My first official concert of 2013, and my first performance with New York Opera Exchange (NYOE). Entitles ‘The Masked Ball’, it was an enjoyable evening of excerpts of French opera. Taken from four operas (Faust (1869) by Charles Gounod, Tales of Hoffman (1881) by Jacques Offenbach, Manon (1884) by Jules Massenet, and Romeo and Juliet…
Lady Edith Crawley Job-hopper, Edith’s numerous jobs are right for you. You like helping out and the feeling of self-worth derived from good work, and you are excellent (and impeccably dressed), whatever your responsibilities. But whether it’s impulsive behavior, romantic inclinations, or global circumstances beyond your control, something always spurs you to move on. Try…
Read more The ‘Which Downton Abbey Job is Right For You’ Test
What a wonderful weekend spent with my contradance community in Woodstock, Connecticut. This was the 2nd Winter Weekend Retreat of the Lavender Country Folk Dancers (LCFD). Three nights and three days of smoozing, dancing, game-playing, eating, relaxing, and bonding. About thirty men and women descended upon the Senexet House, a retreat center that started out…
Welcome my new musical family addition, an Oscar Schmidt autoharp. Built in 1979, it is the 100 Year Anniversary Model OS-15B. Sounds lovely, and hoping to play it at the LCFD Winter Weekend during the ‘budding musicians’ workshop.
So after some major data storage disasters (5 in the last two years!), I have decided to go the route of cloud-storage. I should have changed my ways when the first flash drive failed in Oct 2010. But no, I bought a new one (exact same brand) and it worked pretty well until I lost…
My second performance of the 2012-2013 season with the Queer Urban Orchestra. It’s also probably my last of the year. At this chamber music concert, I chose to perform only with the brass ensemble. We played that old Leroy Anderson chestnut “A Christmas Festival”. This concert was much easier for me since I only had…
My first performance of 2012-2013 with the Queer Urban Orchestra, on trombone. This was the first concert with officially appointed music director Nolan Dresden. The program consisted of the following: Lully : Ballet des Muses Stravinsky : Circus-Polka Copland : Scenes from Rodeo (Saturday Night Waltz, Corral Nocturne, Hoe-down) Bedford : Persephone, 1930 Debussy :…
I always look forward to Halloween. This year is particularly exciting because I chose a costume that was going to be multi-purpose: tying into the theme of the upcoming orchestra concert, something ‘skirtish’ for contradance camp, and just plain cute. Since the theme of the concert is ballet music, I decided to be a ballerina.…
The Annual LCFD Autumn Dance Camp in Becket, Massachusetts. A marvelous weekend of dancing and hugging and singing and everything there is to love about life. Elixir with Nils Fredland calling at the Saturday night dance in which “festive dress” is encouraged. Elixir features Nils Fredland calling, trombone and vocals; Ethan Hazzard-Watkins: fiddle; Jesse Hazzard-Watkins:…
Each fall and spring since 2009, I have been attending the LCFD Dance Camp. It’s a wonderful weekend in New England devoted to contradance, English Country dance, waltzes, and other fun moves. Twice now, I have been part of a performance of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. [deleted] explains its history: The Abbots Bromley Horn…
DESIGNS by jiminy 