UCF Celebrates the Arts

The first annual UCF Celebrates the Arts at the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando was an incredible week of events that featured virtually every student in music, theatre, dance, art and digital media at the University of Central Florida.  Our Chamber Singers partnered with the Orlando REP Theatre in five performances of Civil War Voices (book by James R. Harris with music by Mark Hayes), on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination.  All choirs shared the main Disney Hall stage on Sunday night in a program that featured a collaboration with dancers from Theatre UCF, Eric Whitacre's LEONARDO DREAMS OF HIS FLYING MACHINE, and two movements of my Ecstatic Songs (DON'T GO! and ALL I WAS DOING WAS BREATHING).  Sandra Snow was the featured clinician on Tuesday for our first middle and high school choral invitational in this venue, culminating in an evening concert that featured each choir and a finale of my O MUSIC with the massed choir led by Dr. Snow.  And on Friday night we repeated the full choral concert at St. Luke's Lutheran Church.  A fantastic week!  We are all exhilarated.  And exhausted.

Stetson's Brainstorm

The excellent Stetson University Concert Choir, directed by Tim Peter, included my BRAINSTORM on their spring tour program this week.  Today they were at St. James cathedral in Orlando and I was privileged to conduct them for this performance.  Spirited singing and a top-notch pianist in Tammy Miller!  Thanks, everybody!

Four Choirs of Friends

Our biennial choir festival with singers from surrounding state colleges Thursday night was great fun and a huge success.  The Choirs of Valencia, Seminole and Eastern Florida joined UCF's University Chorus in an evening of great variety and beautiful singing.  Thanks for directors Dianna Campbell, Alan Gerber and Robert Lamb and Music Director Paul Kusler for hosting us in the beautiful sanctuary of Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Winter Park. Let's do this again!

Salt Lake City

Home this week from the national ACDA conference in Salt Lake City, a full schedule with many concerts of very fine choirs. The last time it was there was in 1985, the only conference I've missed in my professional life.   The musical highlight for me was the Desert Chorale performance in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, an expressive and emotionally deep performance in a gorgeous visual and aural space.  The venues of the Salt Lake Tabernacle and Assembly Hall were historic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was a large presence on several nights, including the final night's gala in the conference center -- a gigantic space that seats 21,000 people.  The chorus and orchestra were joined by the Singing Sergeants, the ACDA honor choirs, Sylvia McNair, and Santino Fontana in a program of American song.  I returned to the Tabernacle Sunday morning to hear the live broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word (it was the third dress for the women of the choir in three days) and had memories of watching this with my grandmother years ago as a boy.  It was great to conduct BRAINSTORM in the high school reading packet and IF I COULD FLY in the packet for children's choruses, to catch up with old friends and get to know new.  The food highlight of the weekend was Fincas tapas with Sandra Snow, and I was lucky to find the Rose Emporium the last day, the only location in Utah that brews Four Barrel Beans from San Francisco -- a favorite of mine!  Their BLT with candied bacon and butternut squash soup -- and a cappuccino -- were the perfect ending to a memorable week.

Festival Singers of Florida

Kevin Fenton's Festival Singers of Florida sang a beautiful concert last night at Winter Park Presbyterian church, which included my A DIVINE VOICE SINGS THROUGH ALL CREATION.  I stopped by rehearsal in the afternoon and was invited/persuaded/convinced to conduct it in the evening.  A joyous performance!  Thanks, everyone.