Tenor Tip IV: Will It Blend?

Tenor Tips IV from Matt S. on Vimeo.

We'll Be Right Back

BeforeISleep.net had a wonderful vacation, is currently getting into the swing of 2008, and will be back soon!

A Holiday Celebration at Ford's Theatre

group-shot-holiday-celebrat.jpg, originally uploaded by CaseWriter21.

A group of us taped this back in June, and it was held until tonight. If you look close, you can see me! I'm next to Wynonna, or however you spell it. More pics to come!

Tenor Tips!

A bit of choral goodness

As most of you probably know, I sing tenor in the Choral Arts Society of Washington. As most of you probably don't know, we're singing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony this week (i.e. "Ode to Joy") with the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center. Most of you probably don't know this, because unlike in years' past, I have not flooded everybody's e-mail inbox with requests to Come To My Concert! Why? Eh, just hasn't occurred to me, really. The Core Group of friends who traditionally come to my concerts has dissipated somewhat, with everybody flung out to all corners of the globe, and so there's not much reason to send out a mass e-mail.

Tonight we had our final choral rehearsal (before we rehearse with the orchestra tomorrow), and for your listening pleasure, I was able to record a few snippets from rehearsal -- along with our conductor's energetic commentary and direction. It's a little soprano-heavy, as that's where the recorder was placed, but it's still fun to listen to. Enjoy!







Also, if you want to come, the Thursday and Saturday concerts are sold out, but Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. is still available.

I'd love to see you!

Happy Independence Day!

CAS-Capitol-Fourth, originally uploaded by CaseWriter21.

Tonight I had the pleasure of ushering in the 231st year of America's existence by singing in the Capitol Fourth concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. The concert was broadcast live in HD on PBS, and I made it on screen a few times! This image is actually a photograph I took of my television screen, then cleaned up a bit in Photoshop. Click through for a larger size -- the HD image is truly stunning.

Last year I didn't do the concert, and as I watched it from home, I balked at its cheesy nature -- the Vaudeville style, the dancing girls, the pop artists. This year, it was still as cheesy as ever... but I actually got into it. There is something amusing about Tony Danza tap dancing with a bunch of hotties and singing about how "You're a Grand Ol' Flag" is "one of those songs that you hear now and then -- you don't know just where, and you don't know just when..."

I still prefer a more serious, stately celebration... but this was really fun. AND: I got to keep the tie.


Choral Arts sings backup for Elliot Yamin in "America, the Beautiful"

The Exciting Life You Don't Hear About

Tonight, as I stood on stage behind the National Symphony Orchestra, facing the Capitol Dome and thousands of people and about to sing the dress-rehearsal concert for tomorrow's July 4th concert on the Mall, my thoughts turned to this blog. Specifically, I realized that the most exciting parts of my life -- the stuff I enjoy the most, and spend the most time on -- really doesn't make it into my blog. That's not because I'm trying to hide it or anything; it's just that when I am doing something exciting and fun, I am not writing on my blog.

It's ironic -- and a bit frustrating -- because these are the kinds of things I really want to tell everyone about. This is the stuff I get out of my apartment for. A couple weeks ago I got to sing for the President at Ford's Theatre for a special that won't air until December... apparently ABC decided that the typically summer show would make more money as a winter special, so there we were, singing Christmas carols for the president as Winona Judd asked him if he had picked out a present for Laura yet. And Olivia Newton John was there -- she was totally making eyes at me! And our musical director was Bill Conti, an award-winning composer who not only does the Academy Awards every year, but also wrote the Rocky Theme. He was hilarious and inspiring and extremely talented. And I realized how lucky I am to get the opportunity to do all these amazing things.

And I wanted to write about it at the time... but after work and rehearsal and spending time with friends, there was no time left over to write a blog post and do it justice.

That's the way it goes, I guess. Sometimes I'm really prolific... and those are the times when I have the least going on. So I write about my latest Segway Reaction of the Day, or how neat technology is, and BeforeISleep readers get a rather one-sided picture of Who I Am.

I am not just a technophile. I am a singer, a musician, a photographer, an author, a tinkerer, a scholar. And a lawyer. And yes, a technophile. :-)

It's kind of sad that I don't have time to write about the things that intrigue me the most, that make me the happiest, that take up so many of my waking hours.

Then again, it's kind of wonderful that I often have so little time to blog.

It means I am enjoying Life.

Its parts are greater than the sum?

• "Who needs the other 160!" -Norm Scribner, upon hearing the 30-person group he had chosen to sing the Ford's Theatre Holiday Celebration

Secret Video: Choral Arts Society Audition, 2007

Every year, we have to reaudition to get into the Choral Arts Society of Washington. Each year brings a new kind of audition -- two years ago it was individual auditions, last year sectionals, and this year quartets. I LOVE this method! After running through scales, we read through a couple pieces we performed this season. Here we are singing a snippet of Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen. I love singing with small groups, and I also love the Lux -- I'd go so far as to say it is my favorite piece of music, from any genre or time period. So, yeah. Stress-free audition.

(For personal friends of BeforeISleep.net who are not yet personal friends of Yours Truly, I am the one who starts the song.)

I recently sang a small solo in Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" at the Kennedy Center! This was recorded from about 4/5ths back in the hall, so my solo is kind of quiet (it's hard to sing over the orchestra), but I'm pleased with how it turned out. The phrase I sang was Hebrew, "V'ad dor vador emunato," which means "And His truth endures to all generations." Intro by Elizabeth.