I retired from Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems a year
ago. Since then I have completed two
semesters as a full time music student at the University of Maine working toward
a Bachelor of Arts degree and my goal to be a church musician. I enjoy my music studies immensely and I can
see (and hear!) some progress in my skills.
I have learned much about music.
I have learned much about community.
I feel very blessed to have so much support from my husband, John, and
my family, friends, teachers, fellow-students, and colleagues.
I finished my last final exam for this semester on December
16. Then December 17, I flew to New York
to attend a ballet in which a good friend was performing. My daughter, Carletta, met me in New York for
this brief visit. Here is a link to a
storybook describing American Ballet Theater’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker:
You click on the top right corner of the book on the screen to
turn the pages.
With Carletta at the Nutcracker
ballet
The ballet was beautiful and showcased the skills of the
students of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of
Ballet.
I flew home on Friday, December 19, because the St. John’s Christmas
Concert was December 21 with the dress rehearsal on December 20. What a beautiful concert of the St. John’s
Youth and Adult choirs! I sang with the
choir and played one organ piece during the concert. This organ piece is a theme and four
variations on a French Christmas Carol composed by Claude Balbastre (1724-1799). I recorded myself playing “Joseph est bien
Marié” a few days later at St. John’s in
a quiet church:
At the console of Hook Opus 288 at St. John’s
