A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
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As part of Fall for Greenville, the 1970’s group Kansas was giving a free concert Saturday evening. Kansas has been one of my favorite bands. As a high schooler playing keyboards in a band, they were my idols because of their keyboard-heavy arrangements. “Carry on My Wayward Son” is still one of my favorite songs. … Read More “Kansas on a Stick” »
Local Greenville blogger Eric Rogers stumbled across one of my posts about tilt-shift photography and thought he’d give it a try. Eric is a filmmaker, so he took things a step further and tried to tilt-shift a video clip. The results are quite good. Here’s a link to his finished product in Quicktime .MOV format… … Read More “Tilt-Shift Video” »
Sounds like a prizefight – kind of like the "Thrilla in Manilla." In a sense, that’s not a bad description. Most of Mahler’s Second Symphony is a struggle, between despair and hope, musical motifs, and extreme dynamic ranges. I left early to make the drive up and over the mountains to Brevard. I was unsure … Read More “Mahler in Brevard” »
I think I can safely say, without giving away any spoilers, that the overriding theme of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows deals with Harry’s coming to terms with his own mortality. Those lessons have hit home in numerous ways this week. First there are the subtle, constant reminders of the unrelenting passage of time … Read More “Bereite dich zu leben!” »
The photograph above is part of a display we keep in our house from our year in Arizona. I carved the fake kokopelli petroglyph as well as the Native American Flute. The year was 1991. Laura was on sabbatical from Furman and had an opportunity to do research at the University of Arizona. I quit … Read More “Native American Flutes” »
The entire weekend was tied up with our performance of Carmen. Rehearsals Friday night and Saturday morning, with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Even with sections cut from it, the piece was 2 hours and 45 minutes, including half-time. The weekend took on the tone of perform-collapse-perform-collapse. Friday night was our first time hearing … Read More “Carmen, The Post Game Show” »
Don Jose sings of his love for Carmen. Then, just to drive home the point, he stabs her to death. The chorus responds with a rousing happy song. The audience applauds. We all go home.
Don Jose and Escamillo attempt to sing each other to death.
Maestro, it’s time for a break. But vwe have one more piece! Veel break zhen. That’s tomorrow’s dress rehearsal. Zhis frustrating, no? Thus, the Union speaks.
Ask any non-musician to describe their concept of opera, and you’ll most likely get a Wagnerian Brunhilde. Ask that same person to hum a few bars from an opera, and if they are able to produce anything at all, it will probably be a snippet of Figaro from Rossini, or one of the many recognizable … Read More “Songs You Know by Heart” »