Weekend in NYC

Winter ended just long enough for a beautiful weekend in New York City for the Heritage Festival at Riverside Church. I heard some remarkable choirs, notably Rodger Guerrero's singers from Harvard-Westlake school in California, Janine Kirstein's choir from Oregon, and Ron Corbin's groups from Florida. While in the city I saw the Gauguin exhibit at MOMA and a small exhibit of Viennese composer artifacts at Carnegie Hall's Rose Museum, among them Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Webern and Berg manuscripts. Also heard an interesting concert of contemporary unaccompanied choral music (nearly all of which I had never heard) by the Berkley Chamber Chorus, the Ad Astra Singers, and Dominick DiOrio's fantastic NOTUS from Indiana University in Carnegie Hall's intimate Weill recital hall. Memorable food included a great South Indian dinner at Sokum on Lexington Avenue and a few Blue Bottle and Stumptown cappuccinos. A chilly Sunday morning in Central Park (the temperatures went back down!), a prosciutto, pear and fig tartine at Le Pain Quotidien, and classical music in the cab to the airport were a great start to the day. Also glimpsed Alice Aycock's playful white sculptures along Park Avenue ("Park Avenue Paper Chase") on the way out -- fantastic!

Bach's Lunch

UCF's Chamber Singers sang a short but beautiful program yesterday for the Bach's Lunch concert series at the cathedral of St. Luke in downtown Orlando. The program offered a little of everything -- Mozart, Mendelssohn, Paulus, Whitacre, Chydenius, my SUN, MOON, STARS, RAIN, and Dawson's Ain't a that Good News. St. Luke's is a beautiful gothic nave with an acoustic friendly to singers, where we love to perform.

Kissimmee Khoir

The Osceola All-County Elementary Chorus yesterday in Kissimmee (Kiss IM ee, not KISS imee) brought together 200 singers from 25 elementary schools in the county for a full day of singing and a concert last night with a capacity crowd.  Thanks to music superviser Debbie Fahmie for the invitation, John Deir, organizer of the event, and the many teacher who prepared the children, including a number of alums from the University of Central Florida!

ACDA in JAX

This past week the Southern Division ACDA convention met in Jacksonville, Florida, so it was one of the few times I actually drove to convention.  (the other time, I think, was when it was in Orlando -- a few blocks away from where I live!).  It's always great to spend time with old friends, hear beautiful music, and eat some wonderful food.  I loved Philip Keirstad's fantastic session with his 8th grade boys and Kristina Ploeger's Be Not Afraid session on vocal jazz improv.  Pat Vaughan's Brethren sang the most memorable concert of the conference, a model of elegant programming and pacing, beautiful singing and emotional contour.  Another gorgeous moment was the collaboration of the Atlanta Master Chorale, Spivey Hall Children's Chorus and Kennesaw State University Men's Ensemble in the Episcopal cathedral Saturday morning.  Best food -- Marker 52's grilled oyster appetizer and seafood bowl (mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops, smoked fish, and house-made chorizo in a tasty broth).  For dessert -- Pavlova with berries!

Gorgeous Singing in Wichita

What an incredible few days with the Kansas All-State High School Mixed Chorus! They sang a gorgeous concert this afternoon of Mozart, Ola Gjeilo, Steven Sametz, Dan Davison, John Tebay, Stacey Gibbs, and my GLOTH OF GLORY. Huge thanks to Jane Vanderhoff, coordinator (and KMEA Teacher of the Year), Susan Lauschman, an impeccable pianist and gifted music educator, and the many others who contributed to the success of this choir. The 256 singers, themselves, were bright, engaging, playful, flexible, open, feelingful, and responsive to every suggestion and the smallest gesture. Truly a remarkable performance! Thanks to all for making this such a memorable weekend.