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December 23, 2007 All is Calm
Review
The reviews are in and All is Calm was
an overwhelming success. There could not have been a better
close to an amazing fall season. Four of the five performances
were sold out (the only one that didn't was close and in the middle
of a snow storm) totaling almost three thousand viewers in just
three days. Yes,
Cantus and the actors did
their work very well and yes, the arrangements by
Erick Lichte and
Tim Takach were beautiful and
yes,
Peter Rothstein's work was fantastic, but
really, the success was based upon the naked beauty of
this story at time of year. I joked with someone between
performances this weekend saying, "You have to be one heartless
S.O.B. to not have this story touch you at some point in the
evening." Its true. With all the stories of war and
peace this one stands out as a moment in history that is truly
inspiring and probably will never be repeated.
There is much hype surrounding the show now. It is archived on
MPR so you can
listen here. The dialogue has
begun to get the show recorded for sale as well as broadcast
nationally on American Public Media (NPR).
The
Guthrie Theater is considering picking it up
for a run next season and it is already being sold nation wide
through our management
Alliance Artists Management.
However, perhaps the nicest testimony I heard all weekend was from
one happy concertgoer who told me "I hope this becomes the new
Nutcracker." Well, that tradition dates back more than a
century so I think we have some time! Read reviews here,
1,
2,
3.
December 20, 2007 All is Calm
Preview
 Back at home the whirlwind continues.
We have been rehearsing non-stop for this weekends premiere of our
collaboration with
Theater Latte Da. The
piece, entitled All is calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914,
tells the little known and wonderful story of a Christmas truce that
happened the first year of WW1 at many spots along the western
front. The story is told by three actors using ONLY source
material; letters to and from soldiers, official documents, and many
other types of written history that was compiled and edited by award
winning director
Peter Rothstein. It is
clearly documented that music was a crucial part of this truce with
many songs, such as Silent Night, being sung in many
languages; the Germans Stille Nacht ,the French Douce Nuit.
CANTUS plays a key role in this story, singing nearly 30 different
pieces, some as underscore to dialogue, some as complete
arrangements meant as concert material. The piece is gaining
quite a bit of
press in the twin cities and surely
will be a success. Tomorrow morning, at 1030am, the piece is
premiered, LIVE, on
Minnesota Public Radio.
All or nothing...here goes!
December 17, 2007 Tour with the
Boston Pops, Part 4
 Well, the tour is over, the reviews
are in and all is well in CANTUS/Tom land. I truly hope to do
a tour with them again...maybe next time narrating The Grinch
on more than just the tour stops!
Our final performance, at the
New Jersey Performing
Arts Center (new and beautful!) was a hoot for a number of
reasons. First, our flights out of Boston that morning were
cancelled due to snow. Ok, no problem, the Pops prevail and
find a way to purchase 150 tickets on Amtrak on two hours notice.
 Hum...the show is scheduled at 7:05 and our train is scheduled to
arrive at 6:50. No problem, NJPAC will delay the show till
8:05 (which made some of the patrons quite on edge when they showed
up early for a 7:05 show only to stand around for even longer.)
Wait, my girlfriend and her aunt are arriving at 4pm from MN and I
was supposed to be there to introduce them to my parents at the
hotel...well, have fun, call me on my cell if you need! Oh,
and our train was late so we actually arrived at the station in
Newark around 7:10 pm, funneled onto three waiting buses and had a
police escort to the hall where the stage was quickly set, sound
checked, CD's set up, suits on and off we roll to a sold out house
of welcoming fans! 8 people from my family were in the front
row for my final reading of The Grinch and they can consider
this a formal apology for the spit...I warned them that stage
diction can get messy.
December 12, 2007 Tour with the
Boston Pops, Part 3
 By now almost everyone in my family
has seen the show. Even many of my extended family have made
their way into one or more of the arenas! Though the venues
are large, it really feels wonderful to have family and friends
present, especially since it is so rare for
CANTUS to make a stop in the
Northeast. CD sales are going great; we have even topped our
old record for a single night of sales (which was no small feat!)
due in large part to all of the guys really pitching in
 and lending
a hand in sales to the thousands in attendance. We have stayed
at some very nice hotels along the way. My personal favorite
was in
Williamsburg VA, not so much for the hotel,
but the town itself. I had never been there before and what a
trip it was. The campus of
William and Mary
is gorgeous and that is just the beginning!
Colonial Williamsburg, just a short walk from the Hotel, is such
a trip to walk through with all the original costumes, homes and
shops just like it were the 17th century again. I enjoyed a
caramel apple as I strolled down the dirt and cobblestone road
taking many photos of the trees still in their prime color change!
What a place to have a day off. It was really fun to just be
walking along seemingly in a different world and across the street
wave hello to a member of the Boston Pops who is equally as cheery
to escape winter and concrete. Oh to have all of CANTUS' tours
be like this.
December 6, 2007 Tour with the
Boston Pops, Part 2
 There have been many firsts thus far
on this tour. My first chartered flight, my first hockey arena
venue, my first audience of over 5000...my first show with wireless
mics that actually work flawlessly! (Tell me you all remember
community theater with those lapel mics that snap crackled and
popped and if you were luckily were actually on when you sang!).
Narrating
The Grinch who Stole Christmas is
proving to be a blast with much success (Mr. Lockhart continues with
a variety of clever comments of praise to me during our bow for the
piece).
 To be a little selfish for a moment, my favorite part
of the show is tied between when I enter for the Grinch by myself (ie
standing on stage with the Pops by myself) and when I first start,
"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot..." to a
combination of oohs/ahhs and laughs from the audience. The
orchestra has been very welcoming with many of us being on a first
name basis for days now. It is paying great dividends that
CANTUS is a group of normal nice guys who are genuinely excited to
do what we do...it is also helping that we are giving very solid
consistent performances. To date the biggest issue with any
show has been snafu'd curtain calls which have gone through a number
of changes and are now set and not an issue. Voices are
holding strong, solos are sounding great, and the audiences are
leaving with smiles on their faces.
December 1, 2007 Tour with the
Boston Pops, Part 1
 The fun never stops. After the
two performances of Away in a Manger,
CANTUS was off to Fort Smith
Arkansas for the ONE rehearsal we get with the
Boston
Pops and our first performance. Though CANTUS has been
very successful in recent years this tour is sure to shock us all.
I personally am excited beyond words to see what keeps coming from
this tour. Already we have had two shows, the first of which
was set up in a conference center with more than 3000 seats. I
know some of the other venues are sports arenas that are going to be
open for more than 10,000 seats. Surely those will prove
exciting.
 Everyone has been very welcoming thus far.
Keith
Lockhart met us as we came into the hotel and told us he was
looking forward to this tour as did the Pops' artistic director
Dennis Alves. Nice. Shortly after
arriving we were sent over for a quick meal, set up with our
wireless headset mics (very Madonna) had some sound checking and
before we knew it the orchestra was in place and off we ran.
We had about three hours of rehearsing (barely enough to run
everything and check some tempos!) before it was time for bed to get
read for the first show. Following Fort Smith was a
performance in beautiful Lexington KY.
Nick
Clooney (Rosemary's brother and
George's father) and his wife were in the first row...so this is
how this tour is going to go!?!
November 23, 2007 Away in a manger
is a success
 For
the first time ever, CANTUS had two performances of their annual
Away in a Manger concerts. A
kickoff to the holiday season, the shows feature music by CANTUS as
well as our education partners
Angelica Cantanti, horse drawn
sleigh (or wagons in the case of no snow!) rides with caroling, hot
cocoa, cookies and who can forget the hot cider and roasted
marshmallows. This year we premiered
a new commission, (pictured above and at right) Carols Ancient
and New by American composer
Robert Kyr
to a nice response from the crowd. Possibly the highlight of
the evening (at least to us who have worked with Angelica Cantanti
for many years) was their performance in which they sang without a
conductor ala CANTUS. It showed that
the years of our work with them has begun to pay off and they are
taking their music making more seriously and
professionally...considering they are still in high school that is a
great stride. A huge thank you is in order to the audience,
who year after year continues to grow, this year nearly filling BOTH
performances. Thanks for the support and warm response yet
again!
November 17, 2007 Success...I won!
 That's
right, today I took first place in the
MN District Minnesota National Council
Auditions along with 5 other very talented young
singers. We all move on to the regional competition held
January 19th at the Ted Mann concert hall on the University of MN
Twin Cities campus. Following a great show last night in
Duluth MN for the
MN ACDA event and a fun clinic
this morning I showed up barely an hour before my time, sang for a
little bit, listened to some other singers and was ready to roll.
I started with "Come dal ciel precipita" from Verdi's Macbeth.
Following that the judges asked for "O wie will ich triumphieren"
from Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. Having
spent a couple of years now doing auditions (some better than
others!), this was a great break and I am completely humbled and
excited for the following rounds. Next stop, a few days off
for the Thanksgiving, two performances of Away in a Manger (CANTUS
annual kick off to the Christmas season) and the off an running with
the
Boston Pops! Phew.
November 15, 2007 Holy jet lag
 Since
I left for Cameroon, I have been running on adrenaline. Guess
what? It is gone and I have hit the wall. I have been
waking up around 430am and falling asleep by 9pm. The day we
returned we had rehearsal which really should have been called
"wasting time." I can barely stay asleep for a full night yet
we still have rehearsal, tomorrow (Friday) I have an audition for MN
Opera Resident Artist Program, a show tomorrow night for CANTUS and
the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
on Saturday. Somehow, as CANTUS (and I) seem do, we pulled it
together.
 Today's
rehearsal started with 2 auditions followed by 2 hours of
Boston Pops music. Then
we had a special guest...Branford
Marsalis, of the famed Jazz family was in town for
Westminster's Town Hall Forum
(program available
here) and it was arranged that
he would stop into rehearsal. We sang a few short numbers for
him, had a quick photo op and hopefully planted a seed in his mind
for some future projects! He was wonderfully receptive and it
was a real honor to meet and sing for him. Time now to try and
sleep as it is going to be a LONG weekend...not of the vacation
sort.
November 14, 2007 Back home,
safe and sound.
 Following
a very long trip home (nearly 48 hours on my body between showers!)
I am home, safe and sound...and a little tan! Not once did I
get sick and only twice did I need bug spray (and I guess I should
add that I only came home with a few bites). I left much of
what I brought with students and others I met along the way and
filled the voids with gifts for friends and family.
 I
made some friends, one of whom I have already heard from via email
and hopefully didn't make any enemies. We visited 7 different
cities and sang for more than 20,000 people in 21 different venues;
only 6-7 were scheduled! I filled all but 5 pages in my 200
page journal and ran through the battery on my Ipod a few times
(mostly studying Boston Pops music which, let me say, seemed a very
strange activity while bouncing down a dirt road in Africa on a tour
bus). I swam in the other side of the Atlantic ocean (as well
as
Lobe Falls) and slept fully
clothed in beds cause I didn't trust the hotel's sanitary measures.
It was amazing. That is all I can say for now. In the
coming weeks I will get my journal typed up and get some photos
edited so I can make a large posting that comes closer to telling
the story! In the mean time,
you can check the blog that
CANTUS kept (albeit spotty) during the trip.
October, 30, 2007 Off to
Africa
The immunizations are in me, the pills
are being taken, the packing is done and my mind is racing with
anticipation. Tomorrow we leave for Africa. Back in high
school, when I was singing (barely!) and dancing (more barely!) as
Baby John in West Side Story, I could never have imagined that my
voice would supply my livelihood, let alone bring me to Africa for
two weeks.
I am going without any of the comforts of CANTUS tour or life as I
know it. No computer, no internet, no cell phone, no hour by
hour itinerary. I am going with one suitcase filled mostly
with things to ensure my health as well as a journal and pen, my
ipod and some music scores. If there has ever been a time to
peel my mind from life as I know it, it is now. Heck, even if
I am not ready to do so, I am sure it going to smack me in the face
(surely the 98% humidity will!) 48 hours from now when we land in
Duaola, Cameroon following a 28 hour flight through Brussels.
It is funny, there are currently two camps in CANTUS, those who as
of a day ago were wondering what sort of bug repellent was
appropriate, and those, like me, who have been packed for a week and
have been talking to everyone we know as if I were going to the
arctic for the next decade. I prefer to think I am making sure I am
fully prepared, so that once I get there, I can sit back and take
full advantage of this wonderful oppurtunity. When I return, I
will, as quickly as possible, get my journal and photos arranged and
on here in a special update. In the mean time, you can check
the
CANTUS blog, which, as long as
someone can find an internet cafe or the like, will be updated with
our progress and stories.
September, 2007 CANTUS Season Preview
The last few weeks of summer flew by and here we are at the start of
another
CANTUS season. This year will prove the most
rigorous, but also the most fun and productive of any the ensemble
has ever had; especially during my tenure.
Click here for a full listing of the
season.
The following are my highlights!
On Halloween we are leaving for a tour week tour of the west African
nation of
Cameroon. Shortly after
our return (barely two weeks during which we have our annual Away
in a manger
concerts) we begin a three week tour with the
Boston Pops. This is of
particular interest to me as I will be narrating
The Grinch that stole Christmas
in a slightly abridged version of the movie that the orchestra
performs occasionally on the holiday tour. That's right, in
one fell swoop I will be singing with the orchestra I grew up
listening to and narrating/singing the piece I have always wanted to
remake with Disney...you hear that Disney? Following our
return from that tour, CANTUS and
Theater Latte Da, a Minneapolis
based theater, are teaming up for a new work entitled
All is Calm and tells the story of the Christmas truce of
WWI. For those not familiar with that story,
click here. The show is a
mix of historical music, new arrangements of carols as well as three
actors performing carefully chosen and edited historical documents
that exemplify both the grass roots nature of this truce as well as
stir it caused among politicians and military administration.
And now we finally reach Christmas. Phew.
The spring is back to CANTUS as I know it; tours and home concerts.
In may, a couple of highlights return, one being CANTUS' first
concert ever consisting completely of popular covers. We will
be arranging an entire evening worth of songs from various artists,
from the Beatles to the White Stripes which is sure to please even
the most stern of critic. Following those home concerts CANTUS
is again on tour with a stop at DC's
The Kennedy Center (our debut
there) on Labor day weekend.
So there you have it folks. Surely the updates with come
quickly as the season picks up and things of interest start rolling.
July 27, 2007 CANTUS builds an
ark
Following an uneventful (that is what
we hope for) trip to
Green Lake WI, we found
ourselves in
Elora Ontario. A
beautiful little resort town about an hour west of Toronto, Elora is
home to the
Elora Music Festival; well
known to Canadian musicians. It was a beautiful day and as we
 waited
around for the concert to start, I spoke with the presenter about
some funny contracts in the past...everything from sleeping audience
members to presenters who didn't know where the dressing room was.
Though the concert was in a barn, that in the winter housed salt and
sand for the roads, it was not one of those venues. The sound
in the barn was great and the staff of this festival proved the most
competent and thorough one with whom I have ever worked as tour
manager. Why? They MOVED AN ENTIRE CONCERT IN 30
minutes! That's right, about 5 minutes before the downbeat, an
intense storm rolled in dumping rain so hard we couldn't sing (we
would not have been heard). After waiting for half an hour,
during which this photo was taken of the staff trying keep up with
the water, the call was made to move the concert to a church in
town. At 8:35 I made the announcement to the audience and
after some crazy traffic direction by the staff, we started the
concert at 9:05 at a completely different venue. Problem
solved, concert saved, audience happy. The one downfall, the
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) was not able to break down and
reset fast enough and therefore our live Canadian radio debut was no
longer. Elora obviously wanted to plant themselves in our
minds as the craziest concert ever...job well done. A huge
thank you to everyone, staff and audience, for keeping such good
spirits and organization, allowing us to do our job of putting a
smile on your face!
July 21, 2007 CAMP CANTUS comes to
a close
 Last
night was the culminating concert for CAMP CANTUS 2007. Nearly
doubling to number of participants from last year, this years bunch
were full of energy, laughs and good voice all week. Having
lost much sleep, I am glad it is over! Probably the funniest
moment of the week came when I was nearly ticketed for "vending" by
Lake Minnetonka. I was in charge of recreation/snack time for
the elementary and middle school students, and on Wednesday, while
sitting at the rec. spot waiting for the change of groups an officer
approached. Seeing a table full of snacks, lemonade and the
like, he informed me that I can't sell things without a vendors
license. I quickly made him aware that it was for a camp, that
I wasn't selling anything and that the next group of kids would be
around shortly. He didn't seem to get it and continued to tell
my I couldn't sell...finally it became awkward enough that I had to
end it. "Sir, I am pushing 30. There is no chance that I
would be selling powder based lemonade and popcorn from a park bench
in Excelsior MN." I may be a singer, but I am not that
hard up! The above photo is of many campers, not including the
elementary kids with CANTUS in the foreground preparing for some
dress rehearsal on Thursday night. A huge thank you to all the
students and adults who participated and made this a wonderful week.
See you next year!
July 15, 2007
Beautiful CO.
Just returned from my cousin's lovely
wedding in Longmont CO, a suburb of Boulder where I spent a couple
of days reveling in the beauty of the Rockies surrounded by family
and great times. Congratulation to you, Alisha and Ryan.
I wish you many years of good times and prosperity. This time
of year is always funny as it seems I see my family every few weeks
in different states...gives them a taste of my life throughout the
year! Today also marked the beginning of CAMP CANTUS, a
grueling but wonderful week of music with folks from 7 to 60 years
old. This Friday we will culminate with a concert
featuring all involved. This year I am the recreation time
guy...which really means I will be sweating chasing kids around a
park for a couple of hours a day. Good times.
Here's hoping for cool weather.
July 4, 2007 Ah, vacation.
 Home
again for the last week or so visiting friends and family. It
was a blast to visit with my nephew Nicholas who is growing fast and
loves when I pick him up and play around like an uncle should.
Starting him young, we gave him his first boat ride which was a mix
of him staring, my mother worrying and myself wishing I could
remember when I was 7 months old in a similar position.
Best news of the week was that my foot, broken a year ago
waterskiing is back in full working order proven by my sore hands
from water skiing all week. As with most of my summer trips it
was a little hectic with days in Manhattan, Plattsburgh, Manasquan
NJ, back to Manhattan and ending the trip with some relaxing days
outside of Boston. While in MA, I tried my hand at shoreline
sea fishing but unfortunately the only tuna steaks I ate were caught
by my wallet.
 The
included photos are of the drive to Plattsburgh through the
Adirondack Park as well as a photo of the air force base I grew up
on. The parade grounds in the photo played host to my learning
to golf, play tennis, baseball, metal detecting for old relics as
well as many years of great memories. It is wonderful to see
that the base is again inhabited and being used...it is far too
beautiful a place to sit and rot. I just wish the fort I built
next to my house was still standing, it would have been fun to go
inside and remember those years! Anytime I am there I can't
help but reminisce about watching my father fly overheard wave the
wings of his plane and soar off, afterburner roaring.
Returning tonight I spent the evening on Prior Lake in the southern
twin cities with some lovely folks, lovely scenery and best of all,
3 firework displays, all visible from the boat that served as a
viewing ground. Next up, prep and execute CAMP CANTUS.
June 15, 2007 How fast the years
go.
 It
seems like only yesterday that I was in grad school and was first
hired by
CANTUS for a recording session
(Deep River-available
here). Now, five years later we have completed
our latest disk that will be released in the fall of 2008.
Over the years I have been fortunate enough to be a part of these
sessions which have taken place in Sioux Falls, SD and Goshen, IN.
All of the disks,
Deep River, Comfort and Joy Vol. 1, 2, Live Volume 2, There lies the
Home, CANTUS (due to be released this fall) and now the latest
untitled disk, have been huge tests of my patience as some pieces
have received as many as 70 takes before our producer is satisfied.
All the disks are available for purchase or download
here.
 This
latest disk featured many new commissions and hopefully will garner
some attention for a Grammy nod! It was a very fun week in
Goshen; a town with an interesting mix of folks including an Amish
population, a Mennonite population and plenty of other folks who
fill the roads with everything from trucks to horse and buggy.
Next year CANTUS will be recording a Pop album which will again be a
blast and is sure to sell! A huge thank you to John Atkinson,
editor of
Stereophile Magazine, who for
many years now has been our recording engineer, friend and wonderful
advocate of our work. The included photos show all us involved
in the session as well as the pile of music we sang through day
after day.
June 3, 2007 Fargo, ND
 Well,
vacation is over, the deck is nearly finished (just have to finish
pre-painting the rail and privacy fence and then install
both...hopefully a photo to follow soon) and we, CANTUS are on
our way home from Fargo ND (our ND debut...yay). Last night we
had a show at the historic Fargo Theater, presented by Minnesota
Public Radio as the headliners to their annual classical music
festival in Fargo. This was a sweet old theater, complete with
flashing marquee, gaudy art deco and (drum roll please) one of the
country's largest Wurlitzer Organs in full working order. Oh
yes, pop corn, coke and vaudeville preceded our show and it was a
blast to listen to from back stage...I only wish we had seen the
organ and the man playing as they were lowered back into the pit as
we were preparing to enter stage. Thanks Fargo, now I have
something other than that weird movie to remind me of you.
May 26, 2007 Where do ideas come from?
I don't claim to be a career craftsman
whose expanse of knowledge, ideas and problem solving makes him or
her capable of any job. However, yesterday I was quite proud
of my problem solving abilities, especially since the solution came
from what I learned in 8th grade earth science class. I had
two beams to get on top of the posts about 8 feet in the air.
The problem? Each beam was 22'6" of doubled up 2x12, glued and
shot with hundreds of nails...I am guessing each weigh somewhere in
the 400-500 lb range. Ok, I am not a small man, but that is
just ridiculous. I went to sleep last night wondering what I
was going to do with these beams I had just
constructed...immediately my mind went to the ancient
methods...pulleys, levers, ramps, wheels...nothing seemed to be
working itself out in my mind. Then I had it.
Fish ladders. What?
You know, the man made additions to dams that allow fish to still
swim upstream, OVER the dam in order to spawn as per their nature.
They are a series of "steps" from which the fish can jump from one
pool to the next, eventually making it to the top and then on to
more swimming upstream. Nice! Thanks Mr. Mullholland for
that chapter back when...it is going to help tomorrow. So that
is what I did. I built two "ladders" out of some scrap, braced
the heck out of my posts and one end, 1.5' at a time, grunted those
beams onto the posts. This all sounds so easy now that I am
writing about it, but let me say, at nearly 2 hours per beam it was
anything but fast and easy. I only wish I had a photo of my
lat muscles twitching as I strong manned those beams into place.
May 22, 2007 Vacation is here...at
least from CANTUS.
And with it comes grunting and lifting
as I get trucking along on the deck I owe to my roommate.
Though I do enjoy building decks, turning a bowl in a shop involves
far less sweat, cuts and bruises. Yesterday I constructed the
footings...well, let me go back on step. Three days ago I dug
4 of the 6 holes, 24" wide, 50" deep. That afternoon and the
next day it poured rain and they all collapsed in on themselves.
Great. The best part was sliding around the backyard which was
now mucky clay, wet and slick. The rain stopped and in one
day, yesterday, I re-dug all 6 holes, made 7 trips to Home Depot and
set 6 footings full of 4200lbs of concrete and held in place (not by
the mucky clay) by another 3000lbs of sand. Needless to say,
by 8pm when I finished, my back hurt and the backyard was a mess of
sand and concrete bags as well as ruts from where the cement mixer
had worked its way into the soil as it turned. It is days like
today, not days when I sing, that prove what my back is made of,
proving Larry the Cable Guy correct...git-r-done.
May 14, 2007 Another project out
the door.
  That's
right, another one bites the dust. Well, in this case it isn't
biting anything, but it is out of my hands. Built of stained
cherry, beveled glass and with a tounge oil and urethane finish,
this display case (and bowl of cherry and ebony that I turned as a
gift) now sits proudly with a beautiful painting as the center of a
living room in St. Michael MN. Obviously the painting is no
longer the nicest thing in the home...gotta love what a tree can
become. Next project; a deck at my roomate's house. Who
said cherry is nicer than pressure treated pine?
May 9, 2007 Jonas Salk
Today CANTUS traveled out to sunny San Diego for a special event.
It was fundraiser for the
Mingei International Musuem in
San Diego, held at the
Salk Institute.
Jonas Salk, the creator of the
first polio vaccine, founded this research facility in 1965 to study
molecular biology and genetics. Today, it still serves as
biological research center and is an amazing piece of architecture.
 The
photo here shows the western courtyard, whose end overlooks the
pacific ocean down a cliff. The show was very nice, despite
the always awkward situation that arises when you force art on a
room of people. Inevitably, not everyone is into it. At
least when people come to a show (versus the show coming to them!)
there is an element of approval going into the performance.
Not so much that feeling tonight. However, we keep rolling
along and those who do enjoy it are showed a good time.
Besides, any excuse to go to San Diego is a good one!
May 5, 2007 Independent Voices
Wow, it has been a while and I have no
excuse other than it has come to the time of year when sitting in
front of a computer falls victim to the shining sun.
CANTUS has been rehearsing
plenty recently for this weekend's round of home concert entitled
"Independent Voices." The should features a first half
entirely of new commissions from this year (see entry for March 5,
2007) including the latest, "We Two," five settings of
Walt Whitman love poems by PA composer
Stephen Sametz. The
second half was full of 9 pieces, one chosen by each of the 9
singers of CANTUS. Though the format lacked any through line
of program, the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and particularly
enjoyed each singer's personal introduction of their piece.
Here is a review of the show,
complete with a nod to "clever staging" of my piece "Ain't
neccesarily so." Maybe I have a future as a director if
singing fails!
April 2, 2007
The wonder of YouTube.
Well,
YouTube is not new, nor are
camera phones, but lately,
CANTUS has experienced a new
phenomenon. Students who we sing for are recording us on their
video phones and uploading those performances to YouTube. I am
sure it is breaking some sort of copyright laws, but who am I to say
anything. I am flattered that we have such a impact on these
kids...and am also blown away by how much technology has changed
since I was in high school (which wasn't that long ago!).
Check out these...Biebel
1,
Biebel 2. Granted the
video quality is junk, but surprisingly the sound isn't bad at all.
Most of these clips were taken from education workshops...no we
don't perform concerts in business casual attire! Thanks to
whoever you are who put these clips up and no offense if in the
future we ask you to take them down for reasons of professional
image!
Finally back at home as of this afternoon I will enjoy a week of
from CANTUS, to sing some church services for Easter, get started on
a woodworking commission, and memorize the next (and final for this
season) set of CANTUS music.
March 30, 2007 Back to the old stomping grounds.
 Today,
CANTUS gave a show to nearly full house at the
Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress.
It was a beautiful medium sized hall that sounded great and was
filled with an even better audience. In the audience were a
few old friends of mind...a sampling actually, one from undergrad,
two from childhood, one cousin, one family friend and one from grad
school.
Check out the review here.
(scroll down a bit).
Last night I was able to visit with another friend from grad school
who has a beautiful new baby boy and enjoyed a nice seared ahi tuna
(not a common meal on tour per diem) in Baltimore, right near
Peabody (yea ol' grad school),
Sasha's. Check it out, great food and great jazz every
Thursday night. You really should check out the Mt. Vernon
area of Baltimore, it is truly a beautiful area steeped in history
and but not lacking for the hip side of contemporary urban life.
Good times. I only wish more of tour was like
this stop. I particularly enjoy the photo to the right, of
President's Bush's helicopter taking off past the Washington
monument...not a bad way to travel...it beats CANTUS' minivans.
March 24, 2007 Oh the places you'll go.
 My
mother gave me a Dr. Seuss book as I was graduating High School with
the title
Oh the places you'll go.
Little did I know that meant Big Daddy's Fireworks in podunk
Georgia. Seriously though, were else will you find a gas
station that doubles as a fireworks store with a clerk smoking a
cigarette INSIDE the firework store. These are those rare
moments of tour that make you go "????????????????????" Only
to top off the stop was the beat up Ford, full of five people who
pulled up and in broken English (not because they didn't peak
English, but because they spoke redneck)
asked me for money because they were out of gas. When I
refused the request they proceeded to ask each member of CANTUS
before squealing their tires and speeding off...wait, I thought you
were out of gas?
March 22, 2007 A controversial entry.
CANTUS found itself in a sticky
situation this week as a presenter in Atlanta forbade us to sing
Zikr
in his church were our concert happens to be. This piece
is the highlight of 3 songs from 3 different religions;
Christianity, Judaism and Islam. They had no problem with the
piece from the Jewish faith as "it is from the same Judeo-Christian
line", but Zikr a piece from Bollywood based on an ancient Sufi
prayer in the whirling dervish tradition was "unacceptable because
it mentions Muhammad."
There has been and will continue to be some awkward feelings as we
have one member who is Muslim...he is also Catholic...in fact, he is
even an American and somehow is having a hard time being treated as
one doing the job he and we all love so much because it transcends
all prejudices.
I personally wanted to cancel this concert out of spite, but that
would just perpetuate what this man wants. Instead I will
stand there, with a smile on my face as I do my job as he set forth,
hoping that his parishoners don't share the same feelings.
***A funny side note, we just came from a Mennonite College (similar
to the Amish tradition) where Zikr was again a huge success on the
program. Irony?
March 21, 2007 Tour is in full
force.
Nearly a month has passed since our
last tour. Of course, there was plenty going on, but it was at
home. As with everything, times change and here we are back on
the road. This past Monday we left the twin cities headed for
Goshen IN. After a full day festival yesterday we are spending
this Wednesday driving south to Atlanta. Yup, go to Mapquest
and check that one out...Goshen to Atlanta isn't a short trip.
From there we head to FL, SC (2), VA (2), DC, PA and home again.
In round numbers this is a 15 day, 4000 miles, 9 show, 4 ed outreach
tour. Nice. Currently driving 75 miles an hour about 30
miles north of Indianapolis...now isn't that exciting.
March 15, 2007 Back to the drawing
board. With
two check marks off the to-do list this week, it is back to the
drawing board.
For CANTUS that means beginning rehearsals on our next program of
music, entitled
Independent Voices.
Why the name? For the first time ever, CANTUS is presenting
a program comprised of music chosen by the singers...each individual
singer chose a piece and shazam, CANTUS has a program of music.
My addition to the show is It ain't neccesarily so from
Gerswhin's musical/opera Porgy and Bess. I chose this
pieces for two reasons. One, because it features enough parts
to allow for each member of CANTUS to show their stuff with a solo
in one single piece, and also because we have are lucky to have Mani
around who has done the role in P&B with the Houston Grand Opera and
surely will have some fun insights about the piece and its
performance.
For me that means finding a new project to work on in the shop...the
picture this entry is of my latest completion, finished earlier this
week. It is a bookcase/cabinet for myself out of some salvaged
Pine and Walnut inlay. Total wood cost $9. Nice.
In the picture is Paul, the man who owns the shop and tutors me
along to perfection. The piece features custom trims,
raised
panel doors/drawer and some knots and grains
placed cautiously for maximum exposure and match. Anyone want
one out of Cherry or Walnut drop me a line!
March 10, 2007 It all comes out
strong.
Though it wasn't a sold out show,
tonight's concert was a huge success. The synthesis of Mr.
Bly's poetry and our music (and the spots were we hunmmed/ooohed
while he read, which was a last minute addition!) was a big hit with
all those in attendance. It was recorded by MPR and I shall
keep you all posted if I hear that it is being aired.
Here is
the link to the review.
March 9, 2007 A new experience
 This
morning CANTUS and Robert Bly were guests on the
Midmorning
Show on Minnesota Public Radio with the
wonderful host Kerry MIller. Now, keep in mind that I have
done a number of live radio shows with CANTUS over the past couple
of years, but this was the first time we had done a show that wasn't
specially designed for CANTUS. Does that makes sense?
Let me try again. Midmorning is a show that is on everyday,
and everyday has a different guest on a different topic. The
show is based on discussion, some practical endeavors (like a
partial performance if the guest is a musician or a reading in the
case of an author), and most intriguing, taking calls from the
pubic.
 Up
till now, all the times CANTUS has been live on Minnesota Public
Radio (which doesn't include anytime they broadcast recorded
performances), it has been an hour of just CANTUS, ie Christmas
with CANTUS, which, though it has a host and impromptu
discussion is based around a formed program of music that
encompasses most of the hour. Let me tell you, today's new
experience was quite a thrill, especially not being able to hear the
callers (only those on headphone could), while hearing the host tell
the caller to get to the point because we were running short on time
and she wanted us to sing the show to a close! A huge thank
you to MPR for the opportunity, and to Kerry Miller for being such a
spunky fun host who made us feel right at home...and who can forget
the tech crew who, had they chosen not to be kind, could have made
us sound like garbage through those microphones!
Click here
to be linked to the archived program.
March 8, 2007 The news is broken!
CANTUS POPS!
It is official. After a year of
balking and a contract that never was finalized, CANTUS has finally
received notice that it has been hired for the 2007 Christmas
touring season with the
Boston
Pops! (website is not yet updated with
information about these events) That's right, 20 some years
after hearing them on recordings at home growing up I will be
sharing the stage with them for at least 14 concerts around the
country. Now these aren't in small concert halls. I have
heard through the grapevine that besides selling out the tour
consistently, often the shows are taking place for thousands of fans
at a time...the excitement level is out of control. Stay tuned
for full tour dates, times, venues etc.
March 5, 2007 Robert Bly and the
media
If only CANTUS go this much attention
all year long! Today at rehearsal, we had
Robert Bly, the
internationally renown poet from Minnesota who is joining us for a
concert this coming weekend, the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, as
well as twin cities composers
Edie Hill
and Maura Bosch. It was strange, normally there are only the
nine singers in a small room squawking for a few hours, but today
the hoopla was astounding with cameras flashing all over the place,
microphones recording our every mistake and composers listening
intently as well as doing interviews with both newspapers. Why
the attention? This weekend we are singing a concert
collaboration with Mr. Bly which features two new commissions (hence
the two composers at rehearsal). The first commission, a six
movement piece by Edie Hill, entitled
A Sound Like This, takes all of its texts from Mr. Bly's
translations of the Indian poet Kabir and is quite stunning in its
musical breath and attitude and surely lives up to its requirements
from its funders,
Chamber
Music America. The second is far more
poignant; entitled The Turning, by Maura Bosch, funded by
The
American Composers Forum as a joint venture
between CANTUS, Ms. Bosch and
The Tubman
Family Alliance (a non-profit organization
that helps families of domestic abuse), its texts were derived from
interviews with nine men who have perpetrated abuse and are trying
to help themselves overcome their mistakes. This is the piece
the media is so interested in and rightfully so, it is quite
evocative and daring. It is full of hope and despair and not
at all an acceptance of such horrible acts. The articles will
be coming out this week and depending upon their archiving, I will
link to them. Tonight, after rehearsal we will be going to the
Tubman Family Alliance center to sing this piece for many who are
there seeking shelter and help...here's hoping it goes over as
intended.
February 24, 2007 We
actually did work this week!
I got distracted by the heated debate
about the valleys and realize I have neglected to give any insight
about the reason we are actually here! The seed for this
contract was planted nearly 3 years ago when I joined CANTUS full
time. I had contact with a teacher/singer from Sun Valley
named Katherine Edison and shamelessly asked her to work her magic
and get CANTUS a gig.
 What
can I say, getting paid to visit beautiful places beats traveling on
my own! She came through strong (actually the credit goes to
Kristin Poole and Kim Gassenica at the
Sun Valley
Center for the Arts and
Sun Valley
Symphony respectively) and CANTUS spent a full
work week here giving 7 shows for the local schools with a wonderful
performance last night for the community. What a warm welcome
we received here...on a number of occasions, over lunch or what not,
people came up telling us how excited they were to have us.
Many commented that their kids came home from school raving about
the cool guys who sang some fun things for them...the icing on the
cake is that many of those same folks, including the students, came
to the show in a huge show of support for CANTUS as well as the Sun
Valley Center for the Arts. Next goal, get CANTUS a residency
here so we can spend even more time (maybe even with some
consideration for a couple days of skiing!) and make our impact
greater. A huge thank you to both Kim and Kristin for being
such wonderful hostesses all week and for running such successful
presenting and education programs.
February 22, 2007 The
results
That's right, after a sleepless night
of tossing and turning, raking my mind about these valley's I have
come to a conclusion. Both rock and anyone who finds
themselves visiting or living in either will find a wonderful
atmosphere, friendly faces and breathtaking scenery. Way to go
Idaho, you have some of the coolest places I have been in the
country within your borders...ironically, you also have some of the
most boring parts as well! Yin and yang strike again.
February 21, 2007 Quantity
or Quality?
 Well
I have definitely found that Sun Valley is more about quantity than
the Teton Valley. The populations are higher, the real estate
is exorbitant, and rather than just a handful of mountains viewable
from the whole valley Sun Valley is nearly 75 miles long
(north/south) with varying size and shape of mountains on both
sides. However, the valley is full of hills and gullies
leaving one wondering where the mountains stop and the valley
begins, not to mention the widest part of the valley can't even be a
mile. The abundance of wealth and people in this valley most
definitely gives it an edge on the things to do scale, but then
again, if one moves to a valley in Idaho are you after entertainment
or nature? Sun Valley is home to more people, more money, more
mountains yet I still find myself asking, which is better quantity
or quality? The photo above was taken at Galena Summit, the
highest point in Sun Valley (or rather up the mountain that caps the
north end of Sun Valley)...it was cold; I was not prepared.
Current score: Teton Valley 1, Sun Valley 1.
February 20, 2007 The peak of the
Teets.
 What
a view to wake up to! This is a shot out the window of the
room I often call home for the summer. Need I say more?
Yes. What do I love most about the Teton Valley? For
one, I love that it is a large flat valley surrounded on three sides
by beautiful mountains. No matter where you are in the valley you
can see the different mountain ranges...only homes block the view,
not hills and valleys. I also love its proximity to Jackson WY
(known more commonly as Jackson Hole), a good size city with all the
amenities that one could need including a large commercial airport.
I can't forget the wonderful relationships I have in the Teton
Valley, something that possible will outweigh any physical
attributes of Sun Valley.
Current score: Teton Valley 1, Sun Valley 0.
February 19, 2007 Off again.
After returning home safely from
Arizona, it was back to what is known as post tour syndrome; all the
regular parts of life come racing back at you! After a week of
rehearsal, music study, some woodworking on a new book case and my
jalopy (a cheap old beat up car!) finally kicking the bucket, it is
time to get back on the road. Today we are flying to gorgeous
Sun Valley
ID
where we will spend a week doing tons of ed
outreach and a show to cap this coming Friday. In fact, I am
writing this entry on the flight, probably somewhere over central
Wyoming, completely excited to see Sun Valley. If you are a
reader of this site, you will know that I have spent 9 summers
studying in the
Teton
Valley of Idaho and I am anxious to lend my
own thoughts to the debate over which valley is sweeter! Keep
posted for a blog off about the two competing Idahoan mountain
valleys.
Current score: Teton Valley 0, Sun Valley 0.
February 9, 2007 What a day.
Today, during the morning and early afternoon
some members of CANTUS traveled from Flagstaff AZ about an hour
north to the
Grand
Canyon. What an amazing experience.
I had never been before; it was one of the few
National
Parks I had not been to, and definitely the
first of the
Seven
Natural Wonders to be checked off the list.
The above photo was taken of some of us CANTUSIANS at Mather's
Point. The trip was quick though; we had to get back for a
sold out show at Northern Arizona University. Headlining the
culminating show of their annual Jazz and Madrigal Festival, this
show brought us one step closer to rock star status (not that we are
seeking such a thing!). There were 1500 screaming (seriously,
my ears hurt at moments) students in attendance who were most
appreciative giving us a standing ovation after two of the pieces
during the show and also two standing ovations at the end of the
performance. How wild it is to sing events like this,
especially considering our show in Scottsdale two days earlier was
for a senior audience of 250. Tour is now done and we head
back to bitter cold MN tomorrow afternoon for another week of
rehearsal on the
Robert Bly
concert repertoire. More soon!
February 7, 2007 We all love
Saguaro!
That's right, CANTUS is a saguaro
friendly
 organization.
We especially enjoyed this one that seems to have a mouth.
What would it be saying about having the nine of us surrounding it?
The funniest part of this scene is an inside joke of CANTUS.
Our name is always being mispronounced; from the innocent mis-stress
(it should be on the first syllable) to the just plain wrong
"conscious." (You think I am lying? Email anyone in cantus and
ask what the most common things we are called!) All those
things aside, our favorite is still the time someone called us
CACTUS. How ironic, here we stand, CACTUS with CACTUS...one a
10 year old friendly vocal ensemble, the other a 100 year old
prickly desert dweller. We look the same don't we? I
will post another picture of this soon when it gets edited for our
monthly newsletter and has some sort of text bubble added.
February 4, 2007 On tour in
Arizona
 When
we left the twin cities this afternoon the temperature, including
wind chill was somewhere around 20 degrees BELOW zero (Fahrenheit
for all you metrics). Three hours later when we landed in
Phoenix it was 72 degrees. What a job I have. CANTUS
will be here in Arizona for the next week giving three
 concerts,
one education workshop and enjoying the look of the
Saguaro
Cacti that are everywhere. I love these
things! The look like people. Especially when you see a
field (ok, desert) filled with nothing but them at dusk.
honestly, it can be a little creepy when the sun is setting like
that; a little too much Tim Burton for my comfort. Pictured is
one that was outside of our hotel. Did you know that the one
pictured to the right qualifies for the 200+ year old category and
would cost a few thousand dollars to have transplanted to your
quaint retirement home? That is one expensive piece of
landscaping , though definitely cool! Also pictured here is a
beautiful sunset from this evening looking over the
Valley of
the Sun (the nickname of the valley that
houses Phoenix, Scottsdale and other burbs) with one of my new best
friends, Mr. Saguaro in the foreground. (If my fascination
with these cacti seem strange consider that this is only the second
time in my life I have around these amazing plants.)
February 1, 2007 A new
commission: The Turning
CANTUS had been slaving away on a few
new commissions lately. One, a 15 minute, 6 movement piece by
twin cities composer
Edie Hill
on texts of
Robert
Bly's translation of
Kabir
(to be performed in our joint concert with Mr. Bly in mid march) and
the other a three movement work called The Turning by twin cities
composer Maura Bosch. This one is of particular interest
because of the other work CANTUS has put into this piece. If
you check out the entry dated April 6, 2006 you will remember the
project of which I speak. It began as a grant from the
American
Composers Forum and other firms sponsoring a
project to let the voices of battered woman, and the men who
perpetrated these crimes, to be heard through CANTUS. The
texts to the three pieces are an amalgamation of things that the men
had written down when asked various questions about their pasts as
well as their thoughts on their crimes. The result is quite
moving. The first piece speaks about things these men wanted
to be known about them; good things and some of the bad. The
second follows a man from the time that he was drunk again with a
new baby through the time he is a proud sober father trying to make
things better one day at a time. The last piece starts with
someone talking about a day in the past, when they were younger and
their mother had a heart attack, at only 29 years old. By the
end of this movement we find out that the tree the mother planted
back when now shades the whole house and how wonderful it would be
if she could see how things has become protected. Like singing
Private First Class Jesse Givens by Lee Hoiby (see entries March 8,
19, April 7, 8, May 11 2006), it is amazing to sing the words of
living people who had no intention of their words making an impact
on anyone, let along audiences. A large thank you to the
Tubman
Family Alliance for helping CANTUS and Maura
work with the men and woman to make this project possible. The
premier is March 10 at Ted Mann Concert hall on the University of
Minnesota campus.
Jan 25, 2007 Peoria IL, have
you heard the saying?
As the saying goes, if you can sing it
in Peoria, you can sing it anywhere. Meaning, if your program
of classical music is accepted in Peoria, then it is suitable for
audiences anywhere. After last night, it is obvious that
CANTUS can make it anywhere!
it is also evident that my new
favorite thing to do is take a bunch of photos of the halls we sing
in and photoshop them together (albeit poorly) to show you something
of where I sang. Well, I hope this photos is an improvement on
the last effort, but still leaves much to be desired. Anyway,
it passed 20 minutes in the van...We are currently driving from
Peoria IL to Sioux Falls SD. Tomorrow we will pass the 4000
miles point and I think we are all ready to get home! The
shows have been wonderful on this tour and last night was definitely
the highlight. We were singing for the
Illinois
State Music Educators Association Convention
(which is both for educators as well as the time when the state
honor's bands/chorus etc meet). We knew going into this event
that they (any large convention that we are headlining) are a good
time, but this one seemed weird. For some reason the contract
I was holding had an estimated audience size of 400. Yes, look
at the picture above of the 2100 seat hall and imagine 400 people.
However, as we came backstage for the start of the show we could
hear that this was going to be as we had hoped; there is no
mistaking the raucous that is 1000+ high school musicians. On
stage we went to the screams of 1900 (I know, almost a full house)
lively students and teachers and the show was wonderful. I was
excited that it was my turn to sing the solo for Wreck of the
Edmund Fitzgerald.
Seriously, events like this is the closest CANTUS comes to
feeling like rock stars. I loved every minute of it,
especially when the audience laughed and awed at my speaking voice
during my closing speech. I invited all the "kids" to become
CANTUS friend on
our new
MySpace page and it was hilarious to hear
their elated reaction to that invite! The world is being taken
over by web 2.0...watch out, next thing we know the IL MEA will
actually be broadcast worldwide via YouTube for the viewing pleasure
of all 15 people who are interested. That'll be the day.
Jan 20, 2007 The Smith Opera
House
How lucky
Geneva NY
is to have such a beautiful historic theater still in action!
 I
tried putting together a photo to show the perspective from the
stage of the
Smith
Opera House...I hope you get the point despite
the rough photoshopping! I also included a photo of the ad I
found in the lobby which I found to be hilarious. How
proud we were to get top billing to Borat! Well, actually
Borat isn't playing until the beginning of February...thanks for
killing my fantasy. This hall had surprisingly good acoustics.
It didn't sound like much of anything on stage, but the audience and
our sound check proved otherwise out in the hall. At first
glance I was intimidated to try and fill 1400 seats with people, but
Geneva came through strong with a great turn out of around 900
(which for a town of 14,000 is great!) The builder of the
Opera House, Mr. William Smith, is the same philanthropist who, in
1908, built his prestigious namesake university, William Smith
College (now Hobart and William Smith College) in Geneva, NY.
Following the show I was able to visit with an old friend and get
the update on he and his son Tanner who have both overcome a
horrible start to his life and are on a great track for continued
happiness. I was proud to hear that at such a young age Zach
was able to step up and become a great father, and that all the bad
parts have drifted away. Congrats on the engagement!
Jan 19, 2007 Singing for family and friends: Love it!
 Tonight
brought CANTUS to
Hamilton
College in quaint
Clinton NY.
Serendipity dealt its hand for this stop! Ten years ago
when I first took a voice lesson from my neighbor JoEllen, who
became my primary voice teacher through undergrad, her daughter
Suzannah was in 4 grade or so. Now, the same year that CANTUS
gets a contract to sing at Hamilton College (during my tenure none
the less), Suzannah is a freshman at Hamilton. What are the
chances? My parents as well as JoEllen and husband John came
down for the occasion and Suzannah joined us across campus as well.
We had a nice (thought rushed as is usual with going out to a pre
concert meal!) dinner in town and then back to the show. It
was most special since JoEllen hadn't heard CANTUS since my first
year, when she hired us back to
my alma
mater, and to be frank, we are just better
now. Actually, I shouldn't say better because that is an
opinion, I should however say more sensitive and appropriate to
style and performance. There, keep the hateful emails to
yourself. IT was a beautiful modern hall with a HUGE stage.
This picture of me on stage and inset with a photo of the audience
from the stage doesn't really do justice to the size of the stage,
but does show the beautiful layout. Thank you to my parents
and John/JoEllen for making the trip down. I do love singing
for people who I know and love! See you soon.
Jan 18, 2007 Hogwarts?
Seriously though,
Roxbury
Latin school in West Roxbury MA, our latest
stop on this tour is reminding all of
CANTUS
of Hogwarts (from Harry Potter...I had to be told that as well,
don't feel bad). It is the oldest continuously running school
in North America, founded in 1645 and still educating 290 young men
a year from middle through high school. Be careful who you
make this claim to, because those associated with
Boston
Latin, founded in 1643 will argue that they
are the oldest school on the continent. History shows Boston
Latin closed for a couple of years during the Revolutionary War and
therefore, in my opinion, Roxbury Latin does win. Then again,
if Boston Latin hires us next year you may find an update making the
opposite claim! Either way, it was a beautiful school filled
with many smart talented young men and a very friendly faculty.
 I
was taken back by this photo, of the back wall of the cafeteria.
The quote reads "From those to whom much has been given much will
be expected." It immediately reminded me of parts of my
life, particularly my time spent studying in Idaho (see entry August
23rd for the full story). Though it was only recently that I
was able to express the feeling (or the weight that was accompanying
it), I have been feeling this quote for some years now. I
found myself staring at the wall having one of those "life" moments.
Good times, much pride and most of all beautiful woodwork! The
hall we sang in was one of the best of the year in terms of
acoustic. It was an all wood room holding around 400 seats and
sounded like a gorgeous cathedral without the 10 second decay.
One of the more interesting parts of the school was seeing old
paintings of prestigious alumni and headmasters. It was great
to see my sister Jen and Amanda at the show...thanks for persevering
through the drive!
Jan 15, 2007 On the road again
Today we leave for the first tour of
2007. Here's hoping for no breakdowns, no accidents, no colds,
no hospitals, no bed bugs, no lost voices and most of all some solid
singing during the short, yet LONG tour. That's right, 13
days, 4000 miles, 8 concerts, 7 ed outreaches (including a clinic
for ALL of Illinois' middle and high school music educators), 10
hotels with stops in Fond du Lac WI, Roxbury MA, Clinton NY, Geneva
NY, Bowling Green OH, Oxford OH, Peoria IL and Sioux Falls SD as
well as a few random town just for a short night's sleep while
driving half way across the country! Phew, I am tired already.
Actually I am excited, I will get to see a few family and friends
along the way. Singing for people whom you know always adds to
the excitement of the evening and luckily no longer adds to the
nerves! I promise some photos once the tour gets going!
Jan 7, 2007 This is going to be
amazing!
As I spoke of in my Dec. 23rd entry,
CANTUS
will be traveling to Cameroon this coming November for two weeks of
arts exchange. I am sure we are going to learn far more from
those singers/people we encounter than they will from us!
Today, following a couple of church services that CANTUS sang (we do
this a couple of times a year to repay use of free rehearsal space
throughout the year) at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown
Minneapolis, CANTUS, pastor Tim Hart-Anderson and a few members of
the Cameron community from the twin cities (including Prince Joseph
Mukete) met for a brunch/meet and greet. It was a wonderful
event in which these folks shared some of their traditional cuisine,
traditional music as well as stories about what we are going to be
doing next year. We were show a map outlining the different
parts of the country we will be visiting and heard about the climate
of each part (needless to say, I will be sweating the entire time!).
WE heard of the benefit of traveling with Mr. Joseph Mukete, whose
title, Prince, carries a lot of weight should we encounter any
hardships on the road. We were given just a sampling of what
this two week trip this fall will be like and I couldn't be more
excited!
Jan 1, 2007 Happy New Year
Back on the east coast I woke this morning
in a suburb of Boston thinking about 2006. I could fill pages
worth of thoughts but will definitely narrow the year down to a few
highlights. The birth of my first nephew tops the list, as
well as the birth of of a miracle baby for my cousin Brian and his
wife Nicole. Watching family friend
John Lloyd
Young win the Tony Award for Best actor in a
Musical was a wonderful moment as was keeping up with him via his
website and plethora of news/TV appearances (yes, performers can be
HUGE fans as well!) Hearing that my cousin Brian (same one who
had the baby) made it home safely from a second tour of Iraq was
wonderful news as was my brother's news of being offered a desk on
wall street (ie. making the move from trainee to full trader).
Watching
CANTUS
grow/ taking on some more responsibility myself (was elected to the
Board of Directors as well as becoming "tour manager") and hearing
murmurs of things to come made the year in singing fly by! I
was fortunate to have sung back in
my
hometown, at my undergrad alma mater,
performing the role of Raphael in Haydn's The Creation, and
who can forget the family purchase of a new boat (thanks MOM!).
Of course, with all good things come the bad and this year was no
different. My favorite car, my subaru outback wagon blew its
head gaskets and I had to sell it. I broke my foot
showing off and broke last year's resolution of getting buff!
I went on dates and am still single and turned down set-ups that
maybe would have made me not single! I built a website and if
you look around you will see there is still stuff "coming soon."
(Which I guess means 2007!)
All in all my 26th year, 2006 was a good one. Healthy, happy
and making my living as singer should be enough to satisfy any
normal human, the rest was just icing on the cake! Here's to a
2007 whose recap continues to sway heavy on the positive side.
Scroll down and read some of the previous entries for more fun
stories about the year past. |
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