My Own "MINIONS"

I made these from the "Despicable Me" webpage:

Summer Vacation Pics

Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man, a Mass for Peace

 

This past week, I had a very great musical experience. Every summer, a University in our state holds a series of choir workshops. I attended last year for the first time. Normally, I attend the Tuesday sessions, during which we spend three hours, first rehearsing, then singing through great pieces of choir music. 

  

This year, another opportunity presented itself. There was a weekend session in which we spent three hours on Thurs. evening, three on Fri. evening, and a couple of two hour sessions on Saturday, then perform the piece Sat. night. Yes, that's a total of ten hours from sight-reading to performing a large choral composition--in other words, great fun!

  

We sang Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. I have included a video of Jenkins directing a performance of the opening song. We did not record video of our performance, but do have access to a CD recording. this was such a great piece of music, and I'm glad I did this, even though it nearly wiped me out, since there were several nights this week where i was not home until midnight, but I had to be up early each day to get to work. 

    

Then, during the performance, under those bright lights, I started sweating. I had worn a shirt which was comfortable, but I now know has a tendency to darken with moisture. By the end of the concert, I looked quite splotchy. I wasn't sweating because I was nervous, because I don't really get nervous to sing. it was just hot, and they had turned off the air conditioning to keep the noise level down. >:o(

  

I did have the opportunity, though to sing the bass solos in this piece and the other pieces making up the concert. Over all, it was a very musically fulfilling evening.

Oh Say, Can You See?

Alright. I'm not as good a photographer as my nephew, nor as my sister, but I just got back from an Independence Day fireworks show at the neighboring town, and thought I would share part of the view with you. The show was VERY short, but some of the fireworks were cool. This photo was taken with my cell phone, so you will have to forgive me. This time of year makes me proud to live in this great land, even if I don't agree with all of our leaders. It's nice to be ABLE to disagree and not be harassed for it. God Bless America!