Staging Furies

Yesterday we participated in the public opening of the new theater complex at Playhouse on the Square. We used one of their new rehearsal rooms and staged the section of the opera where Orpheus is harassed by the Furies. Our director, Patrick Hansen, taught the ensemble some memorable moves, including the "shifting hunchback" and the "backwards monkey."

Euridice in her mask

Euridice (Kearstin Piper Brown) in her mask.

Orfeo ed Euridice staging rehearsals

We have had several days of staging on our ORFEO ED EURIDICE in Memphis. We have cast three different singers, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, tenor Marc Schreiner, and mezzo soprano Kathryn Cowdrick. We have one Euridice, Kearstin Brown--so she's a busy one. Each singer will get to sing the opera twice.

Why do it with three different leads? Gluck's opera was originally done by a castrato (approximated by a countertenor today) and then by a tenor. Later it was taken up by mezzo sopranos. So all three voice types are part of the performing tradition of the piece. I'm sure it's been done this way somewhere before, but it's rare.

Orfeo ed Euridice

We are starting rehearsals for ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.

Orchestra Doodles

Our colleague Paul Barrett has suffered through the financial trials of the Honolulu Symphony. He has created some greeting cards. Some of the cards are based on doodles made during rehearsals as Principal Bassoon in Honolulu. Rehearsals do have down time, so it is tempting to doodle. While editing and cleaning up the parts to BUOSO'S GHOST, I came across this doodle in the French Horn I book. Since the parts have been used many times, it is hard to say which talented Horn player did this, with BUOSO changed to BOZO.

BUOSO'S GHOST playing to the West

My opera BUOSO'S GHOST is going to play this spring at Amarillo Opera and the University of Southern Utah. I'll post more about this soon.

Lights of Christmas

This is a concert song (2003) with lyrics by Hugh Moffatt. The pdf is over on the right side for download. This performance is by Mark Walters

Lights of Christmas frame the houses,
Welcoming the dawn of winter.
I remember as I struggle like the new born sun to rise.

Long ago a star came shining,
In the night and dawn of winter,
Beckoning to us to follow through the darkness to the light.

Lights of Christmas still they shine on
As the day begins to break.
There is still a star that guides us,
lighting ev'ry step we take.

Mary's child laid in the manger,
In that hopeful dawn of winter,
Given by the Lord of all a son of peace to light our way.

How we've fought and how we've failed him.
Darkening the dawn of winter.
Can't we see that all are welcome in by the light of Christmas day.

Still we hope and still we name him,
Light of love for Light of love for ev'ry nation.
Ev'ry man and ev'ry woman,
Jew and Gentile, Christian, Muslim
All are one and all are are welcome
In the light of Christmas day.
In the light of Christmas day.
In the light of Christmas day.

Under Review

It's a sad sign of the state of newspapers, but we didn't get a review for our production of COSI FAN TUTTE in the Commercial Appeal. We did get nice coverage before the show, and I suppose if one were to have to choose, before is better than after.

Robert Ward

Composer Robert Ward is in his nineties and still going strong in his and living in Durham, NC. He is still writing music and thinking about big issues like world peace, the environment, and how humanity can get along better. It is going to be great to catch up with him while attending SoJam, an a cappella conference.

I owe to Bob much of my compositional sensibility--write music for audiences and performers--and my sense of collegiality--to be willing to mentor and to be frank without being cruel. An added plus was to get to meet his friends Phil and Georgia Nelson, both former Deans at Yale.

Cosi Fan Tutte is done

The second of two performances of COSI went well. In general the audience liked the set up with the orchestra onstage and upstage of the singers. The sets and costumes did the trick and all in all it was the liveliest COSI I've ever been part of. I think we will try GPAC and the orchestra setup again sometime!