The Newport Experience...

I have just arrived in Newport, RI. I have taken the job as Director of Liturgical Music and Organist of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. This magnificent edifice of stone, designed by Patrick C. Keeley built in 1848, was the sight of the marriage of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. Presently, the Parish includes approximately 1,200 families. What a mysterious new challenge... a large, Catholic parish with a rusty 1950's era Casavant pipe organ and a dwindling music program on the island city that inspired Thornton Wilder's Theophilus North.

My first Sunday was a shock. At the 11:00 Mass, five women showed up in the choir loft and whispered their way through the hymns and service music. I thought to myself, "Is this the choir?" After my postlude, one of the women said to me, "Didn't they tell you? The choir's dead! We're it, kid!"

I've come to know these women very well. Over the past several months, they've taught me the ins and outs of Newport and St. Mary's: who's who; what's what; why this is this; why that is that... These ladies have been great friends in every sense.

Last night we had our fourth choir rehearsal of the year. There were fifteen singers present! The group of five ladies has begun to blossom into a fine little choir, with voices on all four parts. Every week, one or two new people come to me, interested in singing. What's left of the old guard tells me that just twenty-five years ago there were over forty singers in the choir. All the evidence suggests the choir will continue to grow in size and strength for the foreseeable future. The original five ladies, who whispered through the music when I first arrived, have begun to sing with confidence and pride!

The choir members are friendly, gracious people who want to do the best job they can, but still like to have some fun. My priest is kind, understanding, and helpful. I know I can trust him and I know there is mutual respect. There is a very supportive attitude among the entire church staff, for which I am grateful. Constantly, I hear people saying with excitement, "Things are changing!" and I couldn't be happier to be a part of that change.

St. Mary's Church interior, as viewed from the Choir Loft

Whatever the purpose, what the future holds... God must be working in mysterious ways. I have never felt this sense of belonging outside of the home I grew up in. I have never felt so strongly that this is where I belong at this time in my life.

I don't know how long I'll be here - four years, ten years, sixty years - but I do know that I have been brought here for a reason. For now, I know that this is where I belong. This is the right place.

Thoughts for early May

It's May and Spring is now in full force. In fact, it will be Summer before we know it! This Spring has already brought about some wonderful activities and is looking to be the precursor to a fantastic Summer!

As far as music goes, I played a recital at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre in April and I played in the first annual 'Organ Gala' at the First United Methodist Church in Catawissa. My choir has been working very hard on music for our evensong on Mother's day - just a week away!

Aside from the music, today I attended a church dinner at the house of some of my dearest friends. There were nine of us total. The company was lovely and the food was magnificent. I was the youngest one there by far, and it was amazing to hear their stories about 'how things used to be'. Even though I couldn't sympathize, I was more than content to reminisce vicariously with them.

I find myself so blessed to have made relationships with so many older people. Some of my closest friends are anywhere from their late twenties to their late seventies or older. I think for a young person to develop meaningful relationships with adults is incredibly beneficial for ones character and understanding of life. When you can find mutual respect across generational borders, it helps you look at the world in a different way.

Spring 2012

The weather has been warming, flowers have started to peak about, people are outside more, and Spring is here!
As Spring begins, so I begin planning many things for Spring (and Summer).
First on the list is an organ recital at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, in late March. I will be playing pieces ranging from the German Baroque, to English Romantic, to French Modern on the Berghaus pipe organ, the largest pipe organ in all of Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. After the concert is over, I plan to go to lunch with several of my music teachers, as well as some of my choir members, my boss, and my mother. It should be a very fun event.
April, of course, begins with Holy Week and Easter, for which I am planning some rigorous choir music by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as music for two trumpets and organ. After the heat of Easter is over, we will begin preparing for choral evensong for Mothers' Day in May. For this evensong, the choir will be singing a four-part Ave Maria by Tomas de Victoria, Brahms' 'Geistliches Lied', and we may even be singing a Nunc Dimittis composed by myself. Mark Laubach, winner of the 1986 AGO national young artists competition, will be the organist for this evensong. The evensong will be a service of light, which I find especially beautiful, meditative, calming, and concentrating, being so rewarding in the way it aids congregants to connect with the Spirit on new and diverse levels.
After evensong, the annual Pops concert quickly approaches! Still don't know what I will sing for it, but I am not terribly worried about it because I am just beside myself with excitement to see and hear what everybody else does - by far my favorite concert of the year. I am always touched by the nearly unbelievable talent and joy which is exhibited from my beautiful classmates at this concert.
During the Summer, I will be working on lots of solos with people at Saint Paul's, we will be having a choir concert in June (to say farewell to our retiring rector), and will perform an organ and voice recital in the end of July.
Very busy times, to say the least! Hopefully what I do will make somebody else satisfied, bring some beauty through music to another person, even for just that moment. That's my life.

Winter Update

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

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

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...

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

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!

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:

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!

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

Appreciating

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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).