Updates from the road; the story of a traveling singer.
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2006
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New woodworking photos here.
 

April 2, 2008 YouTube channel
You can find me on YouTube on my own channel.  Check it out, things are being added as I can come up with them.  Also check out Cantus' work, you can find it on my page under favorites.

March 8, 2008 Recording All is Calm

All is Calm
was a huge success this season.  (See blog archive here.)  Having been broadcast on MPR to rave reviews, Cantus, Theater Latte Da and MPR have teamed up to get a recording down faster than any of us could have on our own!  The actors have recorded their portions, Cantus has finished recording our portions, and now it is time to make the disk.  The show has so much dialogue over underscoring from Cantus or pasts that rapidly move among the actors and the singers both spoken and sung as well as having to pay people to sit around as other parts are being recorded (Cantus does many takes before we are happy!) made this a particularly difficult session.  I think the final product will be very nice; the show is fantastic and both the actors and Cantus performed very well for the mics.  Check out the short video above put together from takes of the title track All is Calm (an arrangement of Silent Night in 3 of the languages you would have heard in the trenches by Cantus Artistic Director Erick Lichte)...keep your ears open for the awesome low note at the end!

 March 5, 2008 Recording for Documentary
Today was really a fun new experience!  Public Television is doing a documentary on the choral scene in the twin cities and naturally Cantus was involved.  After a short interview about our trip to Africa and other recent endeavors, we got to the singing.  Standard Cantus rep, but this time with a few cameras on us and a person riding around on their cool little cart that seemed to have 40 joints so it could easily and smoothly move in any direction and any angle at any time...ok, you get the idea.  I have done other on camera work, but this was the first time I saw the process from set up to break down.  More news on the program when I know more.

February 26, 2008  Time to go
Many know already, but it is official, after four years, this will be my last.  There is still plenty of work ahead before I am done this summer but following this spectacular season, it is time for something new.  Like all good things, they come to an end, and for me that time is this season.  There is plenty in the works for next season that makes it tempting to stay (besides the salary and benefits!) but to paraphrase Al, a former Cantus tenor, "There is always going to be exciting stuff, if you need to go, you need to just go and not think twice."  (Side note, congratulations to him, he is a new daddy!)  Time to get back to enjoying the rest of this season and get some plans in place for what's next.

February 18, 2008 The Semi's
To get right to the point, I didn't make the finals.  Am I upset?  No.  For my first attempt at ANY competition these results have been great.  Besides, I got to sing on stage a the Met and let me be the first to say...acoustics can be a man's best friend.  I have sung in many great halls around this country but none compare to the Met.  For a place of such size (nearly 4000 seats) it had the sound of a mid size concert hall (around 1000 seats), particularly those of a box design such as Sauder Hall at Goshen College and Stude Hall at Rice University.  There was plenty of feedback on stage and I didn't feel the need to over sing (which was my main concern going in).  The weekend was really fun, the hotel was nice, the meetings/coachings  were informative and frank yet very encouraging and friendly.  A large congratulations to the finalists! In the photo below are my three mentors over the years, from left to right, John David DeHaan, me, JoEllen Miano, and Norman Bailey.

February 12, 2008 Beautiful venue on a beautiful campus
Well, late afternoon on Saturday the Idaho Dept. of Transportation website showed that one of the two routes to the airport had been opened so off I ran...I tossed my sheets in the laundry, packed (no folding this time!) and ran out the door to ensure the mountain pass didn't close again before I could cross.  I made it without a problem thanks in part to the huge snow removal machines that were cutting swaths in the drifts that looked the same as when rock is cut through to keep a road flat!  It definitely made for an exciting drive.  After one night at a truly nasty hotel (hotels.com didn't make it seem that way) and a  few hour delay waiting for flight crew I made it to Houston for an exciting show at Rice University. The very well established chamber series Houston Friends of Music is a wonderful organization who consistently hosts the world's top chamber musicians in Stude Concert hall on the beautiful campus of Rice University.

February 7, 2008 No better place to be snowed in.
Being completely snowed in is never fun, but there are few places that I could imagine would not drive me crazy.  Luckily, this week I have been at one of those places.  Back in Idaho again to do some coaching for the upcoming semi-finals of the Met Competition, and I am stuck.  Seriously.  All three highways to leave this valley have been closed since I got here Saturday night (it started snowing as I got in around midnight).  It is now Thursday and only once have I left the house.  We needed groceries and had to leave soon after the driveway was plowed and return before it drifted over again.  I am estimating that time to be around 3 hours.  The roads/driveway (which is the real problem since it is 300 yds long and as 1.5 miles back on a dirt road) are getting cleared and it is ok when they are, but the strong wind has been drifting the snow like mad.  You can see some of the cool designs that have been created around the house in these photos.  I walked to the end of the driveway earlier today and some parts where nearly clear, other parts 3-4' deep.  I have to be at the airport on Saturday to join Cantus in Texas for tour so I hope this storm finished up soon!  I wouldn't think that 56 more hours wouldn't be enough time, but we are now on day 4 of the "snow in" and it hasn't changed a bit so my faith is waning at the moment.

January 19, 2008 I won again!
I can't believe it.  I won again.  I was one of three first place winners at this year's Upper Midwest Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  Along with a cash prize, the three of us won spots in the semi-final competition February 17, on stage at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC.  What an honor this is.  The competition was top notch this year, exemplified by three of us moving on (most often only two move on and sometimes only one is deemed appropriate by the judges).  It was a low voice day, the other winners being (pictured below at a recording session, left to right, myself last) Kyle Albertson, bass-baritone and Cory Renbarger, baritone.  Luckily, we are all competing against the judges, not necessarily against each other, so the competition stays friendly.  On February 14th, we will travel to NY along with the other 23 semifinalists from around the country and begin prep for another round of competition on February 17th.
I was really excited to go to the after party (although I had to leave before dinner and the concert in order to attend a reunion for those of us who went to Africa this fall) which was held at the James J. Hill house in St. Paul.  Located on the historical Summit Ave. this house was built by the railroad tycoon James G. Hill and was amazing to tour...more so because of my interest in woodworking.  This home is FILLED, floor to ceiling in many rooms with beautiful work from craftsmen generations ago.

January 4, 2008, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
The holidays are over, but I am still on break.  After a nice quick trip back to NY to visit family I headed down to Mexico to spend some time relaxing and visiting with new friends and family.  I spent new years at a ranch in Madera, Mexico which was somewhat remote, not at all quiet but a ton of fun!  Dinner was the head of a bull.  That's right.  The whole head.  I had some taquitos from the cheek which were fantastic but passed on the more gooey parts of the meal.  The food on the trip was really fantastic (keep in mind I wasn't in Cabo or Cancun, this was true Mexico) and some of the drinks I had were to die for especially, michelada (a medium colored maybe an amber or lager with salt and three limes) and cubana (same amber beer but this time with a spicy tomato mix, pepper and Tabasco).  Plenty of play time during the week but now I am in Idaho gearing up for the regional finals of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions later in the month.  It is wonderful to be in this beautiful valley again and especially to see Kristine Ciesinski and Norman Bailey with whom I have studied for years but haven't seen for nearly 18 months.

 

 

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