Singing Tweets

A good friend of mine (also a very fine conductor, and tenor ... and a one-time roommate of mine) has been working in Calgary for the last few years, both as the conductor of the Spiritus Chamber Choir and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus.

Calgary's tourism bureau asked people to tweet in ideas of how to warm up during the cold Alberta winters. After some editing and compiling, the CPO set it to O Fortuna (as they were in the middle of production of Orff's Carmina Burana), and it is quickly turning into a Twitter viral video. So much so, that Tim Shantz, and the video will be featured on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room tonight!

For a sneak peak though, here's the video (Tim is conducting in the video):


I hope you are all finding ways to keep warm!

UPDATE: Here's what the news report looked like on CNN (you may have to wait through a short commercial first, I'm still at a loss as to why we need commercials on internet videos....)

The Interval Song

I think I'm going to get a lot mileage out of this:

You know you have too much time on your hands when ...

In my undergrad, we used to do things to blow off steam or kill time in between long bouts of practicing by playing euchre in the music lounge, crank calling the chip wagon outside the department, and playing floor hockey in the hallway (the floor hockey stunt actually ended with a trip to see the chair of the department - having never been to the principal's office in elementary or high school - it is kind of funny, although maybe not at the time).

However, in the "killing time" department, These gents from the music department in Cork Ireland win first prize:

How to conduct Wagner

Found this video in my twitter feed today, had a good little laugh over it.  The facial expressions required to conduct Siegfried's leitmotif were a highlight for me.

Challenge of the day

Watch this and try not to smile.

Scottish Ingenuety

Just like the Scouts, the Scots are always prepared:


(Courtesy of "There I Fixed it")

Speaking of Scouts - Da Camera is going to be singing O Canada and one other short work for the opening of the Annual Alberta Scouting Conference here in Edmonton. Something we've done in the past, and it comes with a GREAT Breakfast! It got my wife and I thinking that maybe we should have badges sewed on our outfits and tuxes, representing things that we do and deserve recognition for. You know, things like:

"Sight Reading badge"
"Memorization badge"
"Watching the Conductor badge"
"Handing all music in at the end of a concert badge"
"Turning pages for the accompanist badge"
"Helping elderly people find a seat cushion badge"

Feel free to add to the list, and draw up some artwork for the badges!

200th Post!

I just noticed that my last post was my 200th post, and went by without any ceremony. So - I bring you some fireworks. And where better to find a nice picture of fireworks than from my home town.

To this day, I can't watch a fireworks display without picturing the Peace Tower as a front-drop, I'm sure you'll understand why.

The Dentist

I don't like the dentist.

It is understandable though, considering my dental history:

12 teeth extracted (four of them because of a childhood accident involving sliding down an icy hill on my stomach, while having my head sat on halfway down - the other eight due to having my Dad's large teeth, and my mom's small mouth).

Two rounds of braces - first round from Grade 4 until 9, second round from Grade 11 until first year university.

So when someone says I have a million dollar smile - I tell them that it is probably not too far from the tooth . . . er . . . truth.

Today, I had my annual check-up and cleaning. About a month ago I started feeling sensitivity in one of my molars, one which about eight years ago was drilled and filled with the caveat of "I'm not promising that this won't need a root canal some day". So with some reluctance, I told my dentist about my recent sensitivity. After x-rays, tapping and humming and hawing - the good news is - no root canal needed! I am however going to get it crowned - as a preventative procedure.

The bonus prize was that I have a cavity on the other side of my mouth.

Thursday's not going to be a fun morning for me.



* Photo credit - Good Rockin' Tonight

Wednesday Musings

The dust has settled now on Holy Week and Easter services, rehearsals and concerts.

Every year while I'm in the furry of rehearsals and such over the week before Easter, I always ask myself "WHY! am I doing this!", and every year after the week is over, and I've had ample time to rest, the answer is made clear. "I do it, because I love it!"

The services at the church were great - from waving palms on Palm Sunday, to washing feet on Maundy Thursday, solemn meditations on the cross on Good Friday, Bell ringing at the Easter Vigil to the myriads of Alleluias on Easter Sunday. The choir was in fine form all week, and showed up in great numbers (even on the nights when I offered them the night off!)

Pro Coro's concert featuring Rachmaninoff's "All Night Vigil" was a tremendous success. I have conducted the work once before, heard it both live and on recording many times, but this was my first crack at singing it, and it was an extremely powerful experience (Thanks Richard)!

We had a great amount of Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, and carrots on Sunday with my wife's family, followed by a good post dinner game. Monday brought with it a good rest, preparation for an evening audition (with whatever voice I had left), and nice afternoon walk in the spring sunshine.

There is a bit of a lull now in the schedule, preparing for a concert with Richard Eaton Singers, which includes "The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace" by Karl Jenkins, and a new powerful work "The Houses Stand not Far Apart" by local composer John Estacio on April 12th, and then two weeks of Adjudicating in Ottawa. Eagerly anticipating that when I return home to Edmonton, the snow will have vanished, and golf courses will opening!

Google Hits

The fun thing about using BlogPatrol, or a similar system to monitor your hits to your page is you can find out how people are finding your blog through search engines.

Here is a sample of some of the key phrases people have been typing in, and stumbling on my blog:

1. Bach VS Handel (which are directly related to my series of posts on rehearsals with my chamber choir)
2. Handel's Dixit Dominus Text and Translations (which can be found on this post)
3. Choral Conducting Teaching University (Yup, something I do)
4. How to live life as a freelance musician (also, something I do)

and last but not least:

5. Depressed church choir director blog (ummm... not sure how this got you here! I quite like my job!)

I just found that funny.