Today, May 25, is my birthday! One of my favorite things I did this month was working with the Neighborhood Church Youth Chorus. I can’t emphasize enough how much I LOVE working with singers under the age of 13. We always have so much fun singing and learning music together, even through Zoom. We made a virtual choir video of us singing the hymn “Do When the Spirit Says Do” with piano accompaniment by Wells Leng. I can’t help but smile and giggle everytime I see it. I hope it makes you smile, too.
Conducting
The Harvard-Westlake Upper School Virtual Choir Concert is on Friday, June 4 at 7pm on Vimeo. I’m conducting “El Aire Lloro” by Francisco Núñez, “Kang Ding Love Song” by Saunder Choi, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” arranged by yours truly.
Composition
It’s thrilling to be a mentor composer for one of the winners of the Her Voice Composition Competition with Chicago A Cappella. Sarai Hillman’s winning composition “Safety and Refuge” is radiant, timely, and well-crafted. Plus, Ms. Hillman is just a phenomenal human being, so full of musicality, poise, warmth, and genuine enthusiasm for the craft of music composition.
Singing
I’ve been practicing self-accompanying on piano. Here’s a video of me singing and playing “Amarilli” by Caccini. I still get tripped up with my fingering, but the singing’s not bad. How’s my Italian?
For Fun
The bad news is that I got rear-ended in heavy traffic on the freeway last month. Don’t worry, it was a slow-speed impact, and no one was injured. The value of my little car was basically the same as the cost to repair it, so it ended up being a total loss.
The good news is that I got a new car for Mother’s Day! It’s a stylish black 2020 Mazda CX3 – a car I’ve always wanted!
Nonprofit Music News
Tonality is thrilled to be a recipient of the LA Arts Recovery Fund. As one of 90 nonprofits receiving grants, we are excited to continue serving our community and contributing to the rich cultural fabric and economic recovery of LA County!
Don’t miss NANM’s first virtual convention, July 11-13, streaming live from Philadelphia!
