The Banal Chew

Adios, Tucson from afar!

The day is almost upon us.  By the time I rise tomorrow morning, Mark and Zane (and I, by extension) will be enjoying a final evening in Tucson.  The time for their return to Australia is here.  Neither is happy about it in a way.  Quite simply, they love the life we shared while in the US.

Through the experience of earning his doctorate and the subsequent year in academic training, Mark has further matured professionally and is eager to enter the world of academic law.  During the two years in Tucson, Zane has shed the skin of childhood and entered those delicate years as a teenager.  His development and maturity during the past couple of years still astound us.  He excelled academically, achieved a sense of independence and became a highly competitive swimmer. During the year that I lived in Tucson with them (July 2009 to May 2010), we managed to reconnect with family and friends in the Northern Hemisphere, but we also made new friends. There are a great many memories I will cherish forever.

Although they are both excited for us all to be under the same roof again, I am sure Mark and Zane are grieving over the need to leave their life, our life, in a very different and unique place.  I experienced it when I had to leave Tucson in May 2010 and return to Sydney, in order to begin my new position with Coro Innominata. 

I like Tucson very much, and over the 9 or 10 years I have lived there on and off, I have been happy to call it home.  It saddens me to think that this may have been the last time.  Oh, yes. We will be back in Tucson for visits, but for now, I will rejoice in the fact that my family will be together again. Finally.

Rapture Schmapture

I just told Bonnee that the world is going to end this weekend.  She told me to shut my piehole and get back to work. 

And to stop playing all the Blondie and R.E.M. 

Jelly bean, Boom!

Boys Should Walk and Girls Shouldn't Cry

I went to see Jersey Boys last night. There wasn't much about the show I didn't enjoy.  [Sidebar:  I will always equate the 1960s and early 70s with my uneasy childhood, knowing I was different and largely unaccepted by my family, but not really understanding why.  This makes anything that references the time period, like Jersey Boys does, an uncomfortable experience for me. But that's beside the point. From a theoretical and entertainment perspective, the show is good in just about every way. Rock solid.]

Judging from comments I overheard in the lobby during intermission and afterward, I am not alone in misremembering just how many hits The 4 Seasons (and Frankie Valli as a solo artist) have in their repertoire list.  You can't really say their music is timeless, because assuming you were alive at the time, there's little way you can hear it and not flash back to what you were doing, where you were living during the two decades when these guys were at the height of their career.  But what you can say is that the songs were well written (mostly by Bob Gaudio, who also sang with the group for a number of years), the vocals tight, the men handsome, the production (by Bob Crewe) superb...and the style. Oh, the style! All of that is translated into the musical beautifully.  It's great stuff.

Through the years, there have been many, many covers of their songs, performed by artists from Andy Williams, The Pet Shop Boys, Clay Aiken to Lauryn Hill.  And the royalties keep rollin' in! 

Speaking of covers of their songs, here's one you may not know.  Have a good weekend everyone!

 

The Way I Feel

 I had a marvelous rehearsal last night with the choir.  We are learning a challenging program of Romantic music that celebrates the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt.  It will be a stretch for the choir, but I know they can handle it.  And after our second rehearsal on this program, I predict it will be an intense pleasure to conduct.

I just read this post on Paul Carey's wonderful blog.  It is a must-read for anyone who cares deeply about what performing or teaching music means.  I was moved by Weston Noble's words.  Let me know what you think.