Dispatches from the edge, part the Nth
My goodness! Has it really been since August 29th? I'm even more behind than I thought. As usual, there's a really good reason. Well, really several really good reasons, most of which I alluded to in the previous post. You don't remember? Those performance dates, yeah those.
To catch you up on the last month and change. I moved into my lovely midtown Houston abode on September 8. I still love it, although there are lots of boxes everywhere.
The Ars Lyrica concert on the 7th went really, exceptionally well. We got a great review and had a nice, nearly full house. As usual, there are musical moments I'd love to have back for a do-over, but given the madness of that week and the incredible lack of sleep the night before, it was nothing short of miraculous. I especially enjoyed getting to make music with a former HGO colleague, Marie Lenormand. She's quite amazing.
School, of course, is taking up a lot of mental and temporal real estate, but it's only for another semester-- then I can start writing. Ack. Good classes, fairly reasonable schedule, and not nearly as much back and forth between UH and HBU.
Speaking of HBU, life as an Assistant Professor is not too bad. I have 16 students, we all seem to be getting along (translation: they do what I want, for the most part), and my colleagues are great. Haven't had to endure too many faculty meetings, but I suspect that has more to do with not hearing about them and being gone for two weeks.
Where'd I go? It's fall and that means it was Conspirare time. We did a new thing for us, concentrated the entire rep on the works of one composer; 29-year old British-American Tarik O'Regan. Great music, lovely command of text and sound and good ideas. I can only imagine what he'll do in the future. We sang two of his major works, both with strings, and some smaller a cappella works, including three we commissioned from him for these performances on texts of Emily Dickinson and Pablo Neruda.
Not only did we sing this stuff (with Tarik present for a good bit of the rehearsals and all of the performances), we recorded it, back in Troy, NY for Harmonia Mundi. It's the same place we recorded the Requiem CD (the um, Grammy nominated one). The Troy Savings Bank Hall is still lovely, but unfortunately Troy has become a bit of the metropolis in the intervening two years. We had to redo some rather magical takes that were marred by traffic noise. I think the universe will be pleased with the results though.
The time has also been taken with preparations for my upcoming recital. Since it's a degree recital, I have to have it all ready two weeks before for a jury. That's tomorrow. I am experiencing not exactly mild trepidation, but I think I'll be OK. The recital itself is on Friday, October 26 at 8:30 p.m. in Dudley Recital Hall on the campus of the University of Houston. Y'all come. And bring your friends!
I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I must attend to some of the juncture points in Knoxville. It's a different piece when you have to memorize it!
More later. Not as later as last time. I promise...
One more thing: if you're not busy this Saturday, October 13, come check out the Maggini String Orchestra. They are doing a Concert for Peace at St. Philip Presbyterian Church, and I'll be making a cameo appearance singing Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the original German translation of the Walter Scott poem. It's free, but I suspect there may be an offering involved. Or maybe not.
To catch you up on the last month and change. I moved into my lovely midtown Houston abode on September 8. I still love it, although there are lots of boxes everywhere.
The Ars Lyrica concert on the 7th went really, exceptionally well. We got a great review and had a nice, nearly full house. As usual, there are musical moments I'd love to have back for a do-over, but given the madness of that week and the incredible lack of sleep the night before, it was nothing short of miraculous. I especially enjoyed getting to make music with a former HGO colleague, Marie Lenormand. She's quite amazing.
School, of course, is taking up a lot of mental and temporal real estate, but it's only for another semester-- then I can start writing. Ack. Good classes, fairly reasonable schedule, and not nearly as much back and forth between UH and HBU.
Speaking of HBU, life as an Assistant Professor is not too bad. I have 16 students, we all seem to be getting along (translation: they do what I want, for the most part), and my colleagues are great. Haven't had to endure too many faculty meetings, but I suspect that has more to do with not hearing about them and being gone for two weeks.
Where'd I go? It's fall and that means it was Conspirare time. We did a new thing for us, concentrated the entire rep on the works of one composer; 29-year old British-American Tarik O'Regan. Great music, lovely command of text and sound and good ideas. I can only imagine what he'll do in the future. We sang two of his major works, both with strings, and some smaller a cappella works, including three we commissioned from him for these performances on texts of Emily Dickinson and Pablo Neruda.
Not only did we sing this stuff (with Tarik present for a good bit of the rehearsals and all of the performances), we recorded it, back in Troy, NY for Harmonia Mundi. It's the same place we recorded the Requiem CD (the um, Grammy nominated one). The Troy Savings Bank Hall is still lovely, but unfortunately Troy has become a bit of the metropolis in the intervening two years. We had to redo some rather magical takes that were marred by traffic noise. I think the universe will be pleased with the results though.
The time has also been taken with preparations for my upcoming recital. Since it's a degree recital, I have to have it all ready two weeks before for a jury. That's tomorrow. I am experiencing not exactly mild trepidation, but I think I'll be OK. The recital itself is on Friday, October 26 at 8:30 p.m. in Dudley Recital Hall on the campus of the University of Houston. Y'all come. And bring your friends!
I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I must attend to some of the juncture points in Knoxville. It's a different piece when you have to memorize it!
More later. Not as later as last time. I promise...
One more thing: if you're not busy this Saturday, October 13, come check out the Maggini String Orchestra. They are doing a Concert for Peace at St. Philip Presbyterian Church, and I'll be making a cameo appearance singing Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the original German translation of the Walter Scott poem. It's free, but I suspect there may be an offering involved. Or maybe not.
posted by YankeeHobbit | 10:21 PM
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