Great Trees

I have long been attracted to Wendell Berry's poetry and have set his words to music a number of times: THE CIRCLES OF OUR LIVES, THE WHEEL, WE CLASP THE HANDS, THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS, and A MUSIC IN THE AIR. There is a strong connection to the earth, to generations, to cycles and seasons, to each other. I'm right now immersed in three poems about great trees: A Timbered Choir, I Go Among Trees, and Sabbaths 1998, for a song cycle project for tenor and orchestra for the University of Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, soloist Jeremy Hunt, and conductor Chung Park.  There's something profound about sitting still among great trees that "uphold weightless grace of song, a blessing on this place".

Hibernation

What an unusually extraordinary time we've been living through the past year!  I retired from the University of Central Florida the end of February of last year, after 30 years on the music faculty, and returned to Chicago.  Four days later, I attended my new division ACDA conference in Milwaukee and the next week... everything shut down.  My plans for reconnecting with friends and colleagues, attending concerts at Ravinia, Grant Park and the Chicago Symphony, traveling to teach, perform and adjudicate were all canceled. And still, this spring.  The rhythm of retirement from academic life has yet to settle in and the activity of composing has also taken on it's own, somewhat unpredictable, rhythmic contour.   

It's been a very long time since we've experienced music together, as creators, performers and listeners.  And, although teachers have found new ways to re-imagine what it is we do and how to do it in meaningful ways, it's not the same.  Because of the pandemic, masking and the 6-foot rule, we've been sequestered, secluded and isolated.  But I actually like the term cloistered, meaning "kept away from the outside world" or "sheltered". And, in a very real way, we've all been hibernating -- a state of minimal activity to conserve energy to survive adverse conditions. With the coming of a new spring (though there's snow again in Chicago today) there is a hopefulness that we'll begin to emerge soon from our hibernation to a sense of normality, a new appreciation for each other, and the music in our lives.

50 Works in 2 Days!

What a great couple of days as conductor of the Florida All-State Reading Chorus!  It's a peculiar thing... a chorus of the 100 students who scored the highest on their sight-reading and musicianship exams as part of the audition process that come to the first rehearsal having no knowledge of what they might sing.  Thursday morning they received a packet of fifty works I'd chosen from many times and places, historical periods, styles, languages, traditions, contexts and cultures. We then spent all day Thursday and Friday exploring these works and chose four to sing at a public concert Friday evening.  Oh yeah... and SIGHTREAD another piece ONSTAGE. What? (and to add a little extra stress, it was a David Brunner piece!) These students were amazing in everyway. Bravo to them and the teachers who encourage their growth in musical skills and understanding.

College Music Educator of the Year Award

I was honored to receive the College Music Educator of the Year award from the Florida Music Educators Association Friday morning at the state conference in Tampa.  I'm grateful to those who nominated and wrote letters of support for this award and humbled to be among the esteemed colleagues who have received this distinction in the past.  

December in the Northland

I enjoyed the holidays at the Prairie House and Chicago condo, spending time with friends and family, exploring the Christmas markets, new eats, and Andy Warhol at the Art institute.  Lee Kesselman's concert with his DuPage Chorale, the Chicago Master Singers, the road show of White Christmas, and Renee Fleming in The Light in the Piazza at the Lyric were musical highlights, and a lovely "family" Christmas dinner at Doreen Rao's Gold Coast home a new tradition.