The Great Smoky Mountains

A terrific day at the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on May 4th with choirs from around the southeast and as far away as Indiana and Illinois. Always great fun to be with my dear friend Angie Batey and on the adjudication panel with her.

Heritage Festival in NYC

I returned to Worldstrides choral festival at Riverside church in NYC on April 28th. Always love hearing singing in that beautiful space! Also had great drinks and dessert at the Parker hotel with faculty colleague Noralee Garcia, who was performing in Weill Recital Hall the next day.  And then there was Bernadette. In Hello Dolly.  I'll just leave that there.

Handspeak with Singers and Signers

On April 21st Emily Ellsworth's Anima singers hosted a few hundred new friends from surrounding schools and students from North Elementary in Villa Park (who are part of the deaf and hard of hearing program) for SingFest, where they premiered my HANDSPEAK. It was a joyful experience to hear -- and see -- them sing and sign this wonderful text by Scott Lounsbury. Thanks, everyone -- Artistic Director Emily Ellsworth, pianist Bill Buhr and Lead ASL Interpreter Patti Kaden!

BIG. BERNSTEIN. MASS.

Last weekend we opened UCF Celebrates the Arts at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando with two performances of the Big Bernstein MASS.  It was something I've always wanted to conduct. Our fully staged production was a collaboration of students and faculty in literally every area of the School of Performing Arts.  The Mass is huge -- a large, liturgical choir, women's chorus, street chorus and children's chorus, large orchestra, rock band, four keyboards, marching band, dancers...  several hundred performers in all.  Jeremy Hunt, of the voice faculty was a powerful Celebrant and Jahdai Figueroa the perfect boy soprano. Robin Jensen prepared the children from the Orlando Opera Children's program.  Michael Wainstein's staging, the choreography, lighting...  It was all astounding, really, and a weekend I will not forget. 

Oh, and the following night the UCF choirs presented another concert of entirely different repertoire.  Journey to Justice (Singing the Journey) brought the civil unrest of the time when Bernstein was writing the Mass to our day.  The messages of the music focused on inequalities and injustices, prejudice and discrimination -- but also hopefulness and new beginnings, possibilities and change – the light of a clear blue morning.  There were also reading and archival recordings of singers from the 60’s:  Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary -- those who sang about injustice, civil rights, war and peace. Their messages are our messages.  We decided to forego tuxedos and formal dresses and sang as regular people, just like you, who have concerns about the needs of others. 

Mirabai Comes to Lubbock!

The Women's Chorale of Texas Tech University, conducted by Carolyn Cruse, performed my three ECSTATIC SONGS (All I Was Doing Was Breathing, Don't Go!, and Mira Has Finished With Waiting) choregie style -- staged -- in March.  What a great experience to be in residence with these singers for rehearsal and performance and to meet and work with the choirs and classes of the choral area.  Carolyn and stage director Greg Brookes brought the person of Mirabai and her words to life in a powerful way.  Brava to the women who sang her story!