My fall semester classes are going very well. It’s hard to believe that we have been in classes
for over a month and are already in autumn break. I am taking 7 courses this semester:
·
Music History (Western music history from the
beginning until 1750)
·
Music Literature Lab (a course covering research
in music, how to use music notation software, and how to record and edit music
audio files)
·
Piano Literature from J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
through Chopin (1810-1849)
·
Collegiate Chorale – one of five student
conductors. Our concert is on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 pm in Minsky Hall at
the University of Maine. I will conduct two pieces.
o
“Antiphon” from Five Mystical Songs by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958),
which was first performed in 1911
o
“Shiloh,” an a cappella Christmas song by American
composer William Billings (1746-1800), published in 1786 in The Suffolk Harmony.
·
Organ Lessons with Kevin Birch
·
Piano Lessons with Phillip Silver
·
Voice Lessons with Marcia Gronewold Sly.
In addition to my coursework at school, I am serving as
music intern at St. John’s and St. Teresa’s Catholic Churches, where, in addition
to service playing, I am gaining more experience in choir training and program
administration. I am playing the organ for
services at St. Teresa’s twice a month, and I am assisting Kevin Birch with the
St. John’s Youth (first through eighth grades) and Adult choirs.
I sing in the St. John’s Chamber Choir, the St. John’s Adult
Choir, the St. Teresa’s Schola, and the St. John’s Voices of Love (which sings
at funerals).
The St. John’s Chamber Choir will present Musica Sacra – Advent 2015 on Saturday,
December 5, 2015, at 7:30 pm at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York Street,
Bangor. We will be performing
Italian Masterworks of the 17th and 18th Centuries:
Mass for Four Voices (in F) - Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Motet: Beatus Vir qui timet
Dominum - Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Magnificat in g - Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
We will be joined by guest artists: Heidi Powell (violin), Richard Hsu (violin), and Abraham Ross
(organ)
St John’s Chamber Choir
in front of the altar
at St. John’s Catholic Church, Bangor
