Friday, February 19, 2016

Rehearsals for Tender Land, T minus 3 days

Dear Readers,

You have, yet again, found me in another period of epistolary celibacy. My most sincere apologies for the delay. Much has happened in these last few weeks.

First, I would like to wish you all, albeit belated, HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! Cheers to the year of the Red (Fire) Monkey. I cannot admit to being entirely trusting, or accepting of astrology, and like pseudosciences. I do, however, admit to finding much charm in the mythology, theology, astrology of ancient civilizations; including the lasting traditions of the Chinese.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Chinese astrology  (I am certainly no expert, having a casual - if not cursory - interest) find here a brief primer about the system and the year of the Red Fire Monkey:
"In Chinese astrology, each year is associated with a Chinese zodiac animal sign and one of the five elements: Gold (Metal), Water, Wood, Fire, or Earth. Both the sign and element of your birth year are said to affect your personality and destiny. Element-sign combinations recur every 60 years. The Monkey is ninth of the 12 animals in the recurring 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle."

As some of you know, I was born on March 30th, 1987, which - according to Chinese astrology - means that I was born in the year of the Fire (Red) Rabbit. (March 30th also has me in the Aires category,

For the sake of those uninterested in this topic I will limit my thoughts to wishing everyone a Happy Lunar New Year, and encourage those who are interested to read more on any website from their favorite search engine. 

Second: I have had several successful performances with Michigan Opera Theatre. We flew to western Florida for 2 "snow birds" concerts in Naples and Sarasota. We had a Valentine's day concert last week at the Grosse Point War Memorial which went very well. We have also had several opera club events previewing The Tender Land for audiences in the Detroit Metro Area of Michigan. We've had masterclasses and coachings with the brilliant Kathleen Kelly and the charming Carol Vaness. Tender Land rehearsals start on Monday, and thus will begin the spring season at MOT!

Third: In other news, sadly, my parent's dog Annabelle passed away 2 nights ago. It has been a serious and sad loss for our family - I suppose, as the passing of any pet can be. I have felt the death acutely. Annabelle was an amazing friend. Her life with my family was special, because she - in some ways - took the place of my brother and me at home. She deserves a fair and thoughtful tribute, this paragraph does no justice.

Fourth: My bass is in the shop, it cracked due to the lack of humidity (despite having a humidifier pumping 24/7). An expensive repair - it tough to be with out my bass.

Thank you for your patience while I sort out an appropriate means to using all of the social media for my career, my personal journaling and keeping up the blog.

Warmly,
Joe

PS - I enjoyed seeing the University of Michigan preview/workshop of The Red Chamber (Bright Sheng). I have also taken the opportunity to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra play twice in the last 4 weeks. Tonight I will try to see Opera MODO's transgender (orange is the new black) Carmen.