W.W.W.!

I received a Warm Wando Welcome (I like the sound of that!) from Eric Wilkinson's singers at Wando High School in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina yesterday when I had the opportunity to hear them in rehearsal for the premiere of SEA FEVER, which they commissioned this year and will premiere at Carnegie Hall Easter Sunday. John Masefield's text has many images of the sea that resonate with these residents of the Charleston area and make me wish I had the good fortune to live in a similar place.  Bravo to all and best wishes for Sunday's big performance!

BC3 and JPS

What a wonderful time with the Berks Classical Children's Chorus in Reading, Pennsylvania Monday night!  I traveled north to work with them in rehearsal for their local premiere of SPIRITUAL MUSICK, which will take place May 1.  They are delightful singers who are inspired by their directors Kristin Diehl and Jeffrey Brunner (my long lost cousin?).  An added surprise was spending the night in the Wyndham Abraham Lincoln hotel, whose claim to fame is that John Philip Sousa died there after a rehearsal of Stars and Stripes Forever with the Ringgold band the day before!  No ghosts that night...

Spiritual Musick

The Children's Honor Choir at the national ACDA convention in Chicago sang a marvelous performance of SPIRITUAL MUSICK under the direction of Henry Leck on Saturday afternoon.  My time with them on Friday was delightful and I was impressed by their engagement, enthusiasm, hard work, and musicianship.  Though I'm a little late posting my impressions of their performance, the memory of their singing is strong.

216 New Friends

I had a great time with the 216 honor choir singers of District 11 at T. D. Woodson School in Fairfax, Virginia last weekend.  They were fantastic!  Congrats to all involved in this event -- dedicated teachers, host director Michael Ehrlich, great accompanist Melvin Goodwyn.  Bravo everybody!

Lake Effect Snow!

Just home from two great days at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, where I presented four sessions for the Michigan School Vocal Music Association.  Thanks to Erich Wangeman for the kind invitation and warm hospitality, Adam Boyce and his fantastic singers from Williamston High School for collaborating on "When Words Sing:  The Importance of Language and Ideas", and Todd Schreiber for great accompanying of the "Commodity, Integrity, Delight" repertoire session.  It was wonderful to see many old friends, some from college days.