"The Best of Florida"

The theme of this year's state ACDA convention at Seminole State College in Lake Mary was "The Best of Florida -- a celebration of the choral tradition in the sunshine state", which featured clinicians, conductors and composers who all had significant ties to Florida.  Highlights were the exceptional Charles Robinson, who always inspires and moves me, and a performance by Cora Bella, the advanced women's choir at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, co-directed by Andrew Minear and Sandy Hinckley.  Though there were wonderful performances all weekend, theirs on Friday night was stunning and their performance of my RADIANT SISTER OF THE DAY is now the standard to which all other performances must be measured.  Brava to all!  I was also surprised and honored to receive the Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award for "dedicated service, leadership and consistent examples of excellence in choral music in Florida", Florida ACDA's highest accolade.  My sincere thank you to all my friends and colleagues.

October Snow!

Just back from the weekend in Princeton visiting Al Holcomb and George Grace, where Al is the new chair of music education at Westminster Choir College.  Heard bits of both James Jordan’s and Joe Miller’s rehearsals, had a fantastic autumn dinner at One53, and hopped small towns on Saturday during the season’s first wet, heavy snowfall.

It’s been a busy fall with performances of Verdi and Puccini opera choruses with the Orlando Philharmonic, directed by Christopher Wilkins, a performance and recording of Milhaud’s Les Choephores with the university percussion ensemble, and the first ever vertical virtual choir project with singers from Maitland Middle School, Winter Park High School, and University of Central Florida Singers, featuring a new piece on Scott Lounsbury’s original poem for this project, E PLURIBUS CANTUS.  I’ll give all the details about this project when the video debuts with a public performance in December.

102 in the Shade

It was a hot few days in San Antonio, where the temperature climbed above 100 and the TCDA Directors' Chorus performed BROTHERS OF THE SINGING VOID at the closing concert of the convention.  This was one of those really memorable performances -- only the second time it has been performed -- both conducted by my good friend Jonathan Reed.  The men brought a depth of maturity to both the sound and musical nuance, a warm, rich and pliable sound, molded by Jon (who I think will come to "own" this piece) and intelligent and sensitive collaborative piano accompaniment by Alan Raines.  It was great to reconnect with Alan, see great friends and colleagues, hear Craig Hella Johnson's commissioned work WE ARE -- strikingly beautiful text and music -- and be, again in this unique and inviting city.  Unexpected surprises were a wonderful dinner party in the "upstairs room" at the former-convent-turned-new-home-of-Liberty Bar restaurant, and a chance meeting with an undergrad dorm-mate I hadn't seen in thirty-some years.  Neither of us have aged!

Summer in the Bluegrass State

Just back home after ten days away, part of which was presenting sessions for Kentucky ACDA at their summer conference in Louisville.  What a great group of people!  It was wonderful seeing old friends (and students) and being part of a fantastic conference.  Congrats to President Brent Merritt for his vision and leadership, Lori Hetzel on her deserved recognition as the Robert K. Baar Award recipient, and excellent accompanist Glenna Metcalfe.

Food highlight was good wood fired pizza at the garage bar, which had just opened a few days earlier, housed in an old filling station on Market Street.  Funky atmosphere and nice food.  Enjoyed several days in Asheville, NC pre-ACDA and Chicago post, on an extended road trip and endured the southern temperatures as far north as Chicago where the car was registering 99.

Ear Worm...

I've had a fast and furious encounter with Lewis Carroll's famous poem JABBERWOCKY and have bits of stuck music -- fragments of rhythm, a few chord changes -- small bits all stuck and looping endlessly.  I sing it in my sleep.  I feel it in my body when walking.  I try to think of something else.  It's annoying.

I've encountered this many times, sometimes while rehearsing a piece intensively in an honor choir situation, but most often during the process of composing.  Maybe I'm working it out on a subconscious level.  Maybe it's just hopelessly stuck.  I'm singing it now...