next door to my mother and father in Austin, and he is fond of coming over for visits, and insisting that he has never been fed. This visit occurred a little over a week ago.

"Hello. I've come for a visit. Would you let me in?"

"No, really. I insist. I'll wait."

"Hm, you don't seem to understand. Perhaps I can manage this door myself."

"Well, as long as I'm here, I might as well mark it as my territory."

"Finally. Thank you. What's for tea?"

(The full story actually involves Toby trying to slice off the screen to get through, getting his claw stuck in the screen, and having my mother open the door to rescue him, at which point he sauntered in. Hey, whatever works.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/1/10

It's Easter weekend! Go hear the BSO perform Mendelssohn's Elijah, and if you are a church-goer, go see what your music director has cooked up for Easter. And enjoy the fact that spring and Easter seem to have coincided!

Monday link and announcement

Time for puns! Hat-tip to my father, and to the Musical Assumptions blog, which has one of the more lengthy and painfully punny versions floating around.

Also, Juventas, a Boston-based new music group, is looking for some volunteers.

Friday cat post!

Why yes. Yes I did shred these paper towels. Why do you ask?

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/25/10

It's a rather lopsided week; barely anything on Friday, tons of stuff on Saturday, the usual amount of things on Sunday. Special shout-out to the Williams College Elizabethans, my old college group, who will be in town on their spring tour!

Friday:

4:00 pm: The Williams College Elizabethans; Spring Tour Concert; Harvey Wheeler Community Center, Concord.

8:00 pm: Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum; works by Haydn, Monteverdi, and Schütz; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Saturday:

Saturday is SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day! Click here for a link to lists of events in the greater Boston area.

3:00 pm: Master Singers of Lexington, with the Clarke Middle School Choruses; "Friendship"; Clarke Middle School, Lexington.

3:00 pm: Boston Children's Chorus; "The Human Spirit: A Choral Drama"; Bethel AME Church, Jamaica Plain.

4:00 pm: The Williams College Elizabethans; Spring Tour Concert; Plymouth Congregational Church, Belmont.

6:00 pm: Fine Arts Chorale; "Swing into Spring!" Chorale Fundraiser; Weymouth Elks Lodge.

7:30 pm: Boston University Choral Ensembles; works by Rautuvaara, Paulus, Copland, Chesnokoff, Britten, Hamlin and more; BU CFA Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Ave, Boston. With special guests the Lubbock, TX High School Choir.

7:30 pm: Needham High School A Cappella groups, with guests The Duke's Men of Yale and Duwende of NYC; 2nd Annual Vocal Support; Needham High School.

8:00 pm: Cappella Clausura; "Messa Paschale," works by Cozzolani, Leonarda, Cesis, and more; Parish of the Messiah, Newton.

8:00 pm: The Tallis Scholars; Music by the Franco-Flemish masters Compère, Mouton, Gombert, and Josquin; St. Paul Church, Cambridge. (Presented by BEMF.)

8:00 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "We the People"; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

8:00 pm: The Unicorn Singers; "Shakespeare in Song"; Hingham House of Prayer.

Sunday:

2:00 pm: All A Cappella Live!; WERS hosts a battle of collegiate a cappella groups; Emerson Majestic Theatre, Boston.

3:00 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "We the People"; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

5:00 pm: King's Chapel Choir; "Music from the Court of Christian IV of Denmark and Norway," including songs by Dowland, Schütz, Pedersøn, Schattenberg and more; King's Chapel, Boston.

7:00 pm: Old North Church choir; Annual Lenten Choral Concert, including Duruflé's Requiem, Allegri's Miserere, and Barber's The Crucifixion; Old North Church, Marblehead.

7:30 pm: Belmont Open Sings; Brahms' Requiem; Payson Park Church, Belmont. Scores will be provided, or bring your own.

7:30 pm: Northeastern Choral Society and Orchestra; Carmina Burana; The Fenway Center of Northeastern University, 77 Saint Stephen Street, Boston.

8:00 pm: Harvard University Choir and Baroque Chamber Orchestra; Bach's St. John Passion; Harvard Memorial Church, Cambridge.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Belatedly, an interesting article about a musical link between Haiti and Boston.

Friday cat post!

Cat-in-the-box!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/19/10

Whoops, forgot to do the concert calendar yesterday evening. Hectic day. Well, have a partial concert calendar - that's better than nothing, right? I know for a fact, more than usual, that there are things missing from this list, so please leave more concert info in the comments!

One reason for that is I have a concert of my own this weekend, so I've been distracted. If you're on the South Shore on Sunday afternoon, come hear my group Anthology at First Parish Cohasset at 4 pm!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Zefiro; "Sacred/Salacious," music by Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Duruflé; St. Stephen's Church, Providence, RI.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Musica Sacra; "The Spirit is Still Speaking: Choral Music of the Modern Era;" First Church Congregational, Cambridge. Includes a world premiere commissioned for Musica Sacra's 50th anniversary by the well-known Jan Sandström. (There is a joke in my family that when we were kids, and our parents would say that a person was famous, someone would then say, "Yes, but are they world-famous?" For the record, Sandström is world-famous.)

8:00 pm: Convergence; "Convergence in Concert," contemplative a cappella works including Tallis, Monteverdi, Pärt, and Tavener; Church of St. John the Evangelist, Boston.

8:00 pm: Zefiro; "Sacred/Salacious," music by Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Duruflé; Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill.


Sunday:

3:00 pm: Seraphim Singers; "Music of the New World" (works by Bermudez, Ginastera, Sumaya, and Villa Lobos); Mission Church, Boston.

3:00 pm: Polymnia; "Words of Wisdom and Love" (settings of Hebrew texts); Melrose Middle School.

3:00 pm: Zefiro; "Sacred/Salacious," music by Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Duruflé; The Nave Gallery, Clarendon Hill Church, Somerville.

4:00 pm: Anthology (that is, ME!); "A Concert of American Folk and Jazz"; First Parish Cohasset.

4:00 pm: The New England Federation of Men's Glee Clubs presents The Apollo Club of Boston, The Highland Glee Club, and the Saengerfest Men's Chorus; "Sing into Spring! A Festival of Men's Chorus Music"; Regis College Casey Theater, Weston.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

You think dogs are intent when they watch you eat? You have no idea.
This is Oomi watching my brother eat breakfast.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/11/10

The big event this week is the Boston Jewish Music Festival. For a complete list of events, see their website - there is lots of choral stuff!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Cantata Singers; Poulenc's Mass in G, Stravinsky's Mass, and works by Monteverdi and Schütz; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Back Bay Chorale; Handel's Israel in Egypt; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Blue Heron Renaissance Choir; "Song of Songs / Songs of Love;" First Church Cambridge.

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Quincy Choral Society; "Musical Americana; A Salute to Our 50 States" (free concert and silent auction); Sacred Heart School, North Quincy.

3:00 pm: Arlington-Belmont Chorale and the Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus; "An Almost Spring Evening - Works by Chesnakov, Dvorak, Vaughan Williams, and a world premiere by Kenneth Seitz"; First Parish Arlington.

3:00 pm: Masterworks Chorale; Verdi's Requiem; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

4:00 pm: Chorus Pro Musica, Zamir Chorale and the New England Philharmonic; Ernest Bloch's Sacred Service, and a world premiere by Andrew Rindfliesch; John Hancock Hall, Boston. (This is the culminating event of the Boston Jewish Music Festival.)

4:00 pm: Seraphim Singers; "Music of the New World" (works by Bermudez, Ginastera, Sumaya, and Villa Lobos); United Church of Christ, Medfield.

5:30 pm: Exsultemus; "Music of Dresden" (works by Heinichen, Zelenka, and Schütz); First Lutheran Church, Boston.


Also, on Monday you can hear the Hamilton College Choir at Old South Church at 7:30 pm. On Thursday you can go to the 21st Annual Project Manna concert at Temple Emanuel in Newton; several choirs will be singing, and proceeds support Project Manna, a hot meals program and food pantry.

And this is not strictly choral, but it is beautiful music for a good cause: the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Boston is hosting a benefit concert for Haiti on Wednesday, March 17 at 5:30 pm. There is a wonderful lineup of singers and instrumentalists; this concert promises to be a good time for a charitable goal.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Oomi really, really wants to play with the window blind cord.

Also, a little extracurricular reading for cat lovers! (From a blog I love and recommend, Shakesville, although it is a high-post-frequency site that can get a little overwhelming. Hat tip to my brother.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/4/10

This time around we have something for you nearly every day of the week!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Boston Choral Ensemble; "Settings of the Tenebrae service," including Paul Crabtree’s Tenebræ Responsories on Songs by Bob Dylan; First Church Congregational, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: The Boston Camerata; "The Maria Monologies;" First Lutheran Church, Boston.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society, with special guests the Spelman College Glee Club; Spring Choral Concert, featuring music of Tomkins, Mendelssohn,
Schubert, Barber, Stravinsky and Carter; Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Spectrum Singers; "Music You (and We) Love! Favorite Masterworks from Three Centuries, Selected by Our Audience and Performers;" First Church Congregational, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Endicott College Singers; "Why I Sing: A Celebration of Women Composers and Song," including the world premiere of "Why I Sing" by Elizabeth Alexander; Rose Performance Hall, Beverly.

Sunday:

2:30 pm: Boston Choral Ensemble; "Settings of the Tenebrae service," including Paul Crabtree’s Tenebræ Responsories on Songs by Bob Dylan; Old South Church, Boston.

3:00 pm: Brookline Chorus; Brahms' Requiem; All Saints Parish, Brookline.

3:00 pm: Newton Choral Society; Ralph Vaughan Williams' Mass in G and Five Tudor Portraits; Second Church in Newton.


And on Monday, you have several options! First off, you can hear the Duke University Chorale at First Baptist Church in Newton. They are going to be singing "An Evening of Joy and Generosity," and proceeds benefit Haiti earthquake relief. Please also bring canned and dry goods for the Newton Food Pantry.

Also on Monday, the Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus will join with the University of Virginia Glee Club and the Wellesley College Choir. This concert will be at 7:30 pm at the Wellesley College Houghton Memorial Chapel in Wellesley.

Moving into the week, you can hear the Gettysburg College Chorus on 7 pm on Tuesday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Salem; and on Thursday, the Tufts' Choruses will perform the best-loved choral music from five centuries as selected by Tufts students.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

(Late-night) Monday link

Interesting article in the Globe about a singing class for seniors.

Also, happy birthday Chopin!

Caturday cat post!

Well, CERTAIN PEOPLE didn't send me a cat picture this week, but luckily I found this neglected .jpg sitting in my inbox.

I call this one "The Maw."

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/25/10

The weather outside may be frightful, but should that stop you from supporting local live music? Absolutely not! Especially when you can support Haiti at the same time; see details under Friday's listings.

Friday:

8:00 pm: First Church Boston; "Du fond de ma pensee: a concert to benefit earthquake relief efforts in Haiti"; First Church Boston. This concert will feature Renaissance choral works by Goudimel and le Jeune, new works by Henning and Serpa, and a performance of Bach’s Cantata 131: Aus der Tiefe with soloists, chorus and an orchestra of period instruments.

8:00 pm: Mount Holyoke Chamber Choir; works by Messiaen, Karg-Elert, Caplet, and others; Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston.


Saturday:

3:00 pm: Boston Jazz Voices; A cappella jazz and swing from the Great American Songbook; Belmont Public Library.

7:30 pm: PALS Children's Chorus; "Gala Reception: Food, Wine, and Singing in Support of PALS;" First Parish Brookline. (This is part of the PALS 20th-anniversary weekend festivities; their concert is on Sunday.)

8:00 pm: Mystic Chorale; "Mystic Chorale Celebrates Gospel" (annual gospel concert); Converse Hall, Tremont Temple, Boston.

8:00 pm: The Master Singers of Lexington; "Pops! Locomotion"; First Parish Lexington.


Sunday:

3:00 pm: Mystic Chorale; "Mystic Chorale Celebrates Gospel" (annual gospel concert); Converse Hall, Tremont Temple, Boston.

3:00 pm: Sounds of Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra; Duruflé's Requiem, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, and Britten's Concerto for Violin; Hale Middle School, Stow.

3:00 pm: PALS Children's Chorus; "I Remember the Song: Celebrating 20 Years of PALS;" Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Oomi is stalking the camera!

My brother says this is a picture of "Oomi stalking...badly," but although it's true that one doesn't often have success with pouncing on people staring directly at you the whole time, at least she has the idea of camouflage down, right?

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/18/10

The big event of my weekend is that the award-winning jazz quartet Syncopation is coming to do a concert at my church, First Parish Cohasset! I know it's a hike for Boston residents, but Syncopation is well worth it. And please spread the word to any South Shore friends you might have! 4 pm on Sunday, 23 North Main St., Cohasset!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Boston Baroque; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

Saturday:

2:00 pm: University Chorale of Boston College; Winter Concert; Church of St. Ignatius, Chestnut Hill.

7:30 pm: Boston Harmony; Lotti's Mass, as well as music from South Africa, Georgia, Bulgaria, Corsica, and American shape-note and gospel tunes; First Church Congregational, Cambridge.

7:30 pm: Choral Art Society; "Fifth Annual Cabaret au Chocolat;" St. Mary of the Nativity Parish Center, Scituate Harbor.

7:30 pm: Syncopation and Boston Jazz Voices; "Eighth Annual A Cappella Night"; Rogers Center, Merrimack College, North Andover.

8:00 pm: Boston Baroque; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Wellesley College Chamber Singers and the Lehigh University Glee Club; Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna; Houghton Chapel and Multifaith Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley.

4:00 pm: Syncopation; Syncopation at the Meetinghouse Concert Series; First Parish Cohasset.

5:30 pm: Exsultemus; "Baroque Cantatas of Leipzig; Music of Schelle, Kuhnau and J. S. Bach;" First Lutheran Church, Boston.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

I am always amused by the fact that the one place to go for hearing classical works online is Youtube. You often can't get a recording just as an audio file; but you can get lots of them as video files! With frequently crazy visuals.

One of my favorite* choral pieces is Rheinberger's "Abendlied."

Here it is by the Cambridge Singers, with a very neat video where you can follow along with the score.



And here it is by the King's Singers. There are numerous other nice versions on Youtube, but mostly they are live, so the sound quality isn't as good.

*Of which there are hundreds, let us be clear.

Friday cat post!

My brother captioned this one: "Oomi looking regal, surveying her domain."

Also, I am mentioning this a little late, but the Boston Globe had a very nice piece on Boston cat-about-town Kenmore! He has a very nice photo spread in the Globe, and quite a story.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/11/10

Happy Valentine's Day weekend! There are a couple of awesome concerts this week to give you a mid-February pep-up; and some of them even have nothing to do with Valentine's Day.

Friday:

8:00 pm: Handel & Haydn Society; "Zest for Love"; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston. (I have to say that this program looks fantastic! Madrigal geeks take note! Take a peek at a list of the songs here, and the program notes here. This program will also be done on Sunday; see below.)

8:00 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "Love Bites: A Chorus Cabaret"; Club Cafe, Boston.

Saturday:

7:30 pm: NEC Millenium Gospel Choir; "Thomas A. Dorsey Gospel Jubilee 2010"; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

7:30 pm: Boston Cecilia; "Love is the Air"; All Saints Parish, Brookline. (Jessica Cooper sings a variety of love songs in this fundraiser for the chorus.)

8:00 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "Love Bites: A Chorus Cabaret"; Club Cafe, Boston.

8:00 pm: L'Académie; "(S)he's Just Not That into You: Love songs (and more) from seventeenth-century England and Italy"; Marsh Chapel, BU, Boston.

Sunday:

1:00 pm: Tufts University community, including the Tufts Gospel Choir and the Beelzebubs; "To Haiti with Love; A Benefit Concert from Tufts University"; Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University, Medford.

3:00 pm: NEC Millenium Gospel Choir; "Thomas A. Dorsey Gospel Jubilee 2010"; Jordan Hall, NEC, Boston.

3:00 pm: Handel & Haydn Society; "Zest for Love"; Old South Church, Boston.

3:00 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "Love Bites: A Chorus Cabaret"; Club Cafe, Boston.


And next Tuesday, check out the Noesis Vocal Quartet singing Britten and Copland at 12:15 pm at King's Chapel, Boston. (The concert will be 45 min. - perfect for a lunchtime break!)

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

A Prokofiev piece called "Music for Athletic Exercises" that was discovered in 2004 will be given its New York premiere Tuesday night. More info from NPR.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/5/10

Hm...haven't been keeping up so well with the concert calendars lately! This week's is late, and last week's just didn't happen. Oh, well, I'll try to jump back on the bandwagon.

This week you should definitely check out the Schola Cantorum concerts, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in which I am singing!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; "Josquin des Pres's Missa Gaudeamus, and
motets of Obrecht, Ockeghem, and Poulenc"; Church of St. John the Evangelist, Boston.

7:30 pm: BU Choral Ensembles; Mozart's Vesperae Solennes De Confessore and Bach's Missa in A major; CFA Concert Hall, BU, Boston.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; "Josquin des Pres's Missa Gaudeamus, and
motets of Obrecht, Ockeghem, and Poulenc"; St. Joseph's Church, Providence, RI.

7:30 pm: Heritage Chorale; "A Night at the Theatre"; Nevins Hall, Memorial Building, Framingham.

7:30 pm: Calliope; "Movie and Media Works: To Benefit Forbes House Museum"; Old West Church, Boston.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Schola Cantorum; "Josquin des Pres's Missa Gaudeamus, and
motets of Obrecht, Ockeghem, and Poulenc"; St. Paul's Church, Brookline.

4:00 pm: New England Classical Singers; "The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore Dubois"; Holy Rosary Church, Lawrence.

7:30 pm: Belmont Open Sings; Mozart's Vesperae Solennes De Confessore; Payson Park Church, Belmont.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

What is this mysterious creature behind the blinds? A bird? A plane? A miniature dinosaur?
A boa constrictor digesting an elephant?


Oh.

Background to the picture: my brother says, "While I was going through these photos to pick the ones to send you, Oomi was sitting in my lap the whole time, purring. Then she saw a photo of herself on the computer and got up to paw at the photo on the screen. But her other paw was on the touchpad and kept zooming it in and out and she got confused."

Monday link

It's Grammy time!

Here is the list of all classical winners. (It's extremely interesting to go and look at who the nominees were, especially if you are looking to build your CD collection.)

Winners of note* to choral artists:

Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance:
Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors

Best Opera Recording:
Britten: Billy Budd
Daniel Harding, conductor; Ian Bostridge, Neal Davies, Nathan Gunn, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose & Gidon Saks

Best Small Ensemble Performance:
Lang, David: The Little Match Girl Passion
Paul Hillier, conductor; Ars Nova Copenhagen & Theatre Of Voices

*Ha! See what I did there? Of "note"? That's why they pay me the big bucks, people!...wait a minute...

Friday cat post!

Oomi crouches in a fort made out of a blanket and a footstool.

Ah, the days when I crouched in forts made of blankets. *is nostalgic* There were some epic forts with large pillows, various pieces of furniture, and I think we even had light sources inside so we could read. Oomi is clearly a tyro at the fort-building thing; I look forward to future efforts. Perhaps involving boxes?

Audition for Cantilena!

So, one of the groups I direct is Cantilena. They are a women's chorus based in Arlington, and I am having a great time directing them. They are a sharp group with a great sound and a wonderful sense of humor (thankfully!) and I am able to have them do all kinds of crazy music. This spring our concert falls on Mother's Day, so we are doing all sorts of music about mothers, from Durufle's "Tota Pulchra Es" to Irving Fine's "Caroline Million" (which is about a mother with filicidal impulses) to Eric Whitacre's beautiful "Seal Lullaby" to Zae Munn's "The Stove" ("One day my mother took a sledgehammer and pounded the kitchen stove into bits.") And let's not forget a brand new commission by local composer and friend Mike Veloso (a setting of poetry by not-quite-as-local writer, liturgist and friend Rachel Barenblat.)

Doesn't that look like fun? Wouldn't you like to sing with us? Wouldn't you especially like to sing with us if you are a high soprano? Well, we are having one more day of auditions, this coming Monday evening, and we would love to collect a few more voices. We are open to hearing all voice parts, but we are especially looking for high sopranos. So pass this around and come on down!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/21/09

Well, this is getting up slightly later than usual...but since I don't have anything for Friday, that shouldn't greatly affect your plans!

Saturday:

9:30 am - 2:00 pm: Boston Secession Choral Workshop. For more information, click here.

4:00 pm: Voices Rising; "Where the Heart Is" - music about the idea of home; Congregational Church of Needham.

7:00 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Counter Reformation: Musical Responses to a Crisis of Faith"; Cambridge Friends Meeting House.

8:00 pm: Halalisa Singers; "Bound for Glory: Songs of the Journey"; First Parish Unitarian Universalist, Lexington.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Halalisa Singers; "Bound for Glory: Songs of the Journey"; First Church Unitarian, Littleton.

5:00 pm: King's Chapel Concert Series (featuring the King's Chapel Choir); "A Celebration of Psalms"; King's Chapel, Boston. (Includes three world premieres!)

5:30 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Counter Reformation: Musical Responses to a Crisis of Faith"; St. Stephen's Church, Providence, RI.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Oomi decides to...impersonate the Virgin Mary?

Monday link

This past weekend, both Frederica von Stade and Chanticleer were on A Prairie Home Companion. Check them out!

I recommend in particular the clips at 5:00 and 29:00. You might need to be Minnesotan to truly appreciate the first one.

Hat tip to friend HH!

Friday cat post!

Oomi climbs down a wall. She is a shiny, shiny kitty!


I had trouble understanding the architecture in this picture. This is taken in my brother's basement; this is a portion of wall that is covered with carpet. It meets the ceiling but there's a 6 inch or so ledge at the top, where Oomi likes to perch. After the wall stops at the top then there's the ledge (and then there's insulation and cement.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/14/09

Here it is, your weekend concert calendar! There is lots of stuff for you to enjoy this MLK weekend.

Friday:

8:00 pm: Cornell University Glee Club; classical and contemporary men's choral music; Old South Church, Boston.

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Lamentations: settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah from England, France, Italy, and Mexico"; Union Church of Waban, Newton.

8:00 pm: Cantata Singers; Duruflé's Requiem, and works by Harbison and Schütz; First Church Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Lexington Pops Chorus; Schubert's Mass in G, selections from Fiddler on the Roof, and more; Hancock Church, Lexington.

Saturday:

7:30 pm: Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center presents the Harlem Gospel Choir; "Joyful Noise Gospel Concert," celebrating the life of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Sanders Theatre, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Lamentations: settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah from England, France, Italy, and Mexico"; University Lutheran Church, Harvard Square, Cambridge.

8:00 pm: Coro Stella Maris; "Fairest Isle; Music of Purcell and Britten"; Grace Episcopal Church, Salem.

8:00 pm: Lexington Pops Chorus; Schubert's Mass in G, selections from Fiddler on the Roof, and more; Hancock Church, Lexington.

Sunday:

3:00 pm: Boston Commmunity Choir; Celebrating the life of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Ahavath Torah Congregation, Stoughton.

3:00 pm: Coro Stella Maris; "Fairest Isle; Music of Purcell and Britten"; St. John's Episcopal Church, Gloucester.

3:00 pm: Exsultemus; "Lamentations: settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah from England, France, Italy, and Mexico"; First Lutheran Church, Boston.

4:00 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Counter Reformation: Musical Responses to a Crisis of Faith"; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline.

Monday:

7:00 pm: Boston Children's Chorus; "From a Child's Mind: The 7th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert"; NEC's Jordan Hall, Boston.

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

According to Wikipedia, a "flash mob" is: "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse." If you look on YouTube, you can find a number of flash mobs that revolve around dance routines in public (train stations are a favorite.) One of the more famous is the T-Mobile publicity stunt in the Liverpool street station, although Wikipedia says that the term "flash mob" does not properly refer to publicity stunts staged by corporations.

Well, opera has finally jumped on the bandwagon! Hat tip to my uncle for the link.

Friday cat post!

Look at the demure little kitty in front of the heater.



But wait, what's that on her coat? Let's go in closer.



Pine needles! A smoking gun!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/7/10

I have only ONE thing for you this weekend. Which is sad for you, but after December, it's rather a relief for me.

Besides, sometimes life is easier with fewer choices! ALL the readers of this blog can go to this one concert! You can all sit together. Oh, except how will you recognize each other? OK, everyone wear a rainbow-colored hat. Got it? Good!

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Cappella Clausura; "A Chantar: The Greek Connection"; Forsyth Chapel, Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain.

Audition time!

It's a new year, and that means auditions!

Cantilena, my own group, is holding auditions for the next two Mondays. Come join us for rehearsal; auditions will be held afterwards. I'll do a brief range check, a pitch-matching exercise, a little sight-reading, and then we'll have you sing either the selection of your choice or "America the Beautiful." More details on our website! We are looking especially for high sopranos or low altos.

I have also received a special request from a friend who sings with Chorus pro Musica to post about their auditions. They have added another audition date, Saturday January 9. Auditions are by appointment between 1 and 4 pm, and there are openings for all voice parts except soprano. Auditions will be at Old South Church in Boston. Information on how to schedule an audition, and what the audition will entail can be found at their website.

For more information, check out the Greater Boston Choral Consortium's audition page, or the Boston Globe's online calendar (check the classical music listings.)

New Year's cat post!

Last week, someone was knocking all the ornaments off my brother and sister-in-law's tree.

"What are you looking at me like that for? You think I did this?"


"I can't believe you would just leap to conclusions like that. All I would ever do is sit peacefully under the tree. See? Hmph."