Sunday, March 3, 2013
I have decided to take a break from practicing. The Richardson Chamber Players concert two weeks ago was a big success.Yet, as I wooped up to the high C at the end of Bachianas Brasilieras, I realized how much pressure I had been feeling leading up to this concert, and how relieved I was that I had gotten through it. Continue reading
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Dragon Mother with Princeton University Orchestra, Amsterdam
I have spent the past week mostly in bed, recovering from the stomach flu. Little did I know when I sat with Kendra on the bus ride from Cologne to Amsterdam and told her the story of my trip to Mongolia, (see Diva in the Desert on the writing page) complete with food poisoning and a memorably revolting bathroom at the last concert venue, that there would be a repeat performance on this trip. Continue reading
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Music 214 concert was last Saturday night, and it was a huge success! During the Fall semester, harpsichordist Wendy Young and I were co-teaching Music 214 – projects in vocal performance, as a Baroque Solo Cantata class. Continue reading
Thursday, December 27, 2012
I finally have some time to write about Dragon Mother. The whirlwind of the Fall semester has settled a bit over the holiday break and I can look back on the whole process of bringing this project to life. It started almost two years ago in the interval between semesters when I felt restless without enough to do. I decided to ask various composers to write pieces for me in the coming years. Continue reading
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Here is Hugo, our new rescue dog, his first day in his new home on Opossum Road. We picked him up on October 24th, in Aston, PA from a foster home in the Mid-Atlantic English Springer Spaniel Rescue system. He was found poking in an ally in Lancaster, PA and taken in by MAESSR – a very impressive organization all around!. Continue reading
Friday, September 28, 2012
Heading to Kansas to sing High Holy Days again, I decided to go out there a day early and visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. I had seen an article about it in the National Parks magazine and it looked incredibly beautiful. About an hour and a half north east of Wichita, in the Flint Hills, it was a bit too far to go back and forth in one day. Continue reading
Thursday, August 30, 2012
I have seen David five more times since the beginning of May. It has worked out to about 3 or 4 weeks between lessons, with various non-singing vacation/retreat weeks in there as well. Each time, he gave me new and different exercises. Usually I had just about gotten used to the previous set of exercises when it was time to learn others. Continue reading
Sunday, August 12, 2012
It has been two years since I sat a regular retreat at IMS. During the ISPP year, I spent study retreats at the BCBS Farm House down the road, did two self retreats at home (see “Beagle Retreat” on the writing page) and discovered the deeper quiet of the Forest Refuge. Now I was back to sit with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters and 100 other new and old students of theirs. Continue reading
Thursday, July 26, 2012
There I am, sunning on some rocks, somewhere in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, writing in my travel journal as my wet clothes dry, watching the Middle Fork of the Salmon River flow by and by. Michael and I flew to Boise, and drove three hours into the mountains to arrive in the tiny town of Stanley, Idaho, nestled at the foot of the magnificent Sawtooth Mountain range. Continue reading
Sunday, June 17, 2012
After hearing about sesshin at the Rochester Zen Center for 30 years, I finally went to one with Michael. What a wild ride! Michael and I drove up in two days, staying overnight in Cortland NY where we enjoyed a lovely dinner at an outside cafe.
When we arrived at Chapin MIll the next day, Michael loved showing me all his favorite spots. The country property is beautiful and the retreat center is open and spacious, yet compact and comfortable. Continue reading