Cody's Everyday Page.

Winter Update

2012-01-23T19:45:00.001-08:00

I know many people send out Christmas cards including a brief letter describing what has happened with them and their family throughout the preceding year. Given that I haven't really been posting here, I think such a note from me might be as good as any a use of this blog right now.
So what has happened to me since I last posted in September? I've made many new friends in school from a variety of classes, backgrounds, and ages. I am so pleased to become friends with people I have been acquainted with for up to seven years in many cases. They are all wonderful, beautiful people and I love them very much. The most important friendship I developed is a friendship with a couple separated from me by nearly sixty years. Dr. Bill Decker and his beautiful wife Mary have become some of my dearest friends. Bill and Mary have been incredibly gracious and loving to me. They can both attest that I spend an incredible amount of time with them - more than any of my other friends. From eating lunch and dinner, to spoiling their cats, listening to music, going to opera, visiting cities, and our weekly trip to Saint Stephen's in Wilkes-Barre, I have had incredible fun and memories with them that I will cherish forever.
On Christmas Eve 2011, I became the Organist and Choirmaster at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Bloomsburg, heading a choir of about twenty talented and dedicated singers. We rehearse twice a week and sing a wide variety of literature. I have made many friends through my new post at Saint Paul's and I could not be more grateful.
This Sunday, we will have our annual parish meeting, I have a report regarding the music program prepared - many things are looking good for Saint Paul's! Our membership has grown, we had a surplus due to far more income than we were expecting (a very exciting surprise), a new and successful fundraising committee, choral evensongs, and a forthcoming website. Most exciting of all, my friend John Shirley is preparing to enter the priesthood.
My grandparents are in Dayton now, I'll be visiting them in a few weeks for my audition in Oberlin. I am also auditioning at Eastman and Westminster Choir College in the coming weeks. I am very excited!
My sister Maeve is doing Super Saturday as well as Zumba for kids. She has also signed up to play soft ball! Riley has had some illnesses and visits to the hospital, but remains resilient and ever-vibrant! He's the funniest guy I know. Wilder has gone to Dayton to spend the rest of the semester with our grandparents. He rode a plane for the first time (and drove it! Courtesy of our uncle Dan sho is a flight instructor).
I am very thankful for friendship, peace, laughter, travel, church, school, music, play, and family. I've had a lot of those things this year and I am so blessed for it!

Growing up

2011-09-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Recently, I asked a friend, who I have not seen in quite some time, to lunch. Believe it or not, this is significant! After asking him to lunch, I thought it very strange and exotic. In previous years, friends and I could talk and have fun in school, hang out after sports practices, and pass nights away leisurely with hardly a worry. Times such as that are become less and less frequent! Now, it has occurred to me that I am not able to see my friends on a whim as I once could, and my life is no longer structured so that my friends are always nearby. I now have to result to adult tactics: I now have to be truly proactive enable to keep a friendship going. Asking a friend to lunch... there seems to be no other time in which we may both be free. I now have to ask people to lunch. Strange and exotic. I'm not exactly sure I like it, but I am growing up. These things happen.

I think myself quite smarter than I was a year ago. Being so young, I am by no means wise, but I have grown wiser than I was before. I am pleased to see myself and those around me grow, change, and improve. Now, I dedicate more time to myself than I did a year ago. I seek to make myself happy more than before - and others less than before. This is not to say that I don't seek to make my loved ones happy - I do - but I hold my own self as a higher priority and the results show.

I no longer accept any compromise for becoming a more skilled and experienced musician. I am working much harder in that regard than I did in the year previous. I've learned pieces by Howells, Mendelssohn, Purcell, and Couperin in the past month alone. My lessons with Mark Laubach have helped me to practice more thoughtfully and understand more fingering possibilities, increasing my overall technique. My conducting and voice lessons with Dr. Decker have helped extend my range and have added warmth and body to my voice, while maintaining the brilliance I already had naturally. I have been directing a church choir, learning service music every week, giving private sessions to soloists... it is so invigorating to teach and direct and organize!

Music aside, I've improved exponentially as a runner so far this Autumn. I've dropped my cross country time from a record of 23:05 last year, to a record of 21:36 - with a month left in the season to improve further still.

Now isn't a time for us to be concerned with others. Young people (my age specifically, and a few years older) must prioritize, focus on themselves rather than others, and make compromises less frequently. The time will come later in our lives when we will once more be able to focus on others more strongly and loyally. For now, I hope my young friends and peers strengthen their focus more on themselves.

Integrated Arts 2011: Week 1

2011-08-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Week One of the BTE Integrated Arts Camp 2011 is over! Integrated Arts is a two week day camp for students aged six through thirteen where students learn about the culture of a certain country or area of the world through art, music and theatre (and sometimes food!). This year, the theme is the Caribbean! The first week is over, and here is some of the artwork the students have made in art class. I'm going to update this post soon with some of their artwork! I didn't get any footage of music or theatre yet, but I will by the end of the second week!

Love and Companionship can be Painful Reminders...

2011-07-25T20:35:00.001-07:00

The past two days I've spent mostly at my friend Lydia's house. We watched the Beavis and Butt-head movie and 'The Bucket List', had a picnic, got soaked in the rain, talked, played life and just had a wonderful time. I love her so much and I truly appreciate the time I spend with her and her family. That being said, spending this time around them and thinking about how much I appreciate them gets my emotions going. Sometimes, it makes me think of things I regret and things I have lost. Now, in this reflectively sentimental state, I'm thinking about mistakes I've made - and how sorry I am for them. I love Lydia so much. However, thinking about that love - thinking about how much I love her and how beautiful she is - reminds me of how much I have loved others, some of whom I have lost, some of whom I have grown apart from.

Summer Music - Part 1

2011-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

My new position as assistant organist and choirmaster at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church is going swimmingly! The choir is unbelievably kind - they all know my name and I'm working hard to remember all of theirs! I've made some friends in the choir and have enjoyed their company, there are already some inside jokes which I am in on!

On July 20th, we had a rehearsal in preparation for a visit from Bishop Nathan Baxter. We had rehearsal at the Decker household followed by a party. I worked with the men in the basement while Dr. Decker worked with the women at the piano upstairs. After some rehearsing - we enjoyed a large meal (and just about everybody but me enjoyed beer or sangria!).

Here are some photos from the event, taking by Ken, a stunning bass.

Some of the men socializing before warming up with some hymns.

Men rehearsing in the Decker basement, myself at the keys.

Myself and Dr. Bill Decker at the piano after a successful run of the anthem

Bishop Baxter came, and the music was sublime - the choir sang very well and the bishop remarked how he was moved by the offertory and communion music.

At the same time, I've been playing in the pit band for the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble summer musical - 'The Landlover'. Here are some photos of the pit band after this afternoon's matinee.

DJ Mikestro (guitar, keyboard) and myself (keyboard)

L to R: David (guitar, mandolin, banjo), Connor (drums) and Nick (bass guitar)

Recital Success!

2011-07-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

My third professional solo recital was a success! I played very well and was confident from start to finish. We had approximately 87 audience members in attendance and raised just under $300 in free-will donations. Here is a picture of myself speaking before the final piece on my program.

My dear friend, one of my very dearest in fact, Darren Motise came down from Poughkeepsie, NY just to see me in recital. Darren, Courtney and I had lunch at Prana Juice Bar and the Namaste Cafe on Friday, followed by a trip to the mall. After the recital, my grandparents, the Deckers, some school friends and Darren and I went to dinner at Rosemarie's - talking about everything from what groups of people we would send to jail if we ruled the world, how intriguing/disgusting the Tyra Banks show is, dead deer, and much more. After dinner, we borrowed a lighter from a guy in reflections and set of fire crackers in the church parking lot - at midnight!
The next day, Julia, Andrea, Courtney and I had brunch with Darren at Bloomin' Bagels and bid our farewells until next time! Here's a picture of us taken by Darren:

2011-07-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

My third professional recital is in about 21 hours. I'm not nervous - but I am very stressed. I'm feeling rather depressed at the moment. But I shouldn't be, because wonderful things happen tomorrow! Darren Motise is visiting from New York. He and I are going out to lunch at Prana/Namaste at 1:00. At 4:00 we're meeting up with Bob Glass to see his Hauptwerk project. Also, my grandparents are visiting from Dayton, Ohio. The recital should go very well. Dr. Decker and his wife will be there, Harry, Courtney, Andrea, Hugh, Sam, Lyell, Alex, Kathy, Jessica, John, Mother Marjory, Lydia and possibly Dorothy, Alyssa, Abby and Mark, too! Afterwards, some of my closest and dearest friends and I will go out to dinner and have a good time.

I've been listening to a lot of the piano and chamber music of Mendlessohn and Faure lately, as well as Bach concertos and the typical Haydn masses. The music is depressing to me, at the moment. The music is so powerful and sublime - but I am feeling empty. This blog is becoming a diary it seems! Haha! Woah - watch out narcissism!

Recital Poster!

2011-07-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

The always amazing Courteny Sabo came into First Presbyterian Church to shoot some photos and today she sent me her poster design for my recital this upcoming Friday. I couldn't possibly be more pleased! The poster amazing! I'm having twenty-five printed and will post them throughout Bloomsburg.

The Greatest Hymn Harmonization Book Ever

2011-07-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

My dear friends Robert Fertitta and Darren Motise are about to embark on a project to create the greatest book of hymn harmonizations ever. I will help them in this endeavor by transcribing. The harmonizations themselves are all by Robert, but Darren and I will transcribe them through Sibelious or some such program and/or from recordings. I am confident that Robert's harmonizations will be an enormous hit among organists. Robert knows more about composition and musical structure than probably anybody else on the planet - he truly is a genius. This is going to be an amazing project which I believe could benefit church musicians and the church in general for years to come.

Appreciating

2011-07-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Maeve has a little bag full of girl scout badges. I hadn't realized she had so many badges! That little trooper!

Anyway - on to the lesson! Or... blog, excuse me! Lydia was gone for the past week and I missed her terribly, this got me thinking about appreciation. Those who know me know that, once I get started thinking about appreciation, I go overboard!

There are many summer things to appreciate. The other night, I went to a backyard movie night at Walker's house. We watched 'Airplane!'. I played some Messiaen on the piano for Hugh, who is a big Messiaen fan. I appreciate that he loves Messiaen and gets a kick out of 'Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle'. I appreciate just how gorgeous Andrea is, inside and out. I appreciate that Walker can put on these events on such short notice. Hugh gave me a slice of Boston cream pie which I had to eat with my bare hands which then got very messy and sticky - I appreciated that. We had a water balloon fight and I came out unscathed, partly because I'm a big sissy. Walker wasn't so lucky! I appreciated that!

I appreciate being FREE! Yay!

I appreciate Darren's humor and three hour phone conversations with him! I appreciate Robert's knowledge! I appreciate their appreciation of all great music! I appreciate their friendship! I appreciate Dr. Decker, Dorothy, Mark, and Mr. Glass! I appreciate Mr. Roberts! I appreciate getting locked out of Harrisburg parking garages! I appreciate that Lydia lives in walking distance and I can just go hang out with her whenever! I appreciate Dick Johnson's and Rees's humor! I appreciate all my Indy friends! I appreciate goofballs at AGO conventions! I appreciate going places with Courtney and Jet Puff! I appreciate BTE and the summer musical and being in the pit orchestra! I appreciate Sabo and the pictures and posters she makes for me! I appreciate everybody and everything that makes me happy - whether it's intentional or not! I appreciate all my friends past, present and future! I appreciate my family and my teachers! I appreciate those who make life great for me and I hope I can do my part to make life great for them too!

Recital and Visitors

2011-06-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

My third solo recital will be held at the Bloomsburg First Presbyterian Church at 7:30 on Friday, this 8th of July. I will be performing works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Franck, Messiaen, and Alain.

For the event, my dear friends Robert Fertitta and Darren Motise will be visiting. I presented Robert in recitals two months ago; he is the greatest musician I know. I hope to present Darren in recital in the Spring of 2012. Darren is a vegetarian so we're going to lunch at the Prana place on Main Street.

This Wednesday, Dr. Decker and I are going to Harrisburg to hear Mark Laubach in recital as part of the AGO Region III Convention. Mark is an incredible organist and musician, and a very kind friend.

Here is an excerpt of the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 22 in E flat Major:

Bittersweet! Bittersweet! Ohhhh bittersweet!

2011-06-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the Bloomsburg High School class of 2011 graduated, amongst them were many of my best friends, old and new. I am excited for all the graduates, but especially for those I know and call friends. I'm especially excited for Andrea Fronsman, Tyler Dalious, Lydia Heier, Courtney Langmeyer, Meghan Ashford, Kelsey Flick, Christian Tloczynski, Hayley Miller, and Katie Knorr. I cannot wait to see what they do and where they go and who they become! However, I think who they are now is just as important, if not more so. They are all inherently beautiful people.

Afterward, Mrs. Zimmerman was walking around saying "Bittersweet! Bittersweet! Ohhhh bittersweet!" repeatedly. I love Mrs. Zimmerman, but for a good half hour after going home, I still had 'Bittersweet... bittersweet... bittersweet...' playing in my head! Ha!

Well, anyway, here's some great music related to graduation and this school year. First is Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, which is where we get our 'graduation' march from.

Here is Michaela singing Faure's 'Apres un Reve'. I just have to put this here because it is such an incredible piece and she sang it so beautifully.

Pure joy. That's what Brahms Op. 39 Waltzes are - pure joy! Graduation is likewise a joyful event! May the rest of the graduates lives be as joyful as these waltzes, here performed by Dinu Lipatti and the legend Nadia Boulanger herself.

Lili Boulanger and Jehan Alain

2011-06-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Lili Boulanger may have composed very little, due to her untimely death of tuberculosis, but what she did produce is among the most beautiful music ever written. Her 'Veille Priére Bouddhique' is truly a monumental piece of music!

Her Pie Jesu, composed in 1918, was the last piece she composed, while she was dying.

This tragedy of a young composer passing at such an early age was repeated in 1940, when the twenty-nine year-old Jehan Alain, was killed protecting France from German invasion. His most well known piece is 'Litanies' from his Trois Pieces pour Orgue, played here by his younger sister, Marie-Claire Alain.

'Jardin Suspendu', also from the Trois Pieces, is another favorite Alain work of mine.

My new favorite passage of all time

2011-06-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Nadia Boulanger was one of the greatest human beings to ever walk this Earth, I am convinced. This passage about her says so many great things about that wonderful lady, music, composition, understanding... EVERYTHING.

"When I met her, I showed her my kilos of symphonies and sonatas. She started to read them and suddenly came out with a horrible sentence: "It's very well written." And stopped, with a big period, round like a soccer ball. After a long while, she said: "Here you are like Stravinsky, like Bartók, like Ravel, but you know what happens? I can't find Piazzolla in this."

And she began to investigate my private life: what I did, what I did and did not play, if I was single, married, or living with someone, she was like an FBI agent! And I was very ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician. Finally I said, "I play in a night club." I didn't want to say cabaret. And she answered, "Night club, mais oui, but that is a cabaret, isn't it?" "Yes," I answered, and thought, "I'll hit this woman in the head with a radio…." It wasn't easy to lie to her.

She kept asking: "You say that you are not pianist. What instrument do you play, then?" And I didn't want to tell her that I was a bandoneon player, because I thought, "Then she will throw me from the fourth floor." Finally, I confessed and she asked me to play some bars of a tango of my own. She suddenly opened her eyes, took my hand and told me: "You idiot, that's Piazzolla!"

And I took all the music I composed, ten years of my life, and sent it to hell in two seconds."

—Ástor Piazzolla, A Memoir

That lady was a blessing to this planet. I never 'met' her, but she has still had a profound influence on my understanding of music and what I mean to be as a musician.

Igor Stravinsky and Nadia Boulanger

Mass for the Convents!

2011-06-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm currently learning Francois Couperin's 'Mass for the Convents'. This organ masterpiece is one of the great works of the French Baroque period! As cool as French Baroque music is - French Baroque pipe organs are equally cool!

Below is Jean-Baptiste Robin playing a movement from the Mass for the Convents on the Clicquot pipe organ at la Cathédrale de Poitiers, France. The organ which Couperin himself played his entire life at Saint-Gervais was also a Clicquot (albeit it a slightly larger organ).

The clicking sound the organ makes is actually the mechanics of the organ and its action - since this instrument was built in the mid-18th century, it has no electricity or anything to assist its operation. The entire functioning of this quite large instrument is mechanical, hence the clicking noises. These noises can be heard up close, but from down in the nave where one would be during mass or a concert, the clicking is to far away to be heard, and only the sounding of the pipes is audible.

Chorales, Chorales, Chorales!

2011-06-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Few things in this world exceed the beauty of great chorales and other music which incorporates great chorales.

Some wonderful chorales...

'In Deep Distress' - Johann Sebastian Bach (performed by Pierre Cochereau in 1959 on the Cavaille-Coll organ at Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris, France)

'O Man, Bemoan They Grievous Sins' - Johann Sebastian Bach (performed by Michael Murray on the Muller organ at Sint-Bavokerk in Haarlem, NE)

'In Thee is Joy' - Johann Sebastian Bach (performed by Ton Koopman)

Sonata no. 6 in D minor 'Our Father in Heaven' -Felix Mendelssohn (performed by Peter Hurford on the Rieger organ at the Ratzeburg Cathedral)

There is much, much, MUCH more great chorale music out there! This is just a grain off the tip of the iceberg!

Thinking Right

2011-06-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article about improving ones mind - of course it spoke of sleep and exercise and the like, but it also spoke of intentionally using experiences and thought to change one's mind. In terms of experiences, for instance, in my case, listening to, learning, performing, even analyzing lovely music or creating and looking at artwork are two great experiences I, or anybody, can do to help their minds and themselves. As for thinking right - thinking kind, loving, happy thoughts, can help to change the way one's brain works and can make one healthier in the end. Thinking thoughts opposite to these actually has much broader and more permanent consequences than people tend to think. Thinking bad thoughts can literally change the way one's brain works and make them less healthy - and more prone to continue thinking such thoughts. We all need to make a conscious effort to think right - if not for the sake of our health, then for the sake of the morality and justice that is in it. A loving, caring, selfless, forgiving, and accepting mind is the only truly moral and just mind.

Below is the Gloria from Franz Joseph Haydn's unbelievably gorgeous 'Theresienmesse' (Theresa Mass).

Hershey trip

2011-05-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today, the chorus and drama club went to Hershey park. The day was fun, filled with roller coasters, other rides, friends, Latsha, Aaron White, and more! I rode four roller coasters and, for me anyway, that is a proud accomplishment!

Spice of Life

2011-05-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

No person can take the spice out of one's life unless one allows them to do so. Well, I've been letting others take the spice out of my life for quite some time now. Which is especially unnecessary given my age! However, that ends. Nobody is taking the spice out of my life anymore! Better still, so many wonderful friends are returning to Bloomsburg from college - they all make me so happy. I went to the park with Breanna and Julia the other day - I love them so much! Happenings like these and angels like them remind me of what I used to love about life and why I loved it.

Whether it be Julia's irreplaceable laugh, or her uniquely inquisitive outlook on acquaintanceship... whether it be Breanna's lovely smile, or her quirky, often perverted sense of humor... whether it's Cheyenne's adorable voice, the way I look up to Carlyn like a big sister, the way Ashley has an aura of immense coolness radiating from her, the fact that Darbs is just forty pounds of love, kindness, and beauty in a human costume, Tyler's wonderful kindness, Eric's never-ending laugh (am I really that funny?), Danny's smile, Christian's heart, the way Kaitlin screams 'Mead' and used to give me car rides everywhere, the wonderfully awkward moments with Mr. Burrell, Kelsey's many impressions, Latsha's over-dramatics, Mr. Dodge's hum, Dr. Decker's down-to-earthness, Lyell's inability to shut the heck up in theory class, Walker's irreplaceable quirk and loveability, the fact that John from St. Paul's and I are like old pals after knowing each other for a week and a half, my father's enormous collection of vinyl records, the way Barbara G checks on what I'm up to by using her daughter's facebook accounts, Lydia's facial expressions, Andrea's talent for finding some goofy fun in any situation, Harry's uniquely wonderful - and frequent - eye roll, the way Hugh calls me 'Co', Robert's sensational antics and his incredible knowledge and admirable love of music, Darren's youtube links, the one waitress at Harry's Bar and Grille with the heavenly laugh, Loco Mama's drunken, cross-dressing, online ramblings, the fact that Father Les referred to me as his 'Easter Bro' during Holy Week, Dr. Jones's absent-mindedness, the ease of which I can speak with Dr. Polhill and the fact that he treats me as an adult, Angela's smile, Aileen's all-around-loveliness, Courtney's willingness to be my best friend and spend so much time getting lost, being bored, and indulging in intellectual discussions (without a table! Ha!) with me in her car, or perhaps the fact that I don't know if I've properly punctuated this paragraph (haha!) - I LOVE all of them and they make me happy. They inspire me. They restore my faith in myself and make me love life and the world!

:-D

Sometimes, we really would do ourselves well to appreciate the simple things. The landscape painted by Edgar Degas seen here below is unbelievably beautiful in its simplicity.

Broad Ripple Geese

2011-05-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

Broad Ripple Geese
-
The geese on the Monon scream hello
"HEY THERE!"
The walkers pay notice
"Hello!"
The geese advance
"I said HEY THERE!"
One thinks 'Silly geese!'
They are neighbor geese
They share with us
We share with them
We live together
Neighbor geese
Family in strange places
Broad Ripples scatter the canal
as the geese dive in
Broad Ripples scatter the water
as it makes its way toward drinking
"HEY THERE!"
Why! Hello, goose.
-

Broad Ripple is a neighborhood on the far north side of Indianapolis. While I live in Indy this past Summer, we would walk and drive through Broad Ripple on almost a daily basis. There is a cycling/walking path on what used to be a railroad track (the Monon) called the Monon trail. There is also a path along the Indianapolis Canal called the Central Canal Towpath. Geese congregate on these paths like they own the place. They are much friendlier than Bloomsburg geese! They are the nicest, friendliest geese I've ever encountered! I'm convinced they try to talk to humans. They make no effort to avoid the people running and walking and cycling, and they often make strange, loud noises as one passes - I've always interpreted these noises as them saying 'Hello!' What a great place.

Beautiful Paintings!

2011-05-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

These are paintings which make me happy. It is a a beautiful thing to be able to enjoy artwork such as this. It is fulfilling.

'Garden at la Hune, Saint-Tropez' - Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgranges

'A Slag Heap near Marchiennes' - Maximilien Luce

'Side Farm' - Andre Leveille

'Boat along a Bank' - Jan Viglbrief

'An Orchard in Springtime Bloom' - Achille Lauge

Mr. Davis

2011-05-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

I was making a children's book illustrated in water colors. Well, I gave up on that endeavor... but at least this awesome picture of Mr. Davis came out of it! I'm pretty proud of it. :-)

Todd Davis

Words of the Wise...

2011-05-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

Some great, true quotes by some inspirational people. Nadia Boulanger was one of the greatest influences on music in the 20th century, she is an inspiration to me every day as a musician. Johannes Brahms is known for having a myriad of great sayings, and this one relates both to his disdain for many of the nasty people in the musical community at the time as well as a basic truth about human society. Edouard Manet also inspires me as an artist. And Father McIlhiney is one of the kindest and most loving human beings walking this Earth. These people speak words of wisdom.

- "Everything we know by heart enriches us and helps us find ourselves." - Nadia Boulanger

- "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” - Abraham Lincoln

- “Those who enjoy their own emotionally bad health and who habitually fill their own minds with the rank poisons of suspicion, jealousy and hatred, as a rule take umbrage at those who refuse to do likewise, and they find a perverted relief in trying to denigrate them.” - Johannes Brahms

- "The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted." - Edouard Manet

- "Christ says that if God is going to forgive us, we must first become forgiving people ourselves. Whenever I say “I’m sorry,” I’m helping another person to find that forgiveness within herself or himself." - the Rev. David McIlhiney

-“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people” - Eleanor Roosevelt

Way past my bedtime...

2011-05-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's way past my bedtime, but I've been thinking about how much I love all my friends and how much I appreciate everything that is beautiful about them. My Courtney 'poem' which I have been continuously writing for over a year now. :-)

Courtney Langmeyer :-)

There is some really annoying chick
I think she’s annoying
That’s why

When I was in eighth grade
she pretty much attacked me
because she liked a picture I drew of James Marsden

Actually I guess it was ninth grade

But not really

So I tried to avoid her
because she creeped me out

Then we did a spontaneous exercise thing
She laughed at her one answer
But it wasn't funny
Like, at all

Silly her

Still weird

Then she got marker all over her face
and looked like a freaking weirdo

What a goofball

Then this one time
she was in a play
and everybody said her laughing was annoying

My mom got a headache

And she kept creeping me out backstage

I thought her laugh was the bomb

Then this one other time
she sang Danke Schoen really, really well

Then she was like
Blah Blah Blah don't put that on youtube

She thinks she's a bad singer
or something crazy like that

Then this other one time
I was really stupid and went away for the whole summer

What and idiot

Then this creep who is always bothering us was like
Oh blah blah blah SKYPEE

Then I was like
oh blah blah blah SKYPEE

Then I skyped Courtney instead

Then this other time
she was in this integrated arts camp

And we both thought Josiah was just the best
and then we went to a picnic and ate vegan food
and she got peach juice all over her face

She's one messy eater

Then this other time she worked at the fair
somebody's orangeade
she got paid and was so excited

then she had to buy mustard stuff

Then this one other time
she was going to audition for a play

She was really nervous

But she shouldn't have been!

Then we spent New Years in Jet Puff
We saw the donkeys and automated elves
and wondered where Santa Clause was with our chips?!

And she got a cool tie to put on her bag

Then she was the most beautiful Mabel in history
And she sang Ma-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-bel
We worked on it at the piano in the hall
She didn't seem to think I could help her
But I did

And she blew me away
She has a way of doing that

Then we went to Southern
Only we had no idea where we were going
Then we must have been on something
because it was right there
but we missed it
It was the glare, I betcha

Then we slept on Hugh's futon thing
and Walker was on the couch
I'm glad I was asleep
But years from now
we'll be glad she wasn't

She's so funny

That’s why I love Courtney Langmeyer

As the school year ends...

2011-05-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

A year ago (actually, one day short of a year ago), I wrote a post titled 'As the school year ends...' well this is this year's version of the same post.

To get out of the truck in the school parking lot and be tackled by my best friend after being away in Indy for two months. To meet Josiah, Grace, Romey, Sean, Jonathan, Eric, and all the other amazing kids at Integrated Arts camp! They still inspire me! To go around the circle and share about ourselves. To carry books to and from the Alvina Krause - except I didn't get to carry any books because SOMEBODY wouldn't let me! To help the IA kids paint and act and create stories and make Mondalians and Fridalians. To play games with them! To SCARE people!

To go to Walker's house - I cannot adequately describe the nostalgia that place gives me. To watch 'Dinner for Schmucks'. To see Hayley laugh harder than I thought a person could. To ride home in Hayley's green 'stalker car'.

To walk down Main Street near midnight with Courtney, Meghan and Carlyn - actually, I was 'stalking' them. To see that guy light up a 'cigarette' in front of the courthouse and then follow us creepily for a block or so after we laughed at him. To be given the stare of death by one poor man who didn't get our joke. To go to the last pond party before everybody left. :(

To run three miles, four miles, five miles, six miles, seven miles, eight miles, nine miles. To lose thirty pounds. To meet Coach Smoliga and Coach Stevens, Beavis and Butthead. To 'be destroyed... and lose' - in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. ;-) To have fun on the bus - Courtney, remember the changing incident? ;-)

To fall in love with the music Faure, Chopin, Brahms, Grieg, Poulenc and Stravinsky.

To wash cars. To be 'Colby Mildrew' - the killer. To run all over creation being counter productive. To wash the ALERO! To go to Balzanos. Pizza, pizza, pizza... I love pizza. "Um... um... oh wait - come back! I changed my mind! Ummm..."

To spend more time at the student council stand than probably any other student council member in history at the fair. To get some lovely new CDs. To 'click, click, click'. To keep losing Mo because he could keep up. To drink Orange-aide. To sit on the steps of Carver Hall. To steal someone's scarf! To always forget to tell Coach Stevens that we met the guy who wants to 'put his Volkswagen in the river' or something like that!

To run Diamonds. To have second Thanksgiving at the Ball household with so many awesome people. Yum! :-)

To learn to sing. To sing at TreeFest and the elementary schools and SUNCOM. To sing at the Mall and for a fund-raising dinner.

To spend New Years in Jet Puff with my best friend. To go to see the Christmas Boulevard. To see the cute donkeys and the demented automated figures. To wonder where the heck Santa Clause was with our chips?! To have lots of other fun times in Jet Puff.

To be the very model of a modern major general, and to hate doing it. To look forward to nothing at play except Kelsey, because she makes me smile and laugh, and that's what I needed to get through the evening. To take pictures of us shaking our heads with faces and see how our faces would look at a given moment. To just want to sit at the piano without being bothered by everybody under the sun!!! To go to O.Y.E.T.D. for once and only. To yell at my twenty daughters to get in bed before the top of act two every show and dress rehearsal - they were up and out of bed way past their bed-time every night. To see my best friends steal the show. To dance with Ashley backstage during 'Catlike Tread' every single night. To sit in the copy room with Courtney for the entire cast party, lamenting our youths.

To get lost trying to find Southern Columbia High School - accept we drove right up to it and somehow managed not to see (where the hell were we looking??? hahaha). To see a show done very well. To be recognized. To go to the Chinese restaurant.

To wish I had listened to Courtney! Actually, track wasn't that bad... but it was nothing compared to XC.

To go to Indianapolis and see so many great friends, people who care about me even though they hardly know me. To see Randy, Father Les, Alan Davis, Charlie, Anna, Cait, Mr. Boles, Jake, and Joyce and lovely family. To be so disappointed when I DIDN'T get to see Marilyn Vargo!

To have Robert Fertitta come and play one of the greatest concerts I could ever have asked for. To laugh with the waitress at Harry's. To meet Darren for the first time.

To have dinner with the Susquehanna Valley chapter of the AGO - a wonderful group of people.

To have the Spring concert go so much better than any of us were expecting. To accompany everybody's favorite song with Latsha.

To learn the importance of humility, dedication, kindness, forgiveness, and love.

Alain 'Litanies'

2011-05-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

The final segment of Jehan Alain's famous 'Litanies' from his Trois Pieces pour Grande Orgue. This is me performing on the 27 rank Estey-Fritzsche pipe organ at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, PA.

Wonderful people

2011-05-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Something is very comforting and consoling in having ones picture taken with wonderful people. It puts me at ease, which is no small feat. I am extremely blessed in that I have can claim to have the miracle of wonderful friendship and companionship with so many beautiful people. It is a blessing I by no means deserve, but it is an enormous blessing.

My mother and I. She truly is the best mother in the world.

Hayley, myself, Lydia, and Alex. Three great friends who I am blessed to know and be supported by.

Rees, Hayley, myself, and Maeve. Three GREAT people in every way.

My mother and I, with Maeve's head at the bottom.

Indianapolis Zoo visit

2011-05-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Maeve from the Indianapolis zoo.

Maeve looking strangely at the Giraffes

Maeve looking strangely into space

A slightly exuberant Maeve in front of the meerkats.

Recital by Robert Fertitta a stunning success!

2011-04-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

Robert Fertitta's long-awaited organ and piano recital was last night. We had a relatively small, but very enthusiastic and appreciative crowd, and ended up raising $392 in free-will donations! Dr. Bill Decker was there; it was lovely to see him as always! He told me his favorite piece on the program was the Faure Nocturne No. 6 (my favorite as well!). Darren Motise, a friend of Robert's and mine, came down from New York to see the concert as well! It was so great to have both of these friends visiting from out of town and bringing people together to hear such amazing music. I saw Pastor Steve today and he told me that everybody he's talked to has been raving about how wonderful the recital was!

Here's some pictures from the recital:

I introduce Robert at the beginning of the recital

Robert explains his program

Robert plays Brahms on the piano

Robert plays the organ, while I assist in pulling and pushing stops

I continue to assist while Robert plays

The sheet music for Faure's Nocturne No. 6, which Robert played immediately after the intermission

Indianapolis Friends

2011-04-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Myself and Dr. Randy Frieling at the pipe organ at Saint Paul's, Indianapolis


Myself and Father Les Carpenter (the coolest priest ever)

Indianapolis and other happenings next week

2011-04-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Indianapolis Day 1

I'm visiting my grandparents in Indianapolis. We arrived at around 9:30 p.m. last night. Early this morning, I ran 4.5 miles on the Indianapolis Canal Towpath in my new spikes. Fun fun! I got back to the house and everybody was gone (except my father, who was still sleeping) so I made myself breakfast. My grandfather had been at the Rivi (a club my grandparents belong to) to exercise, my grandmother, aunt, and Maeve went out to get breakfast, and my uncle went to work early in the morning.
At noon we went to the Good Friday Eucharist service at Saint Paul's. The choir (a partial choir today, the service being early on a weekday) sang in the back of the nave today; it was a nice, simple service.
For lunch, I had some left over ziti, a dish of mango slices, and a bowl of squash, apple, and curry soup (which was DELICIOUS!). That's one of the things I love about visiting my grandparents - the food is awesome! :-D
We went to the Fashion Mall just North of Indy in the afternoon. Maeve was given free samples of hair product and she bought some lipstick, then she wanted to go to the Body Shop and she ended up getting perfume there!
For dinner, we had my grandmother's home-made cod fish sticks, along with backed potato slices and sweet potatoes, and home made coleslaw (which my grandmother makes super spicy with lots of brown mustard). So much good food!
It was very cool sitting at a table with eight people tonight at dinner, as well. I love that big family feeling! :-D We had some good laughs today.
It rained all day today, but tomorrow it should be nice, and hopefully we'll go to a museum or the zoo or something.

Robert Fertitta's Recital - One Week Away

Dr. Robert Fertitta's piano and organ recital is exactly one week away! It's going to be an incredible event, I know! It's so exciting that one of the greatest musicians in the world - a student of the legendary Nadia Boulanger in the early 1970's - is going to be performing a concert - free admission - in Bloomsburg!
In addition to being an incredible performer, and having absolutely endless knowledge of musical structure and analysis, Robert is a professional stained glass photographer. He was gracious enough to photograph all of our windows entirely for free! The photographs came out wonderfully! Truly fantastic! To the right is our great West window at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, as photographed by Robert. I'm guessing this large window to be around twenty-five feet from top to bottom.

Rubinstein and Chopin's Polonaise

2011-04-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Artur Rubinstein

To be blunt, Artur Rubinstein is probably the only pianist in history who performed Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53, correctly.

Nine months ago, my dear friend, Dr. Robert Fertitta, was studying and analyzing this piece and shared modified scans of each page of the score to myself and several other musical colleagues - challenging us to figure out what was meant by the modifications.

Today, I figured out exactly what was meant. Further, I realized that by this analysis, Artur Rubinstein is probably the only performer to ever have played the piece correctly, at least in recording.

What is meant by this? Simply the adherence to the beat of three. Note that the very first measure is a quarter note, followed by an eight rest, followed by a group of two and then four sixteenth-notes. The quarter note is beat one, the eighth rest is beat two, the third sixteenth note (the first in the group of four) is beat the three. Going by the beat of the sixteenth note, the first measure is as follows:

Beat 1 of 3 - E-flat                    (16th beat = 1-2-3-4)
Beat 2 of 3 - Eighth rest            (16th beat = 1-2)
                   A-natural    (16th beat = 3)
                   B-flat                   (16th beat = 4)
Beat 3 of 3 - B-natural         (16th beat = 1)
                   C                             (16th beat = 2)
                   C-sharp             (16th beat = 3)
                 D natural    (16th beat = 4)

Then in the second measure, the eighth note of the E-flat chord is beat one. One is the downbeat in this beat of three, so this E-flat chord should be the downbeat of the second measure. HOWEVER, most pianists completely ignore this. They completely ignore the 16th beat for the first measure, turning it into a beat of two or a beat of three which ends not on the beat three which Chopin specified, but rather on what is supposed to be beat one of the second measure. The only two pianists I know of - and I've listened to a myriad of performances in this study - who perform measures one and two correctly as written (and the rhythmically identical measure groups of five and six, nine and ten, and eleven and twelve) are Artur Rubinstein and Evgeny Kissin. Those two pianists play the first two measures of the Polonaise rhythmically correct, like this:

1-2-3-1-2-3

Most pianists play the actual beats something like this, written here in actual beats:

1-3-1-2-3

Notice the first beat two isn't there... practically all pianists completely skip the second beat of the first measure and render it completely insane rhythmically. This translates into this:

1-2-3-1-2

Now you see that this mistake also makes the first two measures equivalent to five beats, even though it is actually six beats. So where does the sixth beat have to go when a pianist plays it wrong like this? Not on beat three of measure two, but rather on beat one of measure three. This bring about another problem...

In measures three, four, seven, eight, and thirteen through sixteen, the beat of three is constantly turned into a beat of two by pianists. The groups of sixteenth notes in measures three and four (as well as the rhythmically identical seven and eight) are almost always played, written here in their actual beats, like this (the second three is crossed out to show that it is a dead, useless, senseless beat the way most perform it):

2-3-1-2-3

This translates into this beat:

1-2-1-2-unspecified beat (rhythmically useless)

Now this makes no sense because of the grouping. Why does this happen in so many performances? Partly because beat one of measure three is being turned into a beat three for measure two, making up for the omission of beat two in measure one. So as most pianists play the Polonaise, measures one through four go like this rhythmically, using actual beats here (The measure is specified by the color of the numbers, B3 = beat of 3, B2 = beat of 2):

B3      B3     B2   B2
1-3-1 - 2-3-1 - 2-3 - 1-2 - 3

Does it get anymore discombobulated than this? Notice how the measures are split up nonsensically! The beat, very simply, is actually like this:

B3       B3      B3      B3
1-2-3 - 1-2-3 - 1-2-3 - 1-2-3

So, if this is entirely caused by the omission of beat two in the first measure, then both Rubinstein and Kissin should play measures three and four correctly, right? Wrong! Kissin plays the first two measures correctly and then still makes beat two the downbeat in a fake beat of two. This doesn't just happen in measures three and four, it also happens in the following measures with nearly all pianists (in fact, as far as I know, every pianist who has recorded this piece except Artur Rubinstein):

3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 87, 88, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 107, 108, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 151, 152, 153, 154, 157, 158, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 177, and 178.

That's eighty-nine out of one-hundred-eighty-one measures. Basically, most pianists play somewhere in the neighborhood of 49% of the entire masterpiece rhythmically incorrect. Now this is a very subtle thing, but if one goes through and listens and analyzes, Rubinstein is the only performer to be found who plays this entire piece as it is written correctly.

Lets celebrate by listening to the great Rubinstein himself playing. Here's to the greatest performer of this piece who ever lived!

BWV 532 Fugue

2011-04-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

A very fun piece to play. This is myself playing the Fugue section of Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Major BWV 532 on the Casavant Freres pipe organ at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. This organ has 90 ranks and 5,144 pipes.

STRAVINSKY

2011-04-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

I definitely have a Stravinsky obsession. Igor Stravinsky was arguably among the top six or seven 'classical' musicians in the world during the entire 20th century. His compositions are insanely gorgeous.

One of my favorite Stravinsky compositions, 'Scherzo a la Russe'. Three minutes of utter genius and beauty:

Here we see Stravinsky himself practicing/conducting a movement from his 'Pulcinella' suite. Words cannot describe this. He has such a definite vision of how his music is to be performed - seeing the composer himself directing an orchestra playing one of his own gorgeous masterpieces.... AMAZING:

Possibly my very favorite Stravinsky composition, 'Petrouchka'. This is a section of the Fourth Tableau, just a portion of the immense masterpiece that is Stravinsky's 'Petrouchka':

In this video, Stravinsky himself conducts the final movement of his own 'Firebird' Suite. The last two or three minutes are absolutely spectacular. The entire video is beyond words:

Fun Day with Puff

2011-03-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

Pretty girl waves her arms
Flails her hair
Crazy face!
Ya big goofy!

Ruthie laughs
Patrick squeels
Many crazy faces
Glitter everywhere
Paper on the tables
...an on the floor
The whole house is dizzy!

That couch in the corner
is occupied by a little club
a little band of robbers!
Juice and cookie robbers!

The big one are all wearing t-shirts!
I hardly recognize them
without dresses, jackets, and ties
Mrs. Polhill isn't wearing a t-shirt.
Lovely, stately lady!
She brings the little ones
things they have forgotten.

Pretty girl eats a bagel
Poofs of cream cheese
stick to her cheeks
Chocolate milk in a big carton
Fun day with Puff.

Angel-ic

2011-03-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Smile on that little face
makes me think of smooth blankets
vanilla
a bed after a long day
baby Angels!

She's on a mission!
Car Junior, Baby Car
Trooper makes us proud
makes us cheer
makes us scream
makes us dance (ha!)
Always new things for her

Funny little froglett
A few saw her
- go figure
now we all see her
Here's a big, general thank you
for Angela.

Family pictures!

2011-03-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

Some artwork by my family!

Family artwork on top of the Television cabinet

Abstract painting - oil on board by Maeve

'Flower' - acrylic by Maeve


'I love you Mom(m)y' - oils on board by Maeve

Rose magnet - marker by Maeve

'Horse' - Water color by Maeve

Baby Cody - Chalk pastels by Courtney Langmeyer (she's basically family)

The Beauty of Edvard Grieg

2011-03-12T12:40:00.001-08:00

Edvard Grieg is a mysteriously under-appreciated composer. Norway's greatest composer, he lived from 1843 to 1907. His music is both strikingly beautiful and undeniably innovative, creative, and original. Recently I've been delving into his music. As you may know from reading my blog, there is little which bothers me more than great composers going unrecognized. Grieg was one of the greatest composers of all time and a true genius. His works are of the highest substance possible.

He is best known for his 'Peer Gynt' Suite and his Piano Concert in A minor.

Check out these videos of those works (you'll probably recognize them):

Peer Gynt Suite: Morning Mood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbq-7o84jU

Piano Concert in A minor, Mov. I: Allegro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh-hV3tTS-E

Both of these are absolutely gorgeous works. However, as with most composers (actually all composers), there is so much more to the composer and so many works that go unheard and unspoken of. Here are some links to more of his great works. Unfortunately, much of his music isn't represented on youtube. Aside from orchestral and piano music, Grieg also wrote songs, and only a precious few of his lovely songs have been recorded and posted on youtube. The scores, however, are available at IMSLP and if one just takes a look at the music, one can hear how gorgeous it is in their head.

Lyric Suite, Op. 54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_lkjnaIXB8

Lyric Pieces, Op. 12, Op. 38, Op. 43, Op. 47, Op. 54, Op. 57, Op. 62, Op. 65, Op. 68, and Op. 71
(this is several books of short piano solo pieces. All gorgeous. This Berceuse is the first piece in the second book and is the most famous of the many pieces.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Rlkwq4JKg

Holberg Suite, Op. 40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNc5z2nu4MQ <--- Movement 1 of 5

Hjertets Melodier, Op. 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypNHslF5Q94 <--- Song 1 of 4

There is so much more glorious music by Edvard Grieg, but I'll leave you to find the rest on your own. Unfortunately, the vast majority of his compositions are not represented on youtube.

New Organ Console at First Presbyterian!

2011-02-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

Note mismatched, crumbled, and blank knobs.

As part of the church's upcoming renovation project, in addition to new lighting and an overhauled chancel, we are having a new console installed!

This is a huge deal! To understand... let me give you an idea of what the current console is like.

The current console was built by the Moller organ company for an organ (which no longer exists) in Allentown in the late 1940's or early 1950's. In 1976, when our organ was rebuilt, instead of making a new custom console just for our organ, the Fritzsche organ company (who rebuilt our organ and had possession of the Moller console from Allentown, and probably the pipe work too - our organ has one rank built by Moller, which Fritzsche installed). So it's not meant for our organ. Because of that, there are blank stop knobs and the bottom keyboard doesn't do anything except couple and play the harp and chimes.

In addition to this, the console physically shows wear. Being about 60 years old, many labels have broken off (so one doesn't know what certain pistons do). In addition to that, many stop knobs have crumbled because of the age of their plastic. They have been replaced (several times) with new knobs that don't match the old ones. Some knobs don't even say the correct stop names! The keys are yellow and chipped, the wood is scratched, numerous pedal coupler contacts do not work, divisional unisons and busted swell to choir couplers are busted. New problems like these occur on a regular basis.

Note mismatched knobs and crumbled labels.

Being very old electro-pneumatic action, the console has developed some enormous leaks in it's wind supply, and develops new leaks on a fairly regular basis. Due to the action itself, let alone with the leaks, pistons are very slow to act and some reversible pistons hardly work at all. The console literally weases. One can hear quite audibly the wind leaks wooshing inside, and the sag when a piston is hit.

Further, the organ console is enormously tall and deep. Enable to fit all the pneumatic action inside, the shell of the console had to be huge in those days.

Lastly, the current organ console is not movable, which makes seeing an organist play during a concert impossible. This also makes it impossible for an organist to properly judge the balance between the pipes on the West side of the chancel and pipes on the East side of the chancel.

With a new console, all these problems will be solved!

Here we see the monstrous pneumatic action of the current console.

Note yellowed keys, missing key faces, yellowed pistons, and general wear.

A new console will use Solid State Electric action, which is quieter, more versatile, and more reliable than Pneumatic. This electric action allows for a much smaller console shell, a console which can be moved throughout the chancel for concerts and for the organist to hear the balance between the pipes on the West and East sides of the chancel. Solid State will also allow us to have more pistons and multiple levels of combination memory.

With a new console, all aesthetics would match, there would be no blank knobs, all coupler contacts would work, all pedal contacts would work, all reversibles would work, and pistons would act much faster without putting any strain on the console whatsoever (as the current pneumatic system does).

The cost of a new console would be in the area of $50,000.

Our console will most likely be built by Patrick J. Murphy and Associates Pipe Organ Builders. Here are some pictures of what their consoles look like (and what ours may look like).

This movable console is in concert position so an audience can watch during a concert.

Since people are going to see it, a new console will be much more attractive.

Not how much shallower this console is from front to back as compared to our old Moller console. Also note how the horizontal stop jambs and flat top make the console much shorter.

Best of all - here is the Solid State electric action of a new console. Much smaller (as well as more versatile and reliable) than the mechanical pneumatic action in our old Moller console.

To rank or not to rank?

2011-02-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

Recently, a music critic for the New York Times published an article which ranked 'the top 10 greatest composers of all time', in order. The idea being that number one is the greatest composer of all time, number two the second greatest and so forth. What do you think of such a list? May we be clear that this is not a list of his favorite composers, but, rather, the ones he thinks are the greatest. Ten who he says are superior to all others in innovation, creativity, and impact.

I could make a list of my favorite composers. That would be a relatively easy task, and says nothing of the so-called 'greatness' of those composers; it merely displays the whose music I enjoy listening to the most.

What this New York Times article asserts, on the other hand, the undisputed, generic greatness of composers.

By now, you have no doubt came to your own conclusion about this article. Likewise, you've probably figured out what I think of it. I believe the entire idea of this article is absurd. It is ridiculous. Not only that, it is also offensive to the legacies of all great composers, in my opinion.

Here is the article where you may find the list:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/arts/music/23composers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=anthonytommasini

An altogether insane idea.

Spring Concert Program!

2011-02-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

I know have a tentative program for Spring organ recital! Here it is. You'll notice it is for the most part a rather mellow recital. First the lovely Sinfonia from Cantata 29 to get their attention (everybody seems to love that piece), then the gorgeous little Andante from Mendelssohn's third organ sonata to calm things down, this is followed by two monumental pieces by Cesar Franck in B minor and B major. The first half of the program is ended with a fun piece, d'Aquin's Noel X in G Major (known as the 'Echo Noel'), to loosen things up after around fifteen or sixteen minutes of Franck.

The second half of the program is a little more dense, it starts with a set, two pieces in A flat Major. First the Adagio from Mendelssohn's first organ sonata, followed by the Romance sans Paroles, No. 3 by Gabriel Fauré. It is my hope that I can make these pieces run together, since they are both in A flat Major and are of similarly sweet dispositions. I put them in this order because the Romance is slightly more light and bubbly, to give them a little break before the Messiaen starts. After the A flat Major set, I will be playing two monumental Messiaen pieces, the 'Apparition de l'Église Éternelle' and (from the Ascension suite) 'Prière du Christ montant vers son Père'. Each one is about ten minutes in length, neither are easy listening, they are both very heavy music. This will be a test of stamina for myself as well as the audience! After the Messiaen, to loosen things back up, I will play a lovely Andantino in G minor by Franck. The Andantino has sections in G Major and B flat Major which, in addition to it's light character, will help to get the attention of anybody who was lost with the Messiaen. I will conclude the program with Franck's Offertoire (Andantino) in C Major from 'l'Organiste'. I plan on playing this piece a little differently than we are used to. Firstly, most people play this piece at the pace of a slower Andante, but it is an Andantino and should be played slightly faster. Secondly, this piece was written for Harmonium, which has a much smoother system of volume dynamics than an organ; at the same time, the harmonium's variety of types of sounds is much more limited. For this reason, when playing it on a pipe organ, I will be using the organs systems of volume dynamics (via crescendo pedal) the same way one would pump faster on a harmonium. In essence, I'll be playing this piece much differently than people are used to. However, I do not do this without reason. I believe this is the way a harmonium piece should be played on an organ. If we look at other transcriptions by composers of their harmonium pieces to the organ, one notices the registrations of often dynamic and complex, not singular as so many people play the pieces from 'l'Organiste'. Truly I believe playing the way I play makes more sense considering the music. The Offertoire will be a gorgeous and dynamic way finish to the concert.

Johann Sebastian Bach

    - Sinfonia from Cantata 29

Felix Mendelssohn

    - Andante Tranquillo from Sonata 3 in A Major

César Franck

    - Prelude, Fugue and Variation
    - Cantabile in B Major

Louis Claude d'Aquin

    - Noel X

                                     ~Intermission~

Felix Mendelssohn

    - Adagio from Sonata 1 in F minor

Gabriel Fauré

    - Romance sans Paroles, Op. 17, no. 3

Olivier Messiaen

    - Apparition de l'Église Éternelle
    - Prière du Christ montant vers son Père

César Franck

    - Andantino in G minor
    - Offertoire in C Major

Indianapolis again!

2011-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

What's new? We're supposed to be going to Indianapolis in mid-April for four or five days! OH YEAH!

Chancel of Saint Paul's in Indianapolis

I cannot wait! I love Indianapolis. Aside from that, there are so many wonderful friends and mentors there!

I can't wait for the music! I can't wait to hear Saint Paul's AMAZING choir, to play their amazing organ, to hear the trebles sing to the heavens with notes so high and perfect, to hear Robert Richter's fabulous playing on the organ, and hopefully more!

I can't wait for the people! I can't wait to see my grandparents, Aunt Ariana and Uncle Dave. I can't wait for Father Carpenter and Mother Denton to brighten up my day with their cheerful personalities and senses of humor. I can't wait to see Evie, Cait, Anna, Charlie, and everybody in the choir! I can't wait to see Marilyn Vargo at her desk, trying to give me candy! I can't wait to see Frank Boles and have him tell me to practice quieter! I can't wait to see Randy Frieling sitting on the piano bench with both legs to the same side, his amazing personality abound! I can't wait for everybody at Archway! I can't wait to see the Balke family!

I can't wait for the city! I can't wait to brave the intersection of Meridian and Kessler (lets hope I survive)! I can't wait to drive through Broad Ripple at night! I can't wait to see the ducks and geese on the canal! I can't wait to see all the mansions on Meridian! I can't wait for Center City Circle! I can't wait for the Canal Trail and the Monon Trail! I can't wait to eat in the sun room! I can't wait to go to the IMFA! I can't wait for the dark mornings and bright evenings!

I love Indianapolis so much! And I can't wait to visit!

The Uniformity of Gabriel Fauré

2011-02-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Fauré in 1864

Gabriel Fauré is an extremely under-appreciated composer in my opinion. I would easily rank him among the top ten greatest composers of all time, and probably even the top five.

I have numerous reasons for this. First, his music has such a distinctive voice. Upon hearing a piece by Fauré, one instantly knows it is by Fauré. He is very unique and distinctive. The texture, structure, dynamics, emotion, and melody are all so distinctively charming and recognizable.

Another reason for which I consider Fauré to be one of history's greatest composers: his impeccable gift of conceiving melodies. One will instantly think of the 'Pie Jesu' or 'Libera Me Domine' from his Requiem, his Pavane, his Sicilienne, his 'Romances sans Paroles', Op. 17 (especially number 3), and his Barcarolles (especially the first, Op. 26). But the average listener knows little more about Fauré and his music. Like I said, he is, in my opinion, tragically under-appreciated composer. The majority of works by Fauré are little known to the majority of classical music listeners, and rarely see live performance anywhere. All of his works show the same taste for incredible melody as the ones mentioned above. Consider for instance his Nocturne No. 6 in D Flat from Opus 74, the frame work for a GORGEOUS melody is set in the beginning of the work, the matured theme which is based on this form comes later on. This melodious theme is an utterly beautiful and genius conception, and the way Fauré sets up the structure in the beginning and builds up to a flourishing maturation is as genius as the theme itself. (I should add, all of his Barcarolles and Nocturnes are genius masterpieces. Fauré never composed a single bad note in his entire life.)

Fauré around 1900

Another little known masterpiece (in fact far less known than the nocturne, one of the least known masterpieces in the entire history musical literature) is his opera, 'Pénélope'. This opera has only been recorded twice and has only been performed in the United States twice, ever. Performances in Europe are only slightly more common than here in the United States. But this opera is a gorgeous work, full of wonderful harmonic construction and development, development and maturation of motifs, gorgeous evolution and melody.

Still, the thing which strikes me as his strongest point, his most genius quality as a composer, more than any other advantage (and Fauré had no shortage of those!), is his unending uniformity. This uniformity between movements and works is astonishing, no other composer in history had such perfect and natural inter- and intra-work uniformity. Themes and motifs and structures and more are reused with again and again, each time with a different spin and overall meaning. This quality finds its epitome in Fauré's piano-chamber music: his Piano Trio, his two Piano Quartets, and his two Piano Quintets. The uniformity between the two Piano Quartets, I feel, is the strongest, but all five of these works are closely strung with genius and diverse uniformity. They are all a combined, continuous work, in my opinion. The Quartets and Second Quintet share a stronger connection to one another than they do the Piano Trio and first Quintet. Likewise the Trio and first Quintet share a stronger bond to one another than the Quartets and second Quintet. Still, all five are connected and bonded to each other. These chamber works are his greatest masterpiece in my opinion, and on top of that, among the greatest works of the entire literature.

Compare, for instance, these movements from his Piano Quartets:

Piano Quartet no. 1, Movement 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPZGPIdv07c

Piano Quartet no. 2, Movement 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekCCsVp4pi8

Piano Quartet no. 1, Movement 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YKAgucdSC4

Piano Quartet no. 2, Movement 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7l5JPr-KN8

This inter- and intra-work thematic and structural uniformity and inter-work bondage is basically unparalleled anywhere in musical history.

Now consider the first movement of the Second Piano Quintet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyfPpwZe0_U

We hear a much more mature and earthy composition here (it was composed much later in his life than the two quartets), but the elements are still continued. The bond is still strong.

This phenomenon continues much further, and not just in these chamber works. I should add, his Piano Quartets and his Second Piano Quintet are among my favorite all time works. Every movement of these three chamber works is sublime, pure heaven. Take a listen to them in their entirities... absolutely gorgeous music. Absolutely genius music.

Fauré remains for me one of the greatest composers in history, and one of the greatest geniuses to ever walk this Earth.

Great Developments at First Presbyterian

2011-02-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Update: I'm now going to be doing all my posting on my everyday page! :-)

So what is new? Yesterday I met with Thomas Dressler, a notable organist and harpsichordist. Thomas is coming to Bloomsburg to play a concert at the First Presbyterian Church this upcoming Autumn. I met with Robert Fertitta, noted organist and musicologist in Connecticut, in December. Robert is playing a concert at the First Presbyterian Church this April.

Bright things are in the future for the music program at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg!

Thomas Dressler and myself at the organ

From 2000-2009, we had only one organ concert at First Presbyterian. The concert was in 2003; the organist was the German virtuoso, Felix Hell. In 2010 I played my premier recital, marking the beginning of many more concerts to come. This year, we'll see three organ concerts: one in April, by Robert Fertitta, one in May, by myself, and one in the Autumn, by Thomas Dressler. That makes four organ concerts in the past two years, as compared to one in the preceding ten years. That's all on top of the two piano concerts we have had by accomplished pianist Dr. Dylan Savage in the past two years.

Thomas Dressler, testing the organ at First Presbyterian

With more concerts, more opportunities to bring great music of all kinds to the town of Bloomsburg, and with our new Blüthner Concert Grand piano, everything is looking bright for the music program at First Presbyterian!

These improvements are unbelievably exciting!

I am so happy helping to bring great music to Bloomsburg, and that incredibly skilled musicians out there are willing to come all the way to Bloomsburg to play concerts for quite low pay (donations/free will offerings are the only source of revenue for these concerts). The generosity of these musicians is astounding. I am delighted to the extreme for their willingness to share great music with people in this community.

By the way, if you're in the are, you're INVITED(!) to come to all three organ concerts this year. I think they will all be fabulous events!

Blog

2011-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

A month ago I said I would no longer be posting. However, I was frustrated and just got caught up in a lot of emotions. I wasn't thinking clearly and was being stubborn. I have been much better since then, so I've decided I can still blog after all.

New Years!

2011-01-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

I was going to make a post about New Years... but I can't. I am unable to blog freely since I've learned that a certain two people are using this blog as a way of monitoring me. So I'm not going to blog anymore.
Blogging is something I have very much enjoyed doing. I do not want to stop. However, it seems some are determined to put all good things to an end for others. For that reason, it is in my best interest that I stop.
If I desired, I could continue posting, but my posts would be fake, highly edited, and without most of my true feelings and thoughts. That would probably bore you... ;-)

Trip with friends to Saint Stephen's in Wilkes-Barre!

2010-12-29T17:19:00.000-08:00

This Tuesday, I went spent the day at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Pro-Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre playing the gorgeous Berghaus pipe organ there (the largest and by far the finest organ in all of Northeastern Pennsylvania). Robert Fertitta, Harry Martenas, and Saint Stephen's own organist, Mark Laubach, were all there as well. Mark dazzled us with his incredible virtuosity for most of the day!
It was a lovely get together with fellow organists!

Here's a short clip of myself playing Bach's fugue in D major (BWV 532) on the pipe organ at Saint Stephen's. This is just a small portion of the masterpiece.

Things to be Thankful for

2010-12-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

These are the top ten things which I am thankful for in the year 2010!

I am thankful for:

1. My wonderful family, they're THE best!
2. My BEST friends COURTNEY LANGMEYER and MEGHAN ASHFORD!
3. All the friends I've made, especially Danielle, Darbs, Breanna, Julia, Cheyenne, Trevs, Hayley, Liz, Kaitlin, Carlyn, Paige, Ashley, and Tyler!
4. Attending organ camp in Bloomington Indiana!
5. Starting to run and joining cross country!
6. Losing 30 pounds!
7. Having my first solo organ recital and raising $700+!
8. The school Spring Musical and all the work Mr. Latsha does!
9. All the work all the teachers at BHS do!
10. All the wonderful music I've discovered and fallen in love with!

Good job 2010! You've been a good year!

My favorite friend picture

My best friends

My best friend and I

My sister and I

Trevs and I

Danielle, Ashley and I

Cross Country team

Myself after my first concert

Organ lesson with Dr. J.D. Christie

My brother and I

FRIENDS!

Visits

2010-12-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

First off, a very happy Christmas to anybody reading! Make the best of the holiday!

The best part about this time of year, for me, is when friends and family visit. For me, this is especially important because my family is very spread out. I have family in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, and California!

On the 30th, my Grandparents from Indianapolis are visiting us here in Bloomsburg, spending the night and then off to upstate New York where about half, or maybe a little more, of my father's side of the family lives. It will be so nice to see them! I spent the summer with them and haven't seen them since they brought me back here in the first week of August. I've definitely missed them and I can't wait to see them!

Now, something a little less ordinary. First off, some background. I've made many acquaintances and friends as well over the internet through networking with other organists and classical musicians online. I've made friends with conservatory music professors, professional performers, amateurs, music students, and music enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds from all over the United States, as well as in Canada, England, and Sweden. I've already met several of these acquaintances. Rees is a teenage organist from Arkansas, I met him this past summer in Indianapolis, Jon and Robert are two more organists who I became friends with online and later met in the Indianapolis area. On the opposite end of the age spectrum, Robert Swift is retired organist I became friends with on youtube, then met in Richmond, VA where my grandparents lived at the time. We had him over for dinner.

This upcoming Tuesday, the 28th of December, I'll be meeting two wonderful friends and mentors who I have known online for over a year now. Robert, a retired music professor at Purchase College, and a former student of the legendary French teacher of music, Nadia Boulanger, as well as an accomplished concert organist, accompanist, and chamber performer, who has made several professional recordings and published several candanzas, among other honors, lives in Connecticut. He is driving down that morning, on the way, he'll pick up Darren, a Juliard graduate with a degree in piano performance, as well as a former professor and accomplished organist and choral director, who is in New York. En route, they will stop in Wilkes Barre and meet with my friend Mark Laubach (a VERY accomplished, award-winning concert organist) at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Pro-Cathedral (Home to the largest, and arguably the finest, organ in Northeastern PA). I will meet them there and after playing that organ and spending some time with our friend Mark, we'll end up in Bloomsburg. They're staying for two nights.

How did this trip come about? At first it was just Robert, coming down to try out the organ at my church, since he is playing a concert here in April. It is very important for an organist to become acquainted with an unfamiliar organ before playing a concert. Many concert organists will make a trip in advance to test out the organ they will be performing on. This trip was originally going to be only that, but we decided why not make an event of it?

So Darren is coming along and I am going to meet my two friends for the first time! It's an amazing thing! To think I can have such a friendship with two people I've never met in person! (I should mention, Darren and Robert have known each other personally for many years)

Darren and Robert are both polished, professional musicians of the very highest caliber, they are both incredible performers and teachers and have been wonderful mentors to me as a musician. Already they have taught me much about music just through message exchanges on facebook and youtube.

I should add, not only is it amazing to make friends this way, but to instantly extend artistic and musical ideas and knowledge to others who are interested via the internet, I feel, can only have positive effects on art and music.

So here's to visiting family, if only they could be closer all the time! And here's to meeting good friends for the first time!
Have a happy Christmas!

'The Imp of Perverse' and Animal evolution

2010-11-22T16:09:00.000-08:00

For a recent American Literature class assignment, we were asked to write a paper on certain aspects of Edgar Allen Poe's story, 'The Imp of Perverse'. Having an interest in evolution and biology, I recognized ways in which this story and the evolution of mobile animals, and therefor humans, are linked.

Here is the paper:

I think ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ has a lot to say about humans, how we act, why we act that way. If one reads it with an open mind, it gives a lot of insight into things we may not have though about before. In the beginning of the story, the ways in which human nature is self serving are discussed; how the human brain functions in a way, weather designed or developed, which seems to naturally pick the best decisions. Many qualities which make us an advanced species are presented. Poe writes of conceptions about human nature, speculating on consistent traits, and their origins.

This is rather interesting for Poe to be writing about this during the time when he lived. From a modern perspective, he’s talking about evolution, he’s talking about how we progressed to where we are as a species. The impulse which is the main focus however, seems to break away from this theme, at least to anybody who isn’t thinking when they read this story. The impulse of the perverse (both of the perverse in that it deviates from these other self-serving traits, and in that it is a impulse exhibited by perverse humans) does not serve the human which acts on this impulse, making it inconsistent with other human consistencies. This is an idea which causes some challenge for anybody who hasn’t thought about it. In the end, though it doesn’t seem so on the surface, it is self-serving after all.

Explanation: To kill one of the same species, one of ‘your own kind’, without reason goes against evolution completely, evolution has developed all animals in a way which contradicts this. That is not to say that to kill one of the same species with reason is perverse as well, that does fit into our evolutionary guidelines. Yet somehow humans do kill others of the same without reason. Where a psychotic brain is not evil, it doesn’t always conform with what evolution has provided us, it is deranged at least in personal, inner sense, and possibly in a physical, chemical sense. This is what allows a psychotic mind to kill another of its own kind without reason. It’s a deformity of mental process. When such a killer turns himself in, when he confesses knowing full well (and fearing) the consequences, it is a fluke in his psychotic brain, a reforming of deformity, a reciprocal mutation of normal sub-conscious thought process which is acting in favor of the species at large, humanity. Still today many don’t understand this functioning, for whatever reason. We know the narrator is a psychopath because he speaks of his planning of the murder, showing his insanity. Speaking of all the ideas he’d decided against and then finding fancy in one in particular shows further his deranged character. The fact that Poe wrote a story explaining this phenomenon of human nature in 1845 is amazing to me.

To delve further into this theme of evolution (or design)… Poe also writes about the anxiety and fear those with guilt experience, which may drive them to confession, to make right, even if it hurts them individually. This is all part of the drive of the impulse. This seems like selflessness on the confessors part, but it is as science understands it, it is a self-serving trait. This wonderful characteristic which is selfish in such a good way, a beneficial way, a compassionate way. It is selflessness driven through selfish origins in the brain. It is the ultimate in perverseness.

Several conclusions can be made about the imp. The first is that it is a part of divine design which seeks the justice and welfare of general humanity. The second is that it is fluke of evolution which does not serve the individual (this conclusion I would say is absolutely false). The third is that it is a part of humanity independent of the many ‘consistencies’ (lending themselves well to superficial thinking) embedded in us by God. The last, the conclusion which I subscribe to, is that it is not a fluke, but a miracle of predictable evolution, selfish in every way, as are all traits.

Poe brings all these ideas out in perfect fashion at length before the actually story begins, leaving no room for any question as to what the reader is to look for. When the story teller begins to explain his situation, science is left behind at once and for good, the ‘story part’ of the story, is completely free of the previously discussed questions and theories and sciences. This part is completely human in our own perceived way, which makes it more relateable and more easily understood. The killer speaks of his planning of the murder, showing his insanity. Speaking of all the ideas he’d decided against and then finding fancy in one in particular shows further his deranged character and we get a sense of who this person is, again, in a truly human fashion. After all, we don’t judge people by the relation between their character and the evolution of humanity, we judge them by the relation between their character and personal, moral, and societal expectations and understandings (free from any science).

Speaking of the years that pass without guilt, the safety he felt and speaks of in an almost erotic tone, further exemplifies his insanity. This feeling of safety is true perversity, far and beyond more so than the imp! This is what makes him perverse, the imp is a perversion of his perverseness, causing him to act for good instead of evil.

On the last page, when the killer writes of the populace pursuing him through the streets, the hectic nature of the pursuit, the insanity of the human mob, and the sometimes savagely strong need for justice, become very vibrant. I can almost see the world shaking as in a movie, when random shots at various angles are shown in fast progression to a dizzy climax. This all from just a few paragraphs of prose. Now imprisoned and awaiting execution, he seems very matter-of-fact and indifferent about his situation.

Overall I think this story is more a demonstration of this human characteristic, it’s just up to us as to why the imp is what it is and where it came from. Being very interested in these subjects of human nature, evolution, and divine design, I absolutely loved this story. Discussing these issues in my head, formulating my ideas, and writing them down was equally enjoyable and challenging.

Realizations...

2010-11-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

I realize things a lot. I think that's a good thing because it means I'm always learning and growing.
Right now I'm realizing that there's an enormous bounty of love around me, and that my friends really, really care about me.

I'm a very lucky 16 year-old. Few people as young as me appreciate how lucky they are, and, without sounding conceited, I think I'm pretty damn lucky.

2010-10-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

This is a painting my best friend made for me. Isn't that the most gorgeous tree you've ever seen?

I'd certainly say so.

(click on picture to make it larger)

Oh yay!

2010-10-08T20:22:00.001-07:00

I am very, very happy right now.
:-D

As the summer ends

2010-08-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Not remotely in much of a mood for blogging right now... the end of the this summer wasn't at all what I expected and I'm very distressed. Good and bad mixed in. For the past two weeks I was a volunteer at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble's 'Integrated Arts' camp, a two-week day camp for children ages 8 to 13. The camp focuses on theatre, visual arts, movement, dance, and music. I attended the camp as a student for four years as a youngling, but the experience of teaching there was amazing. To work with these children, see them learn and grow... there's nothing else quite like it.

In addition to that, I've joined the cross country team and am feeling quite good about it.

On the downside, my friendscape is changing again, and that's what I'm really mad about right now...

Summer 2010: Part 4

2010-08-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

My last day in Indianapolis. I get some interesting feelings thinking back on this trip. I've been here for forty-seven days and I go home tomorrow.

Wow. Forty-seven days... in some ways it feels like it's only been a few days, in other ways it feels like it's been years.

I remember when I first got here, there were some people I knew from my grandparents' church, but it seemed like everybody there knew me! Every Sunday people would come up to me and say "Oh hey Cody! Nice to see you again! How've you been?" nine times out of ten I had no idea who these people were, it was only that odd one of ten times when I did know! Over the course of my stay I slowly got to know these people and now consider them friends. I experienced almost two months of life in a different city, a different family, a different community, a different church, a different social scene, a different life.

I remember, after my recital being greeted and congratulated by people I really didn't know, and now I know them all! I've become acquainted with the personalities, the mannerisms, and the sensitivities of many of the people in the Saint Paul's community. It's an incredible feeling I get when I think about just how much I gained while here! So many experiences, so many new people, so many new understandings. And yet, as always, still new questions!

I am leaving with excitement to return to my beloved hometown, my home family, my home community, my home church, my best friends, and my old life! Yet still, I am leaving with sadness because I know I'll miss Indianapolis and the people here. This place has really, truly become home since I've been here. It doesn't feel like a visit anymore, I feel like this is where I live, this is my city, my community... really I wasn't on vacation; I wasn't visiting. I was living here. There's a difference and it's all in how one percepts their time in a place and how they adjust there. I became totally Indianapolis-ized, therefore I lived here.

I'd like to make time to thank the following for making this such a wonderful experience:

Alan Mead, Pat Mead, Ariana Mead, Dave Easty, Rees Roberts, Jon Farnsley, David Sinden, Janette Fishell, James David Christie, Edie Johnson, David Lamb, Frank Boles, Robert Richter, Joyce Krauser, Ms. Brosius, Evie Brosius, Anna Goodlett, Cait Goodlett, Maureen Brooks, Alan Davis, Zach Creviston, Randy Frieling, Les Carpenter, Charlie Lowe, Jean Denton, Micheal Balke, Steven Balke, and all the teachers, counselors, students, and performers from the POE, as well as all the singers in the Saint Paul's choirs, and the staff and congregation of Saint Paul's.

Tomorrow, right after I get home, my brother Riley and I are going roller blading through town, then some friends and I are going to the movies. I keep thinking, 'can't wait to be home', but truly, Indianapolis has been my home for a month and a half; it's quite confusing, I consider both places home in a way now, the difference is enormous, but somehow they're both home. More thoughts later.

Summer 2010: Part 3

2010-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Auer Hall

MY, MY, MY!

I just finished the POE at the Jacobs School of Music (Indiana University) at Bloomington! Woot!

I never thought I could learn so much in one week! My technique has improved and so has my understanding of the music I play. I and 40 other young organists, ages 12-19, from all over the country, spent a week enjoying the pipe organ, learning about it, and playing it! It wouldn't have been possible without the help from countless teachers, all of the highest caliber as mentors and performers. On our first day we had a fabulous concert featuring, among others, Dr. James David Christie, Dr. Collin Andrews, Dr. Janette Fishell, and Dr. Wilma Jenson on the brand new 68 rank organ built by C.B. Fisk in Auer Hall.

The day after, I played a harpsichord for the first time and met one of the most famous organists in the world, Diane Bish. It became very clear that this would be a very fun week! And indeed it was!

Me seated at a gorgeous harpsichord

Me with Diane Bish

The Metz Carillon

The day after that, we attended a stunning carillon recital in which numerous pieces were performed on a very big carillon. We all had the opportunity to climb to the top of it where the ringing room is, to watch the performer. I braved the tower stairs and wished I hadn't halfway up! I'm not usually afraid of heights but this was scary! After the carillon recital we attended a silent movie (Phantom of the Opera) in the IU auditorium with accompaniment on their 86 rank Schantz organ. It was phenomenal! And with such music, we didn't even need words! The spoken dialogue was not remotely missed, in fact, it was quite unnecessary in this case and the film and music was absolutely incredible without it!

Me playing for Dr. Christie

The day after that, we 41 students and most of our professors took a field trip to Indianapolis for masterclasses. At Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis, I was the subject of Dr. James David Christie, chair of the organ department at the Oberlin Conservatory. He gave me a 30 minute organ lesson on Baroque organ performance in front of an audience of over 50, mostly students, but many of whom have their doctorate degrees in organ performance. This experience was revelationary! His teaching style was perfect for me and my performance of the pieces he had me play was so improved after just thirty minutes of instruction. He told me I have strong hands and fingers and a great technique, he said "Come to Oberlin, I'll make an organist out of you!". I now KNOW I simply must go to Oberlin to study with him. Luckily, they also have a summer camp, which I'll be certain to attend next year!

The 85 year-old console of the Barton Theatre organ

Later on, we went to a High School with an 18 rank Barton Theatre organ in their auditorium! THAT was awesome to say the very least! It was my first time hearing a Theatre organ live so I was more than excited!

The big bad Fisk in Auer Hall, my friend Rees is seated at the console.

On Friday we heard yet another concert by world class organists on the new Fisk at Auer Hall. This time it was Dr. Ed Moor, Dr. Dana Robinson, Dr. Edie Johnson, and Dr. Herndon Spillman, among others. It was a fabulous concert on a fabulous organ! I was so pleased to see so many guests in the audience too, including my friends Cait and Anna, from Indianapolis.

Me at the console of the Fisk in Auer Hall, after the student recital

Finally, Saturday came, and it was time to use all the skills we'd learned from the various teachers in a concert of our own! Every one of us had to play one piece in a three hour recital in Auer Hall! I played the Sinfonia from Cantata 29, even though I learned this piece in December, there was still much about the piece I'd yet to learn, Dr. Edie Johnson worked on the piece with me through the week and helped me to polish my performance technically and stylistically. The recital went swimmingly and everybody played fantastically! After my performance, I walked by a string of professors to hear resounding compliments, first Dr. David Lamb, then Dr. Janette Fishell, then Dr. Chris Young, then Marvin Mills, then Dr. Herndon Spillman, and so on! It felt so good! AFter the concert, Dr. Christie again complimented me and told me I have to keep in touch, he thinks I have what it takes to get into Oberlin as an organ major. Frank Boles told me today "So you have one foot in the door!" and now I must work very, very hard to get the rest of me through that door!

I learned so much from this week, my passion for organ music has been reinforced, my technique has improved, my understanding of the music I love has expanded, I've made new friends and now have a better idea what being an organ major will be like. Also, becoming acquainted with Dr. Christie alone was well worth the $450 the camp cost!

Endless thanks from me to Dr. David Lamb (POE director), Dr. Janette Fishell and Dr. Collin Andrews (adjunct chairs of the organ department at the Jacobs school), Dr. James David Christie, Kevin Neel and Chris Lynch (counselors), Harry Martenas (my organ teacher), the congregation and staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, all those who attended my recital back in April, my wonderful family, and of course my fabulous teacher for the week, Dr. Edie Johnson, who did absolute wonders with my touch, articulation, and pedal technique!

I can't believe it's over!

Summer 2010: Part 2

2010-06-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

I had my recital at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral (www.cccindy.org) yesterday and it went fabulously! We had a great crowd of people from downtown and friends of mine. My grandparents were there, the Balkes, the Goodlett twins, organist Robert Richter, and plenty of others! It was just fantastic! And I was paid $50 to boot!

Right: My program

Left: That's me at the Hellmuth Wolff organ in Christ Church Cathedral, right after my recital on the same instrument.

After the concert I showed the gallery organ off to my grandparents and some fabulous friends and they all thoroughly enjoyed it I believe. It was a fantastic day!

Right: That's me at the 53 rank Taylor and Boody gallery organ, after playing the D Major Prelude BWV 532 for some wonderful people.

Today I met my friend Rees for the first time in person, he and I have known each other for two years via youtube and facebook. We tried out the organs at Saint Luke's UMC, Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Christ Church Cathedral, and the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis.

Left: My friends (and fellow organists) Rees and Jon pretend to be beggars at the Center City Circle.

While at Saint Paul's, we walked by a car wash the youth group was holding and somebody yelled "Hey everybody! There's Cody and his friends from Shelbyville and Arkansas!" and half the youthgroup came running over screaming my name. Rees was wearing an Oberlin shirt, much to the delight of several people there. SO cool! Kids my age with actual musical knowledge and appreciation! One (Maureen?) said "Oberlin, that's where I want to go!" and I'm thinking "SWEET!!! ME TOO!". Indianapolis is AWESOME and the kids at Saint Paul's are the coolest!

This is going to be a fun summer. I'm already making new friends! :-D

Summer 2010: Part 1

2010-06-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Next week I leave for Indianapolis, embarking on a two month journey of learning!

Next Friday, Friday June 18th, I will be playing an afternoon organ recital after the noontime Eucharist at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. The organ is a 4 manual, 72 rank tracker action instrument built in 1990 by Hullmuth Wolff and Associates. The program is as follows:

1. Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle - Olivier Messiaen
2. Le Banquet Celeste - Olivier Messiaen
3. Cantata 29: Sinfonia - J.S. Bach

I spoke with their Associate Music Director, and he expects, depending on the weather conditions, 40 to 50 people. However, I've made sure to get the word out at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church where I attend while in Indianapolis so we may have some extra guests other than the regulars! Lets hope so!

It's such a great feeling to be playing this recital for many reasons. First, I was invited to play by their Associate Director at the reception of a Gerre Hancock recital, which made me feel just great! Another reason this upcomming recital is important is that it is a cathedral church with a wonderful music program, and I'm glad to be a part of it. Also, just the fact that it's a nine hour drive from where I live makes it a great experience (and it kind of gives me a feeling as if I'm going on tour!).

Wish me luck everybody! I'll be sure to get pictures and video of me during the concert, lets hope it's a big success!

As the school year closes (part II)...

2010-06-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

...my, my, my! My goodness! What a year this has been!
Such fun, excitement, fulfillment, achievement, and still, so much to look forward to next year!

Our lovely seniors graduated this past Saturday and my last day of school is this Wednesday, the day after tomorrow. The funny thing is, I'm just now realizing that the majority of my friends this year were seniors, now that they've all graduated and are going off to strange new places for college to begin a new part of their lives as independent adults. I'm so proud of all of them!

Myself with Trevs, after he graduated.

Here I am with the 'backstage mamas' from the Spring musical, after their graduation.

Rather unfortunately, the greatest teacher ofall time is also graduating... :( we'll miss him in his retirement!

Track State Championships

2010-05-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, two friends and I went down to Shippensburg University to watch the first day of the PIAA Track and Field State Championships. We had plenty of fun watching every kind of event and seeing our friends kick ass on the track and elsewhere. (On that note, I super uber proud of all our runners and jumpers and throwers and pole vaulters who did so well!)

Here are four of our INCREDIBLE runners (in the red and black uniforms, center): Christina, Alexis, Lauren, and Morgan. Go Bloom! Woot!

BURRELL! That's our favorite teacher's name so Meghan and I had to get a picture with them, they both look really creeped out! XD

The ride home took about four hours, because we ended up missing an exit because some guy in a really messed up car cut us off, not five minutes later, he's somehow behind us! Later on traffic was backed up like crazy.... BUT it was fun! Life is an adventure! I can't wait!

As the school year ends...

2010-05-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've been reflecting quite a bit, over the past two or three weeks, about this past school year (my sophomore year in high school), and what has changed in my life, in my school, in the community; how I feel about all what has happened and how I am different than I was when school started in August.
This past school year has been the most fun and most versatile, has held the most surprises and the most accomplishments, has brought the most satisfaction and, yet still, the most want. My sophomore year has brought about many changes in my life, both exterior and interior. I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this year has been the best year of my life.

So many new people, new friends, new dreams, new goals, and new activities. I've made more new friends this year than any other two years combined, wonderful, kind, loving people who make my life complete! Getting to know these spectacular people has helped me to better understand myself and what I want. These friends have helped me to become more gracious, committed, and selfless, even if they don't know it.

To work with Evan, Sam, Meghan, Hugh and Andrea, putting together a performance of Windowsill for the Pops concert. To sing to cows across the road. To roll down the hill, as that's what hills were made for. To have to completely change our performance style and volume just hours before performance time. To watch Courtney in awe as she sang 'Danke Schoen'. To realize how wonderful life is, watching friends sing their hearts out, watching such incredible talent.

To dance and sing and joke and laugh at prom. To get a tuxedo that actually fit well. To dance with Hayley and Trevor. To see Riannon wear a dress for the first time. To have the most gorgeous date ever. To be a total grouchy pants at Ashley's house because I was tired. To learn that a certain person thinks I'm extremely annoying and can't stand me. To not care and think that was funny.

To play my first professional recital. To see so many lovely people there. To hug Dillon's grandmother, Aileen. To be so overjoyed that Walker's grandmother could make it. To see Elizabeth Dowd cry afterwards. To sign peoples programs by request. To raise twice our goal in donations.

To sit next to Matsha at the first home track meet. To make Molly and Cheyenne laugh with my ridiculous cheers. To get the worst sunburn of my life, and to have Mr. Coy inspect it under the stands. To go to Kaitlin's bonfire and have more people inspect it. To love red grapes too much. To walk around the infield and meet Majpup. To stand in the rain and cold for hours without a coat or umbrella at the last meet.

To have a 'Producer's' party without the movie's biggest fan. To love Trevs' expressions as he watched the movie. To watch Trevs set Andrea's porch on fire... actually, that never happened. To actually have fun playing Apples to Apples!

To stay at the school from 4:30-10:30 several days in a row for the Great Latsha and still have to juggle with homework and studying. To finally get to know people (whom I'd seen passing in the hallway for years) back stage. To realize that I simply must act in next year's production and the following! To paint mountains to go in a window. To break Meghan's heart by having to re-paint her clouds! To sing at Perkins with the cast and crew at 1:00 in the morning! To hold back tears during Green Room because I'm too proud to let people see me cry!

To go sledding with awesome people on a snow day. To slam a snowball into Meghan's eye. To have a snowball fight with Henry and Sam after endless hours of other snow activities. To play the piano for Walker's grandmother. To walk all the way down to the lagoon just so we could walk all the way up to 3rd street to sled down that big hill. To watch Amadeus with splendid dudes and dudettes. To wipe out every time I went down the big hill in the big toboggan, and look like a total fool. To help Walkman get out of the thorns at the bottom.

To have no clue why somebody said I look exactly like Paul. To wonder why Paul even came in the restaurant in the first place. To walk up third and fourth street after getting Chinese. To escort Walker to his house on that chilly night. To walk down 2nd street with two of my very bestest friends.

To be asked to go up to Phillips with the rest of the Oootm crew after practice. To realize I was just simply hanging out with people my age for the first time in my life. To invent the wink and the "Watch out!" as Meghan killed Courtney with an axe. To be asked to go to Denny's. To stay up until 3:00 in the morning writing a script we never used. To have the best friends in the world.

To realize how much I love life, how much I love Bloom, and how much I love my friends. They're all such wonderful people and have made this year an utter joy, and as this year ends, I leave it happier, with more confidence, higher hopes, and greater dreams, content in the knowledge that I have wonderful friends I can love and cherish.

Liturgy

2010-05-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing how many different ways people find the faith, how many different ways people find God. Some go through a traumatic experience and find the refuge that is the church, some convert, some are convinced, and yet others are born into ‘the’ faith. I’m sure most of us know at least one person who has found Christ through one of these vehicles, but there is another way that is not quite as common: through liturgy. Some encounter the liturgy first, then discover faith.
I stumbled around many ideas. I raised Episcopalian, eventually I decided I didn’t believe in a God, then eventually I decided I really did believe in a God, started attending a Presbyterian Church, decided Anglo-Catholicism was for me, developed strong opinions, and now I simply cannot believe or comprehend that I could ever have once been an atheist (and a staunch one at that) for two and a half years!
The liturgy is what saved me from a self-serving life of ignorance and arrogance. I attended Solemn Mass one Sunday at the Church of the Advent (an Anglo-Catholic parish in Boston) and I was so fascinated with the liturgy that I had to learn more, my research on this officious liturgy led me to try to find and to search for understanding in what was behind the liturgy, the faith itself. I did such, and I am forever indebted to that wonderful Parish for saving me from a future I’m glad is no longer mine.
There many who claim that high liturgy is superficial, irrelevant, disconnected. Some even go far enough to call it idolization and paganism. They are very wrong.
I am disheartened by the immense lack of faith I see in so many congregations and parishes of all denominations. I’ve attended such empty worship services, devoid of anything remotely spiritual or divine. I’ve seen children confirmed and never attend church again thereafter. I’ve seen children graduate atheists from Catholic schools. I cry inside and I fear inside, not only for the ever unsure future of the church as an institution, but also for my neighbors, as the church, the faith provides an incredible structure in human life.
The church provides a structure for community; a structure for outreach and for inreach, for help and for refuge, for understanding and for thought, for friendship and for love. The church as an institution, is an incredible way for us as humans on Earth to live and to love as Christ wants us to, to live an to love as we must.
I truly believe that the disrespect and disregard for divine liturgy is one of the (many) causes for the recent unacceptable short fallings of the church, for the loss of membership, for the loss of faith, for the loss of commitment, for the loss of ministry. There is little faith to be found in most mainstream churches these days; I cry inside and fear inside because of it.
It makes no sense to attempt to understand the divine in an earthly manner, yet so many try. Why not try to understand and encounter(!) the divine in a divine manner? I should think that an obvious conclusion, but few see it.

One of the first steps to fixing our broken church, is by fixing the liturgy in our congregations, by restoring high liturgy, and by embracing the divine liturgy.
Peace and Prayers.

Poster for my first professional recital

2010-04-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody!

So things are great momentarily! I've just had a simply gorgeous poster designed by my friend Courtney, with photography courtesy of Mr. Bidleman. I couldn't have asked for a better design, it just so wonderful.

The background is a small portion of one of the BIG windows at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, where the recital will be. I would have never thought to use that part of that window in such a manner, total genius on the part of Courtney is you ask me. The way she worked the info into the grooves of the window, the way she used the four circles to fit in pictures of the console and me playing... all totally brilliant.

Even with such a burst of various colors and intensity, it still manages total simplicity in the presentation of the info an is incredibly easy to read. Fabulous!

I'm going to have fourteen of these posters up in my High School and twenty-five around town and in area churches. Quite exciting I'd say!

Destiny's Blog

2010-03-29T19:04:00.001-07:00

This is the blog address of my friend Destiny. She and I have acted in BTE productions before and she's a fabulous actress and brighter than you could believe!
http://destinydeater.blogspot.com/

Life is great

2010-03-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hello All! Recently everything has been going wonderfully for me and I just thought I'd share!

It's interesting, I always make an effort to be observant of all the seasonal changes, I think we can learn allot about life from them. As, recently, it has been changing from Winter into Spring, I am, as every year, full of joy for that reason in itself. We see from the dead, cold, and blankness of winter, emerging great life, color, vibrancy, and general vivaciousness when Spring arrives. Not only in nature do we experience these changes, but in people too. The seasonal changes affect our attitudes whether we realise it or not.
That being said, I'm delighted to find a wonderfully interesting anomaly in this particular change. I've always thought it a no-brainer that the change into Spring is by far the the most lively and flavorful, but above all, the most optimistic. At the same time, as it changes from a frigid Winter into a cheerful Spring, I find that there are many things unrelated to the seasons that are going so very right for me.

I am full of excitement and optimism! I am glad beyond glad to have been born when I was and to be who I am. I am blessed beyond blessed to find myself in the circumstances I do. I am grateful beyond grateful for the people I know and who surround me.

So what's up? What wonderous happenings have been a-happening?

1. I have scheduled my premier organ concert for Sunday the 25th of April, 2010 at 3:00 in the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg! I will be playing a program of Bach, Franck, Boellmann, Messiaen, and MORE BACH! Addmission is free and it will be fantastic I know!

Below is a picture of th First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, where my premier organ concert will be held.

2. In addition to my premier concert, I will be playing a 30 minute recital at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis as part of their weekly Friday afternoon organ series. It should be great fun as the church has an incredible music program and two incredible pipe organs: a 70 rank French-Romantic tracker by Hellmuth Wolf in the chancel, and a gorgeous 53 rank Baroque tracker by Taylor and Boody in the gallery. It should be great fun!

Below is a picture of Christ Church Cathedral, home to two large organs, and where I will be playing a recital in late June.

3. I will be attending a six day 'Pipe Organ Encounter' at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University at Bloomington. This is six days of residential organ camp on the Jacobs School of Music campus. There will be organ lessons galore from world class, and world renowned, organists and professors. Also, we will be playing various different instruments in Bloomington and Indianapolis, including the brand new 68 rank C.B. Fisk organ at the Jacobs School.

Below is a picture of the new Fisk recently installed.

In short, there are innumerable happenings a-happening and these just *happen* (hahaha) to be three I'm going to brag about. Life is great! Spring is great! Go outside and have fun!

I've been in plays before...

2010-03-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

... but this one was different.
I've acted in four or five professional plays with the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble and in my 8th grade year, I played the main antagonist in my Middle School's play. I enjoyed all these experiences and cherished many memories from them. That being said, I also participated in my High School's 2010 production of 'The Sound of Music' which we closed just a few days ago, and this play far, far outshines the others in my mind. The interesting thing is, I didn't even act, I was on the tech crew, changing sets!
Something about the play, the story, the music, our cast, our crew, our directors, our dedication... all this made it so much more worth while and so much more touching.
I made new friends, Danielle and Ashley, and learned what the high school musical was all about. I had plenty of fun and there was goofing around at times, but I also accomplished a ton and felt fantastic about the work I'd completed. We started a new play tradition, backstage rubber band wars during intermission and before performances (one which had us in trouble when we were too loud!) which I'm sure we will continue for years to come. I saw wonderful actors and singers struggle with their roles a few months before performance time. I saw confusion and everything else that comes with learning, but what I didn't see was people giving up or giving anything less than their best. Because of this, we were able to put on an incredible show and I saw wonderful actors and singers play their parts perfectly when the big day came around and we performed in front of an audience of over 700. I could not possibly be more proud of every last member of our wonderful cast and crew. Great job to all!
After the last performance, we spent roughly two hours taking the set apart, which was very emotional for me, though I didn't show it. I took a picture of some of the screws which had held our set together. Many people cried for different reasons before, after, and even during the last performance, but it wasn't until the next day when I looked at this picture that I cried. There are great memories in these screws and they've had a huge impact on me.

Every second I spent in that auditorium with you lovely people was one I will never forget!
Endless thanks to Latsha, Kate, Mamma Yates, Danielle, Ashley, Zach, Trevs, and Darbs. I love you all so much!
AND MEGHAN ASHFORD, THANK YOU SO, SO, SOOO MUCH FOR CONVINCING ME TO JOIN PLAY!

My brother Riley's video

2010-02-17T14:17:00.001-08:00

Dr. Hancock in concert

2010-02-06T13:19:00.001-08:00

I met Dr. Hancock about eight hours before the concert. He was practicing the Fantasy on B-A-C-H by Maxx Reger. When I talked to him he had so much to say about how much he liked the two and a-half-year-old 90 rank Casavant he was playing, he said something along the lines of "What a fabulous organ this is. Such a magnificent addition to the organ community, this is truly one of the great organs of the country and among the best recent contributions to organ building on the entire planet."
At 7:30 I found myself in the Sanctuary again, free of the $10 charge thanks to the generosity of the Music Director of Saint Paul's, Frank Boles. The program began with the Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Maxx Reger, a dynamic, impressive, and dazzling piece. Upon the first big chord in the first measure of the Fantasy, a lady in front of me shook so violently, I swear I have never seen anybody so startled by the power of a pipe organ. He played through the Fantasy and Fugue without a single flaw or mistake using incredibly effective registrations made possible by the immense variety of the 90 ranks of pipes
Next on the program was the Piece d'Orgue (BWV 572) by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gerre played the piece with consistency and joyous registrations, the Lentement section of the piece was enjoyed by everyone for sure!
The third piece Gerre performed was the famous Chorale in A minor by Cesar Franck. Gerre played through piece again with perfect registration choices and perfect consistency.
The Prelude and Fugue in E minor by Nikolaus Bruhns was to follow, Gerre played this piece very well and it was enjoyed by all. There was a point in the Prelude where it sounded to me that he used the Tuba Mirabilis, I don't know about that but it was interesting to note.
Last on the program before the 'fun part' was the Canon, Chacony and Fugue by Leo Sowerby, dedicated to E. Power Biggs. Hancock played this charming piece with magnificent joy and understanding of the piece.
After a ten minute intermission, the Improvisation themes were submitted to Dr. Hancock, the four movement improvised symphony began!
The first movement was a Sonata-form piece in which he used many of the organs resources from beautiful english reeds to the to-die-for flutes. This was followed by a Song-form movement in which he used various solo reeds contrasting against various strings and soft flute stops.
Next was an incredibly fun Scherzo on the theme of "Zippidy do da!" exploring many of the organ's bright, light, and joyful stop opportunities. Last was a Fugue and Finale, Gerre developed a fugue that move seamlessly into a flourishing finale, slowly beginning to utilize other themes from the symphony, the crescendo was smooth and gradual. He closed the the Finale with a flourishing finish, utilizing every stop on the organ including the 19 rank Nave organ and the 8' Hooded Festival trompette. Returning to the theme of "Zippidy do da", he weaved the familiar tune into genius clashing chords forming it perfectly into a magnificent conclusion. Just as soon as the decay had ceased, I was the first person in the audience to stand and clap. Everyone I came across could not say enough how much they enjoyed the concert. Dr. Hancock's performance was enjoyed by all in attendance and I speak for myself when I say it is all I could think about until I fell to sleep that night.

Photo by Bernadette Wagner of Dr. Hancock during the concert, standing in front of the gorgeous four manual terraced console of the Casavant organ at Saint Paul's.

Interesting Bus ride

2010-02-05T06:47:00.000-08:00

I find myself in Indianapolis now, I'm here to meet Gerre Hancock, attend a concert of his, and visit family. That is all to come but my trip has already proved quite interesting... it was quite a bus ride.
First thing that happens on the bus, the driver's intercom stops working and he has to scream for us to hear his announcements.
Ten minutes later, an elderly man of maybe late 60's or early 70's is talking on the phone to several people, he uses every profanity in the book, crude, sexual, offensive... every combination of such words too... you could possibly imagine. I didn't get everything he was talking about but it involved very large sums of money, putting some 'f****rs out of business', and prostitution, from what I could gather.
We arrive in Pittsburgh and I have to wait for an hour at midnight to get back on the bus. There is a new bus driver, he screams at me when I ask him "Is this the right bus? They said door 10, but this is door 11?" He stares at me for a good ten seconds then screams at me. After this we get onto the road and I make my best attempts at sleeping.
It is 3:00 A.M. and we arrive at Columbus, this bus station is old, gritty, depressing, and full of... very strange people. There is a man who was on the same bus as me, waiting to get back on. He stands in the middle of the station eating Nachos, chips, soda, a cheeseburger... all at 3:00 A.M.! He wasn't even a big fella either! Atop of this he made some very loud grunting noises when he ate. There were many other assortments of people making strange noises, saying strange things, staring at me because I'd found myself staring at them, and acting, well, strange in every possible manner.
We get another new bus driver, he is very, very old and has a week voice. He spends seven minutes trying to announce our route on the broken intercom, out heads are drilled near explosion by the static and bleeps and feedback. Finally he gives up. I wake up not too much later, we have stopped at a rest stop. The driver goes to the back of the bus to use the bathroom, the door is jammed, again, he spends an excessive amount of time trying to open it before giving up and going to the rest stop. He ends up stopping at about three or four more rest stops in the next three hours and we end up arriving an hour late.
Quite a ride, let's see what else happens this weekend!

Pollan is the man

2010-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Incredible. I thought some of these were my ideas! I guess I was just a few years too late in thinking them! Pollan is the man!

More cool stuff

2010-01-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

This is incredible. Compassion is a gene's way of helping itself. Because we naturally feel compassionate for family members, we help them before anything else. Because they are family, they share the gene and this helps the spread of the gene in the most direct way possible.
This happens all the time, just not in such raw form.
Think of about the plants animals eat. Have you ever wondered why the plants animals eat are 1. usually in great abundance in their natural habitat (undisturbed by humans) and (even more interesting) 2. are ideal for that animal's health.
This is absolutely crazy if you look at it blankly, but when you think into it, it begins to make sense in the same way compassion does.
Plants and the Animals which consume them have co-evolved for millions of years and have perfected every intricacy both in themselves and in their relationships with each other.
Anytime a co-evolutionary partnership like this occurs there are always two possibilities as to how it could have happened. Let me explain.
How is it that animals enjoy the most healthy food for them more than any other food in their environment? There are two ways it could have happened.
1. Some point in history, this animal gained a trait which made it use a common plant in it's habitat with optimum benefit. This does not just benefit the animal, but the plant as well. Because of this new trait, the animals which eat this plant which their body processes extraordinarily well will thrive and hence help the plant to spread and thrive and a relationship is formed which will last forever until outside circumstances change it.
2. Some point in history, a common plant in a specific area gained a trait which made it more healthy for a common animal species. The animal hence can live longer and it's population will thrive, helping this plant in the exact same way.

The extraordinary thing is that these two scenarios have opposite causes but their outcomes are exactly the same. Each evolutionary step provides a new relationship between two or more species which benefits both parties in numerous ways. Interspecies relationships like these are fool-proof evolutionary wonders. I focus much thought towards these interspecies anomalies. They fascinate me.

Compassion is an example of a totally different, yet equally magnificent, trait we find. The compassion we feel for family, the way cats will bathe each other, the way ant colonies work together... these are all very different anomalies. In these instances, organisms work together within their one species to thrive. These are self-serving traits. Yet, still, we find instances where these examples of seemingly self-serving instinct, do much to help other organisms. Why? In some cases it can be explained as simply as above, this trait which is on the surface self serving, helps the organism in a secondary way in that it helps another organism! Another relationship is found.

Our abundance of different species all working together is a wonder which we can hardly understand. Selfish as all organisms are, we still help each other without even knowing it, without even wanting it, because such is the nature of our evolutionary history.

Too cool

2010-01-21T15:47:00.001-08:00

Nature perfects itself

2010-01-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Evolution is fascinating to me. I think about evolution constantly and how things in this world came to be the way they are. I've recently learned of the work of Michael Pollan and the reason I love his work so much is because his ideas are exactly what I've been thinking for quite some time. When I first saw this video below I was knocked off my feet because what he was talking about is exactly what I've been thinking about for a while. What he gets at in this video is that plants have evolved through completely random genetic mutations to be more and more attractive to consumers who will eat their fruits or vegetables. (Their seeds essentially)
Why does this happen? Why do these traits which cause their fruits to be consumed spread? Because when the fruit is eaten, the seed is spread.
When a new trait/mutation comes along which causes a fruit to have a less attractive color to consumers, this new trait will likely not survive many generation. HOWEVER, if a new trait comes along which causes a fruit to have a more attractive color to consumers, this new trait will slowly but surely thrive because it helps the plant to reproduce.
When a new trait comes along which causes the seed to be more resilient to animal digestive systems, more seeds will make it out the other end and still be viable to produce plants.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant's taste more desirable to consumers, they will eat it and spread it's seeds.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant more healthy to consumers, the consumers who eat it will live longer and produce more healthy offspring who will eat more of these fruits and spread it's seed further.
The fruits and consumers co-evolve to create a perfect system.
Think about it in reverse.
When a trait comes along which makes consumers enjoy healthy fruits, the consumers who have this trait will become more healthy which means they will live longer and produce more and thrive. Eventually this new trait will take over the entire population of the species, but this usually takes a very, very long time.
These examples regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables are only a few of many examples. The spread of pollen is another great example which Pollan gets at in this video. These ideas present the perfect example of the magnificence of evolution. This is how nature perfects itself for us.

A great, true quote

2009-12-22T16:27:00.000-08:00

"If we don't halt population growth with justice and compassion, it will be done for us by nature, brutally and without pity - and will leave a ravaged world."
~ Dr. Henry W. Kendall, Nobel Prize Winning American Particle Physicist

The Family

2009-12-22T16:05:00.001-08:00

A husband, a wife, two or three kids. Quite idealistic? Well, it has been the standard unit here in America for much time, recently it's moved towards a unit with only one parent, or at least only one biological parent. It seems to me that many people, even my age, seem to aspire to have a family such as the first listed one. A husband, a wife, and two or three children.
Idealistic?
I say no.
It's clear we're coming to the point where there are too many people! Understand that no one group is the excess, but still there is an excess of people and people are having three, four, five, six children, divorcing, remarrying and sometimes having more offspring... the rate at which our population is growing will only become faster and faster. The population will continue to grow larger and larger, faster and faster and we cannot keep up with it. We as a species cannot say the next generation will take care of this problem (by being more responsible than ourselves!). If we continue like this... the next generation may not have the chance. Resources and space are limited and the structure of our society (and government) must constantly change to accommodate new numbers. It is essential that we create a stasis for the population size of our country and of the world.
When I was in the eighth grade, a teacher of mine said that couples who choose not to have children choose so out of selfishness. I hadn't realized that it was selfish not to contribute to the destabilization of society on Earth, not to hinder future generations with irresponsibility. I suppose the selfless thing to do would be continue down this path of certain destruction? All this for American tradition? For societal tradition? When will the people of this country and this planet come to their senses and leave expected tradition behind? It is a dangerous thing.
It is not an infringement on human rights to limit the number of children a couple may have, rather, it is an infringement on human rights to allow the people of the world to produce all the offspring they please and doom future generations.
There is another reason not related to our irresponsible and out of control population growth. It is not right to be birthing biological children while children without a home, without parents need a home and parents. Until there are no children left to adopt, I believe anybody wanting to start a family should adopt. It isn't right to create new human beings while others already existing need help desperately.
A husband, a wife, two or three biological children? No way. Not for me, and hopefully you'll give it some thought as well. Societal expectations like these are dangerous, think about it.

From devout Christian to cocky Atheist and Back

2009-11-21T15:43:00.000-08:00

An interesting and rare story, and it is mine.
A bit more than three years ago I became very interested in the heated web debate between Atheists and Christians. Atheism was a hotter topic online, and in general, then as "The God Delusion" and "God is not Great" were released around that time. I, at the time a devout Episcopalian, did much searching, reading, and thinking and ultimately came to the conclusion that Theism did not make sense. To a limited extent, I felt that religion, as many atheists put it, was a disease.
I held these beliefs for about two years. Where before I fiercely defended my beliefs as a Christian, I was at this point that cocky, arrogant, smart alec Atheist who, in a most domineering way, is always pushing their beliefs on everybody he or she knows. These kind of people, and I was one, feel that some urgency in the global religious (specifically Christian) situation exists, and promote their ideas with conviction not only because they feel obligated to do so due to this imaginary urgency, but also as a matter of defense from the harshness of Christians who do not approve... most of whom are probably "Holiday Church Goers" at any rate. I don't know where this kind of rash thinking originated, but the only source for it which I can see is from seeing it in others. That is, this mindset fuels itself in a circular fashion from person to person. Almost like a cell, this way of thinking cannot spontaneously generate, instead it comes from existing promotion of these thoughts by others.
About a year ago, after two years of being that kind of person, I began to do some deeper thinking. I began to think about how I felt about religion before, about how I felt about God, how I felt about Church, how I felt about the Bible, how I felt the principals of Christianity. For this, I softened up a bit. Then one day, I found myself thinking about the obligation of Christians to worship God... this is something I've always had a hard time with and was the primary factor in my becoming an atheist... while thinking about this, something triggered a correlation in my mind which I'd, to my amazement to this day, not seen before. I thought about the gratitude a person feels when someone saves our helps to save their financial state, their house, their front lawn, their car, their children, their life. I thought about the obligation that a person feels to make it up to them.
Weather we like it or not, the existence of a god is a possibility. If a god does exist, this entity has made everything possible for us; without their creating us, we would have no love, no leisure, no aspiration, no hope, no interest, no enjoyment. Not only would we have nothing, but we would also be nothing. If no God exists and everything here does exist, then we owe to chance... and there's no sense in paying our gratitude to chance. But if God is responsible, then we owe him everything, regardless of weather he asks us or not. At this point I was a Christian again... a true 'born again' in my opinion.
I'm still not 100% 'with' the idea that all of the Bible is the word of God, I think of God more as a parent figure, and if we make relevant correlations between what the Bible says and what Parents say... well, you can think about it and I'm sure you'll see what I mean. I think that pretty much explains what 'hell' is for me. But keep in mind, parents don't like to admit to their children that they're wrong, however they still do exaggerate, fib, even lie to them. While if I were to say the same about God, many would respond that God is great, God is good, Lying is a sin and he would never do such... but when parents do exaggerate, fib, even lie, it is always for the better of the child, it is always by their (the parents') judgment the good, the right thing to do, and it's purpose will be understood after childhood. A parent won't fess up to this before then and, in my experience, parents and their children are in an agreement, conscious or sub-conscious, that Mommy and Daddy are always right. I believe that God is the same way and this is for our own good. We are all still kids in this spiritual spectrum and what we question today we will fully understand later when we are in a different position, when we are no longer the ignorant children we ALL are today. Understand this does not mean I believe God is lying about what he wants us to do, about we what he expects of us... what parent does that? Correlations between one thing understandable and another incomprehensible are useful tools, but ONLY when they are absolutely complete, equal, and relevant.
To the question "Do you believe in God?" that my honest answer still would be "No" is with great regret, however I cannot force myself to believe something, I cannot decide what I believe. Know that it is possible to be an Atheist, an Agnostic, and a Christian all at once. I'm the only one I know of, and in a way, I hope there are others like me out there.

More Second Presbyterian Church photos

2009-07-28T13:32:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures from Second Presbyterian in Indianapolis

Here's the couplers and music stand

Right stop jam: (left to Right) Great division, Choir division, Positiv division

Me making a rather goofy face at the four manual console.

At Second Presbyterian in Indianapolis

2009-07-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

The Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ at the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, Indiana

Today I played the 86 rank, Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, built in 1969. This organ features Great, Positiv, Choir, Swell, Chancel, and Pedal divisions.

The pedal is phenomenal, with three 16' reeds, a real 10 2/3' Gross Quinte, two full length 32' stops (Bourden and Posaune), and much more!

The swell has great reeds: 16' Bombarde, 8' Hautbois, 8' Trompette, 4' Clarion, all fantastic, I wasn't particularly fond of the strings, or principals, I thought the principals were a bit thin, the strings had the kind of chiff you'd want in a principal, with the tremolo and sub couplers, and the 32's bourden, with boxes closed, they sounded quite nice though.

The chancel division serves it's purpose of backing hymns quite well.

The great division is quite nice, I would like to see more fullness in the Flue stops, the mixtures dominate too much in this organ. It is topped of with some great chamades, not the loudest chamades I've played, but they have a bright sound to them, and they are of sufficient volume to be hear over half of the organ, but can still be used in chorus, the chamades were at the perfect volume for an organ this size, and voiced wonderfully I thought!

The choir was alright, the cromorne was voiced in a strange neo-classic fashion, and was quite funny to hear with the tremolo!

The positiv division was nice, the ranket had sort of strange neo-classical voicing to it, like the cromorne, but it works great as a chorus reed.

Over all it was a good organ, and LOUD!

Christ Church Cathedral

2009-07-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

Arguably the smallest Episcopal Cathedral I've ever seen, Christ Church Cathedral in dowtown Indianapolis is home to two large pipe organs, a 70 rank French styled organ by Hellmuth Wolf in the Chancel, and a 53 rank Baroque styled instrument by Taylor and Boody in the gallery. I will be playing both of these organs this week.

Cool Monument in Indiana

2009-07-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is the American Civil War Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana. It puts the Bloomsburg monument to shame; believe me, it is much bigger than it looks in these photos.

Back to Knoebel's Groves!

2009-07-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to Knoebel's groves today, I think it's a fantastic amusement part. It's one of a kind in that it has such a different feel from other amusement parks; the creak winding through the park, the covered bridge going over it, the train ride that goes through the wood work of the Twister roller coaster (the only wooden roller coaster I've seen that goes sideways!), of course the wooden roller coasters are wonderful, both thrilling to ride, and they add to the old-timey feel of the park in general. The antique carousels with their Wurlitzer band organs, the colorful Ferris Wheel, the trees that fill the park, growing above the rides, all around the concession areas and restaurants, and sometimes, nearly in the middle of the windy paths through the park, all add to the park's disposition, if you will. The antique cars that ride right under the Phoenix roller coaster (rated as one of the great wooden roller coasters in the country), the wonderful haunted house (also rated as one of the best in the country), the funnel cakes, kettle corn, and perogies, the impressive pizza place (Cesars? I believe) with it's Greek pillars and style; the whole park is really quite nice. Plus the admission is FREE so that's a plus too!
Today, I had quite a bit of fun. While I'm not one for the crazy rides, my brother Riley is! I don't know how he got on some of those contraptions, not nervous at all, not a second thought, and loved it the whole way through, I felt sick just watching. I ended up riding allot rides with my 6 year old sister. However we all went on the tee-cups together, and just after that we all enjoyed the 'Cosmotron' together. My mother and two youngest siblings road the log flume and we got a hilarious photo of their reaction to the drop! Riley seems to be loving it while Maeve looks absolutely terrified! I can recall hearing really screaming in delight as they dropped!
The highlight of any trip to Knoebel's is riding the Phoenex of course. I don't understand why I'm afraid to get on so many crazy non-roller coaster rides, but I have no problem with coasters. The Phoenex never gets old, and I enjoyed it just as always! I don't think you can get that much air on a wooden roller coaster many other places!
It was a fun day, we're going again in late August for a picnic, maybe then I'll get pictures and video.

School is coming to an end

2009-06-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I finished my last Final Exam! Woohoo! There are three days left of school, and I guess we're just going to be sitting around, wondering 'Why are we here?!'. They don't have anything scheduled for us. On Tuesday, as the High School has a half day, but the middle school does not, my friends and I are going down to Mrs. Sirota's room in the Middle School for a visit, and to eat lunch with her, as we did everyday in 8th grade. All I can say is I am so excited for summer, because summer=no math homework+more organ practice+big trips to Boston and Indianapolis+my second organ recital. So I am so excited!!!!

Conics Celebration

2009-04-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Oh Algebra 2, how I wish I could just take that class every day for the rest of my life... okay maybe not. BUT despite that I have a little bit of trouble with math, and Algebra 2 isn't my favorite class in the world (because I'm just not too good at it!), out teacher, Mrs. Horn, is very nice, and it can be a good class. Today, after finishing our big unit on conics, we had a 'Conics Celebration'! Mrs. Horn encouraged us to bring in party food, etc. as long as it was conics related! I brought in twizzlers, representing directrixes (or is it directri?), or a latus rectum, or a radius, or diameter. You get the picture. Anything in the shape of a line segment, elipse, circle, cone, or of a parabolic shape was exceptable.
Here's a picture of my Algebra 2 class (not everybody, but most of the class) at the Conic Celebration, with me at the far left. Hmmm... I didn't realize I was that tall... :)

Skipping

2009-04-24T17:48:00.001-07:00

I love skipping and sometimes I can't stop the urge to SKIP!
Here's me and my friend Rachael having a skipping race (I won).

Justo Lamas

2009-04-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday, Argentine singer, Justo Lamas, came to our school and performed a concert (maybe 3 hours long) for our Spanish classes, along with Spanish classes from many schools in the surrounding area. It was allot of fun, Southern Columbia School district seemed to get the most into it, while Tri-Valley school could not have been less into it. They sat there, looking board out of their minds, they didn't sing along, didn't get up, didn't dance, they didn't enjoy themselves one bit. They were swearing and constantly talking about 'how gay' the concert was. After it was over, I got the attention of all the Tri-Valley kids, (who were sitting in the 3 rows directly behind me) and yelled at them about it... I felt proud of myself :D. They were too committed to being, manly, manly tri-valley men to participate in a Justo Lamas concert. Anyway, here's a picture from after the concert, me and Justo Lamas.

Earth Day :D

2009-04-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, as many of you know, was Earth Day! I had a fun Earth Day for one, we spent 5 hours in school picking up trash in the town park, around the lagoon, skate park, and pool, along the river, and all the way down Fort McClure Boulevard. Doesn't sound like a great time, but it was fun. 5 hours out of class so we can help out, do something important. I thought it was great and I had a good time, but by the time we were finished my back felt just a tad sore from bending over and standing up to pick up trash constantly for 5 hours. We ended up getting just unbelievable amounts of recyclables and trash, some interesting finds: a jet ski, toy rocket, fishing rod, fishing supplies, fishing license, action figures, shoes, shopping cart, carpet, rocking chair.
Here are some pics from Earth Day.

Human pile

Laughing

Sleeping

Gone fishing

Shoe flag

Action figure we found by the river.

Erotic pose

Jet-ski

My Ecology teacher, Mr. V, sitting in a rocking chair we found.

Exchanged Students Assembly

2008-09-26T13:28:00.001-07:00

This past Friday (a week ago now), my high school had a 2 hour assembly all about our 8 foreign exchanged students.
Our SGA president kicked the assembly off with a little speech about our exchanged students program, then our assistant principal, Mr. Bressi, took the stage to basically regurgitate everything our president had just said.
After that, the house lights dimmed in our newly renovated auditorium, and our 3 German exchanged students made their way to the podium.
Mark Patrick Wagner leaned into the microphone,
"Um... Hello. I am Mark Patrick."
Then the two other german students (whose names I can't recall!) stated their name as well, Mark Patrick leaned into the mic again.
"We are obviously from Germany." There was an awkward silence as Mark took out a projector remote, and started their slide show. Mark and the other 2 explained how the government works in Germany, as well as German history and geography. One of the 2 German girls told us about October Fest, the other told us about German Architecture, and Mark Patrick told us about German foods. They presented pictures of their families and friends back home. One of the girls stated,
"... And also, I like American Football. I've liked it for 2 weeks now, um... it's actually pretty cool." she then laughed. When they were finished we applauded, and somebody in the Seniors' section of the auditorium yelled, "Go Mark Patrick!"
After this, our 2 exchanged students from Indonesia took the stage. One was In Tan (sorry for spelling), and again I can't recall the other girl's name. They played a video about Indonesia, and did traditional Indonesian dances, which were quite incredible!
Before leaving the stage, In Tan said, "I'm so excited for Fair Week! Aren't you too?!" the entire school cheered, we Bloomsburgians do love our fair!
Next was our exchanged student from Vietnam, whose name is on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't recall it! She was very excited and happy, and she told a few jokes. She talked about her 'annoying 9 year old sister back home', and about 'ugly school uniforms back home' and how she was glad she didn't have to wear one here. When quoting one of her new friends here in the US about being a big sister, she used the word 'bitch', and then said, "I don't know what that means." One could see teachers glaring at each other, trying to use nonverbal facial language to affirm what they'd just heard.
After her, was our Swedish student, who had a very short presentation, probably only 2 or 3 minutes, as compared to the other students half hour presentations. She seemed very shy, not really nervous, but just like she didn't want to be there!
Lastly we had Omar, from Mexico. (All the girls have been raving about how hott Omar, a Junior (11th grader), is)
His presentation, much like the one by our Vietnamese student, was very energetic. He talked about how different our food is, and how he misses Mexican food terribly. At the end, he did a dance for us too, and the students cheered for him when he was finished.
After that, Mr. Bressi made his way back up to the podium. I heard a couple of 'boos' come from the senior and junior sections of the auditorium, Mr. Bressi laughed it off, saying "Ha! You can see how much assistant principals are liked here in the U.S." He turned to the general area where the booing had came from, and smiled, "I'll let 'em off the hook this time! Omar, you should be glad Mr. Bonomo wasn't here to see what you just did to his stage!" Mr. Bressi joked. (In case you are wondering, Mr. Bonomo is our principal) "Well, that was a very successful assembly; it was allot of fun, and I know I learned quite a bit! Um... At this time, we will be dismissing Juniors and Seniors to their Second Period classes, and once all students are dismissed, I'd like to see all the exchanged students in my office."
Soon after, Sophomores and Freshman were dismissed to period 2 classes, and I made my way across the school and up the stairs to Spanish with Mr. Manor.
I must say that I really enjoyed the assembly!

Knoebels' Grove

2008-09-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last Weekend, my family went to my father's company picnic at Knoebels' Grove Amusement Park. Here's some pictures and video of the wonderful time we had.

Here they are, about to take off!
Here are some swans that were under a bridge in the Amusement Park.
Wilder and Maeve rode the antique cars while Riley and I rode the Phoenix Roller coaster.

Kittens

2008-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our kittens.

Pictures from Boston Trips.

2008-08-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

I took all these pictures in Boston in August 2007 and February 2008.

Above: I believe I took this one in China town, and old guy yelled at me when I was taking this picture, he said I was taking to long and I needed to hurry up!
Above: I took this somewhere downtown.
Above: Prudential Tower and Old South Church.
Above: I took this one at the Downtown Crossing.
Above: Evil Seagull at Castle Island. It was chasing me...