Thursday, October 30, 2014
Our travels over Fall Break accomplished a number of things, all having to do with the heart. We started out in Barre at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Remember when I went to seshine with Michael? (see the blog entry from June 17, 2012) Well, he was finally making good on his part of the bargain – to come to something at IMS with me. Continue reading
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Ireland 2014
Michael will be taking the PU Orchestra on tour to Ireland in January, so we decided to go scout out some performance venues while having a bit of a vacation too. We flew into Dublin, stayed three nights at a lovely small hotel right off the bustling Nassau Street across from Trinity College. We saw the book of Kells, the famous library, and took the tour at the Jamison Whisky factory. We also managed to catch some fun music in various pubs in Temple Bar – Continue reading
Saturday, May 10, 2014
This year I got offered a spot in the highly prized retreat with visiting Burmese master Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Some of the 100 folks at this years retreat had been at his last retreat two years ago. Others had been on the long waiting list for that one and were thrilled to be here now. The list of yogis was also filled with well known teachers and celebrities, Continue reading
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Thankfully, this trip was already planned long ago. Boy did we need to be on a beach in Puerto Rico for Spring Break! I had learned about the small cottage in the low key west coast town of Rincon from my ISPP buddy Jane. It was sort of a project to get there – renting a car and driving almost 4 hours in Saturday afternoon traffic from San Juan to Rincon. Continue reading
Sunday, March 1, 2014
I’m writing this much later, luckily with the perspective of some distance, but for whatever reason, I thought I should document this part of the journey. January 29, I finally had my long awaited appointment in Philadelphia with Dr. Sataloff, famous ENT and healer of many singers. I figured I might as well get scoped by the best and see what was going on with my chords. Continue reading
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Australia: “Uluru” Ayers Rock 2009
So there we are standing in front of Ayers Rock, or Uluru, as the indigenous Australian people call it. It was winter down under, but we enjoyed beautiful October-like weather in the red center of the country. After a week in Brisbane at the voice teacher conference, Michael and I set out on a whirlwind 10 day tour of the top sights in Australia. 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
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
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
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
I had two more voice lessons with David back in February, after I got home from Barre. He was very positive and supportive. Each time I was there with him, I felt relaxed and comfortable and my voice felt good. Each time, he gave me new and different exercises, and I diligently practiced them at home, looking in the mirror to keep my throat muscles relaxed and expanded and the back of my neck long. Yikes, I tell my students the very same things, but it is so hard to be objective with your own mechanism! Continue reading