Happy 2013!

My oh my. The last blog post was in October and it is now three months later on New Year’s Day. I had many gigs in the last three months. My new year’s resolution for 2012 was to post twice per month. Forget the resolutions this time; it’s not like we ever stick to them anyway.

The Christmas season turned out to be quite busy, musically speaking. My carolling group, the Caminando Carollers had many corporate events and shopping mall performances. Everywhere we went, we had very positive feedback and everyone loved the singing. I love the singing too. It’s so nice to make music with my singing buddies and it is rather fun to get dressed up now and then (see the Caminando Carollers page on this site and you’ll see what I mean). I also did some caroling gigs at the Century Plaza Hotel with the Angelus Singers, led by my friend Melissa Howell.

The Laudate Singers did a very enjoyable concert of Maurice Charpentier. We performed Te Deum and Messe de Minuit with a baroque orchestra and we even sang using French Latin. There are different Latin pronunciations, depending on the region and when the piece was written. In Charpentier’s time, people basically pronounced Latin according to the rules of their respective country. Now, we tend to pronounce Latin using Italian pronunciations but if you want to do a specific piece authentically, it’s best to pronounce Latin text the way it would have been done three hundred years ago. I’m still having difficulty going back to Italianate pronunciation but it’s all part of the adventure. 

I will start teaching again next week and I will be accepting more private students this year as my children are getting older and more independent. I do love teaching. I deeply care about vocal technique, music making and the progress of a student or groups of students. There are times when I’m teaching, singing or conducting when I think to myself, “Yes, this is what it’s all for”. When things are working musically, you know it and the feeling is wonderful. I am so grateful for my jobs as a singer and as a music teacher. 

I’m not even going to try and speculate on what is to come this year. The fact is, we have no idea what can happen and even the best laid plans often go awry – to paraphrase two much better writers. All I can do is look after my little family as best I can and try to be a decent and kind human being. Let’s look after each other in 2013. Happy New Year to all.