Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation

This past weekend we had our competition round for the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation. Their founder and director Rudolf Cleare came up to see it. You can read his impression and learn more about the NSSF here.

Faust Posters: Mephistopheles vs. Marguerite

For our upcoming production of FAUST, we have dueling posters of Darren Stokes (Mephistopheles) and Caroline Worra (Marguerite). We have steampunk devil and sweet Marguerite. Which one do you like better? Take the poll on the right side of this blog.

And, yeah, arrange to see the show by visiting the Opera Memphis website.

McFarland Artists Audition Trip

Yesterday morning, a group of singers managed by Robert McFarland came through Memphis to audition. These fourteen singers had been to Shreveport the previous day, spent the evening in Little Rock and then hit Memphis. The same evening, they were going to audition in Knoxville and then hit Cincinnati the following morning. They had been out as far west as San Francisco. A grueling trip, but not a bad idea given the tight schedules on New York auditions.

Musicians and Emotion in music

Here is news about a study that says that trained musicians are more capable than the average at being able to detect emotion in music. I also wonder if musicians are more sensitive than average to tone in speaking.

Hawaii Opera Carmen Final Performance

The final performance of Carmen on March 3rd was spectacular, probably one of the four or five most memorable performances that I have participated in. Everyone was on. After the curtain came down, all joined hands for an emotional rendition of Aloha Oe, followed by a post performance tailgate that included some hula.

Same drink, different labels

Here we have the same Korean sweet potato spirit marketed two very different ways and available in both labels in the same Korean restaurant... Light, very slightly sweet.

Barefoot Bob

On Saturday, I went over to the University of Hawaii's college radio station, KTUH, and played a few songs on a show hosted by songwriter and DJ Barefoot Bob. Barefoot is the nexus of the songwriting community in Hawaii--hosting writers events throughout town and the weekly radio show.

Carmen #2

The Sunday performance was sold out and was notable for its fire and energy, if not especially for its accuracy.

After the show, there was a party at Tod's, a beautiful leather goods purveyor in Waikiki.

The opening night performance got a terrific review.