Jubilee Pops Concert a Big Hit

MSO's Jubilee Pops Concert entertained and educated us with a history of music-making in Alabama from 1819 to the present. Ed Bridges provided historical context while conductor Thomas Hinds and the orchestra played "Tuxedo Junction," "Hey, Good-Lookin,'" some selections from Showboat, and a medley of Alabama tunes ending with "My Home's in Alabama."

To the delight of the crowd–and with the help of some brave volunteers on one song–the talented Birmingham Sunlights performed. Patriotic music rounded out the fun evening.

The Soundtrack of My Life

Hauling every single thing out of the home office, and then going through it piece by piece, has been just like moving (except for the fact that we didn't go anywhere, thank goodness).

By the time I had gotten most everything cleaned up and displayed in the new room, my efforts came to a halt--and there they stayed for the last few weeks. Finally, when I realized that friends who dropped by seemed surprised that the dining room wasn't completely clean yet, I had to push past the last few obstacles to a post-renovation dining room.

Most of the remaining clutter fell into two groups: (1) the results of a genealogy obsession that I indulged a few years ago and (2) a collection of LP's, some of which were even older than I had realized. It's almost as hard for me to throw away music as it is to toss out a book, so procrastination had reared its ugly head. Tackling the records seemed like a logical next step. A quick look at similar items on Ebay told me that I wasn't going to waste time trying to sell them there.

It had been my impression that the album collection was equally divided between DH's records and mine, but my careful perusal said otherwise. Nope--it was 99% mine. DH had Sergeant Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, a flute album and some Boccherini Quintets. Conversely, my unusual stash included such classics as an interesting record by Rod McKuen and "SRO" by the Tijuana Brass. There was Heart, Judy Collins, Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne and some names I've already forgotten. They covered every genre--pop, rock, classical, a little country, and just plain strange. Some of the LP's dated back to my childhood--a rather unconventional childhood, at least in terms of my pre-adolescent musical taste. After a little nostalgia-fest, waltzing back through the memories associated with all of that old music, I decided it was time to let go.

DH had a little fun with me before I finally cut the cord.

TS: I threw out some LP's last night.
DH: Oh, did ya?
TS: Yep--I've had some of those records since I was a little kid. I tossed the 1812 Overture/Capriccio Italien 'cause I'd already downloaded it from iTunes. As for the others . . . it was time to let go of "Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space."
DH: That was probably the one that was actually worth something.
TS: My childhood crush on Leonard Nimoy notwithstanding--I always liked the smart guys--that was possibly the worst album of all time. But it is still in the garbage can . . .
DH: Maybe you should go fish it out.
TS: Oh, stop enabling me! You know I'm a pack rat!
DH: Are you really? I don't think of you as being a pack rat.
TS: How many other people do you know who own "Let's Get Small" by Steve Martin?

The records remained in the trash, and my chi is flowing a little more freely now. I did hang on to Sgt. Pepper, though.

Next up: the family tree.

The Tanglewood Festival

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us, friends and supporters of our symphony orchestra, traveled to Tanglewood Music Center, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for the Tanglewood Festival. The Festival, which began in the 1930’s as the Berkshire Symphonic Festival, draws about 300,000 music lovers annually.

Our symphony has a special relationship with Tanglewood and with Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), and although this was the first trip for me and DH, it was the group’s 10th visit to the area. We met DH’s parents and sister, too, making it a fun family mini-vacation.

One activity that we particularly enjoyed was a trip to Naumkeag, a 44-room 1880’s house surrounded by 49 acres of gardens and farmland. Also on my list of major highlights: sitting in on a piano master class given by Dr. Jonathan Bass. I was amazed at how quickly the students comprehended and executed exactly what he asked of them.

We saw three major performances at the Koussevitsky Music Shed on the Tanglewood campus.



On Friday night, we heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform works by Ravel, Saint-Saëns and Chausson--featuring Joshua Bell on violin—and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, our favorite of all the music we heard while there.

Following the concert, two members of our group managed to get a prime spot in the long line for Joshua Bell’s signature, and the violinist autographed CD’s and programs for them.

Saturday evening’s offering was a Tchaikovsky opera, Eugene Onegin, headlined by soprano Renée Fleming. Afterward, the autograph seekers somehow procured an invitation into Ms. Fleming’s dressing room, where they had their photograph taken with the gracious American opera singer.

On Sunday afternoon, buoyed by their successes with meeting Joshua Bell and Renée Fleming, our friends were first in line to see Yo-Yo Ma. Unfortunately, he was not giving autographs, but in lieu of a signature he posed for a photograph with the delighted pair, and they left with their prize stored on the digital camera.


All in all, it was a fun-filled four days of enjoying incredible music-making in gorgeous surroundings with a cool mountain breeze blowing over us.

Would You Karaoke?

Today, my friend Dilana asked me, "Do you know where I could get some karaoke music?" Immediately I replied, "Uhh . . . "

She has a teenage relative who's getting a karaoke machine, and Dilana thought she'd get the young lady some karaoke music for Christmas. Apparently, a karaoke machine is a device that plays music and shows you the lyrics so that you can sing along with the background music. Many people do this in public.

"Uh, maybe you could find it online?"

Now, I think it's a good sign that she thought I might know the whereabouts of some karaoke music. This implies that I might be Fun, and I'm not sure if I've been viewed as Fun before. The truth is, however, that I would never get up and sing with a machine in front of people, unless I were extremely intoxicated, and I hope that won't be happening anytime soon.

Dilana continued, "Oh, I'll do it in a heartbeat, if it's just in front of my friends."

I mentally reviewed my list of close friends, which didn't take long, and I'm not sure any of them has ever been around a karaoke machine, either. We could take an unscientific poll. I do have a new friend, a classical violinist, who says she does karaoke, but she actually is Fun and outgoing. She says you don't have to be drinking to do it, but it helps.

Back to Dilana: "One time, a bunch of us girls were up there, and we were acting like we were the Supremes! Our friends said we certainly weren't the Supremes, though."