I’ve decided to bite the bullet and drop $500 of my hard-earned money to spend a week in New Hampshire for a music workshop in July. I’m going to Camp Ogontz in Lyman, New Hampshire for the second of two week symposia with Sir David Willcocks, George Kent, and Paula Rockwell. The repertoire includes Rutter’s “Mass of the Children,” Verdi’s “Four Sacred Pieces,” Vaughan Williams’ “Toward The Unknown Region,” Handel’s “Dixit Dominus,” “Tudor Anthems,” and Mozart’s “Mass in C minor.”

I’m so excited.

The other symposium is with Richard Marlow, George Kent, and Freda Herseth. They’ll be working on Rheinberger’s “Mass in E [flat]“, Bach’s “Jesu, meine Freude,” and Tippet’s “Five Spirituals” from “A Child of our Time.” If it didn’t cost me nearly a month’s pay I’d attend both just for the heck of it.

I missed my chance to go to Ogontz last summer because I thought I was going to spend the summer with a guy. With all references to The Hills aside, I’m following my heart this time.

If you’re interested in attending the choral symposia, get more information and register at ChorusofWesterly.org. I could use a buddy to make sure I don’t get lost in the forest up there.

I bought this RCA Digital Voice Recorder that will hopefully allow me to record my performances. Tomorrow I’d like to use it to record my dress rehearsal with the Chorus of Westerly. I want to hear how we sound and be able to note trouble spots in our music, most importantly the little details that our conductor has been drilling us on these last two nights. Maybe I’m being critical of myself, but it really helps to hear how it all sounds to be able to correct any mistakes.

I’m excited to use this gadget. It’s a step above what I used to use to record voice lessons back in high school. I used to have to re-record over a blank cassette but this one is digital and has a built-in USB connector so I can transfer the sound file to my laptop. There are lots of features that I can’t wait to use! Unfortunately I forgot to get AAA batteries so I can’t play with it right now. Lame.

The profound power of a fragrance is hidden in its unique combination of notes. These notes can thrill you. Bewitch you. Transport you back in time or anchor you blissfully in the present. When the right notes come together, it’s magic. It’s like a melody you can’t get out of your head. You want to experience it again and again.

I guess someone in the marketing department at Dillards is trying to compare the ingredients of frangrances to a series of notes in a piece of music. Ok.

Apparently I am strong enough to go without sleep as long as I sustain myself with music. Last friday I jumped on a train to New York City with 3 of my friends to catch India.Arie in concert for her Soulbird tour. It was my second time seeing India and once again I was not disappointed. I’m not the best reviewer so I’ll just say this, if you want to attend a concert where the musician puts emphasis on THE MUSIC, India.Arie does that. There’s power in her voice, her lyrics, the instruments, and the fact that she loves her fans. It was basically a family affair; she invited her mother on stage to sing and it was so heartwarming that it nearly brought me to tears.

India performed selected songs from her most recent album, Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics as well as well-known favorites from past albums. I’m still warming up to her new album so I totally jammed to the old faves that I knew really well. When she played Video, then I Am Not My Hair, and finally There’s Hope, I was out of my seat and my arms were flailing around. Trust me child, I got down. That was the climax of my concert experience that night.

India’s songs are full of positive messages. They will lift you up, encourage you, and remind you of how precious your life is.

The following night I attended Orchestra New England‘s last performance of the 2008-2009 season. The first piece was a world premiere that was composed by my professor, Mark Kuss. It was a Cello Concerto written specifically for the orchestra and cellist Mihai Marica. I was really excited to hear it and invited a friend to come with me. I’m not going to lie, we both got lost walking around New Haven trying to find the venue that we ended up being 45 minutes late and got there to hear the last 45 seconds of the piece. The best 45 seconds of music if you ask me…

O.N.E. also performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica. I’ve heard Beethoven’s symphonies in recordings but never live. O.N.E. did a magnificent job. If I had a copy of the score I’d point out the specific measures that I liked, but I don’t so I’ll just say I enjoyed parts of the the first movement, Allegro con brio, and the last movement, Allegro molto. Be sure to look out for next season and consider supporting New England’s finest professional chamber orchestra.