Composer • Conductor • Singer
It’s not too late to be part of the region’s big get-together next weekend – April 26-27. Don’t miss this inspiring and opportunity-filled gathering from the National Association of Negro Musicians, hosted at my church in Pasadena, CA! For details and sign-up information, view and download the flyer here:
Registration is just $40 for two days of music, learning, the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition, and more… See you there!
The Harvard-Westlake Upper School Choirs and I are on tour in Italy from March 22 – April 1. We have 7 performances over 10 days, plus visits to the Accademia in Florence, the Roman Aqueduct in Spoleto, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and more! Check out our performance schedule:
VENICE
Sunday, March 24 at noon
Church service at Basilica San Marco
Monday, March 25, mid-morning
School Exchange Concert
Mestre High School
TUSCANY
Tuesday, March 26 in the evening
Camigliano
Shared Concert with the Coro Giacomo Puccini
FLORENCE
Wednesday, March 27 at 7pm
Chiesa San Phillipo Neri
Formal Evening Concert
UMBRIA
Thursday, March 28 at 2:30pm
Basilica of San Francesco, Upper Basilica
Informal Concert
SPOLETO
Friday March, 29, late morning
13th Century Duomo
Duomo Portico
Informal Concert
ROME
Sunday, March 31 at 10:30am
St. Paul’s Within the Walls
American Episcopal Church
Service Participation and Concert
“Sing About It” is the album just released by Tonality, a professional choral ensemble that promotes peace, unity, and social justice through choral music. I am so proud to have sung with such amazing artists on this album conducted by my dear and brilliant friend, Alexander Lloyd Blake. But more that that, I am honored to have composed two of the works featured on this album. Alex Blake and his ensemble of extraordinary musicians and engineers put so much heart and skill and time into this moving work of art. “Sing About It” is now available on iTunes, Amazon Music, CDBaby, and Spotify.
Go to Tonality’s website to purchase the album, listen to excerpts, and watch videos of this group’s amazing work. You can even donate to the cause while you’re there…
As we have just finished celebrating the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and since Black History Month is right around the corner, here is a quote I shared with my Unitarian Universalist siblings at our recent UU MLK Choir Festival held at Pasadena’s Neighborhood Church. It’s a passage from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“In other words, I was part of a world. And looking out, I had friends who too were part of other worlds – the world of Jews or New Yorkers, the world of Southerners or gay men, of immigrants, of Californians, of Native Americans, or a combination of any of these, worlds stitched into worlds like tapestry. And though I knew I could never, myself, be a native of any of these worlds, I knew that nothing so essentialist as race stood between us. I had read too much by then. And my eyes – my beautiful, precious eyes – were were growing stronger each day. And I saw that what divided me from the world was not anything intrinsic to us but the actual injury done by people intent on naming us, intent on believing that what they have named us matters more than anything we could ever actually do. In America, the injury is not in being born with darker skin, with fuller lips, with a broader nose, but in everything that happens after.”
I learned about a new way to celebrate the start of the year: in addition to being New Year’s Day and the last day of Kwanzaa, January 1st is also known as Z Day! This annual opportunity to celebration all things and people usually relegated to the end of any alphabetical list makes total sense at the start of each year, making the last first for a little while, and celebrating a letter most people probably don’t even use very often. In fact, we use this letter so much less often than others that looking at a page with a lot of Zs on it (try this one) can make you question if you’ve been writing them correctly — they start to look loopy after awhile!
Here are a few artists and influencers I’d like to celebrate today.
Zelda
I can’t believe The Rev. Zelda Kennedy passed away from cancer almost a year ago. She’s the first person that comes to mind when I think about people I love whose names start with Z. She was so soulful and full of life. Her voice was so warm and low and comforting. Not a day goes by that I don’t smile at her picture on the wall in my home: she’s in our wedding pictures, because she officiated our wedding. It was such a blessing to know her while I was at All Saints Church in Pasadena. And I miss her deeply.
Even as a little kid, I always thought “Zappa” was such a fun name! The iconoclast was one of the most powerful creative forces, across musical and cultures genres, through the 1970s and 80s. If you think he’s not a classical composer, click the link above and check his output. I would have sung his 200 Motels with LA Master Chorale and the LA Phil back in fall 2013 if I hadn’t a conflict – I hear that gig was a lot of fun and “memorable” for various reasons; it’s definitely not rated PG! But the man had skills, and a mind like no other.
(1908-2004)
This African-American and Creek Indian composer and pianist lived a fascinating and inspiring life, determinedly pursuing her music in spite of hurdles and lack of support at home. She was completely committed to her life in music, and while she moved and planned and worked to get the training and opportunities she craved, her music shows a strong connection to her hometown and the people she loved. She reached for the moon but kept her feet on the ground, and her career challenges how we define success as a composer and more. Click here to learn more about her
(1882-1967)
Few people have done more to refine and advance methods of musical education, first in his native Hungary, and then writing books that have changed programs around the world. Kodály’s work as a composer and ethnomusicologist are just as impressive. He wrote music for orchestra, choir, two operas, and some lovely chamber music, all influenced by the folk music he studied so carefully. Check this out if you’re not sure where to start.
Zenaida meloda (the scientific name for “mourning dove”)
A few Zbees I’ve worked with
