Coming Down

I'm sitting in the living room after a long needed nap. The snow is really coming down and if we hadn't just been through the crazy week, I would dare say it's beautiful. Thick, heavy, swirling, clinging and covering all it touches. We still have our belongings in our living room. I attended the NDMEA conference on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and then on Wednesday as the Missouri river was threatening Fox Island and the homes along the river, I was taken by surprise. The roads around our home were being closed. The mobile home park by our neighborhood was being evacuated and the ditch by our street was FULL. The picture is from our local newspaper. I taught one class and went home to meet Patrick. We spent the rest of the day moving the downstairs up. So did the rest of our neighbors. The river is continually coming down and we are all relieved. The fight or flight really kept the Bismarck Mandan community in a good place. Our Saints sand bagged for 3 days until they called off the effort when the amazing ice blasting plan freed the river up just enough to lower the levels. I had a proud calming feeling watching our Governor, Mayor, and General S. go to work. They are all Cathedral Parish members. Many events have been postponed or cancelled. I even cancelled some rehearsals. That's not me. The Internet has kept people in touch with the vivid photos and quick links to alumni and friends. I read this morning that the wonderful Oak Grove Lutheran school had a breach in their permanent dike. So sad. I wonder what we can do for them. My heart and prayers go out for the Fargo area people. I know how much work Rebecca Raber at Shanley HS put in to their choir tour and can't even imagine how her students are coming down after the efforts of preparing and now the efforts of holding back all that water. As we get ready for Easter, and as the Red River continues to come down, and when all the sand bags eventually come down, may we keep up the connections we have with friends, family, and new relationships due to the predicaments that have been delivered to us.

I Love to Sing!

NDMEA All-State... and Educator's Conference - Educators from all over the state are gathered in Bismarck Sunday - Tuesday. We have 3 choirs: Mixed Chorus- Jamie Spillane, Women's Choir - David Brunner, and Vocal Jazz Choir - Jennifer Barnes. 8 students from our choir are singing. That's really nice considering we have 38 students in our choir this year. Way to go Saints! Anyway, I sing with the Dakota Chamber Chorale. It's a choir of adults (about 20 of us) conducted by Dr. Thomas Porter, conductor at University of Mary. I wanted the chorale to be called the Tom Porter chorale, but he's a humble man. You can see I've included a picture. This was taken last summer. We're doing a variety of choral music. That's an understatement. Mongolian, Latin, German, English, and Sousa. I love to sing. It's my favorite thing to do, barely in front of conducting lately though. Since taking on the position of conducting the Cathedral Church Choir, I've begun to look through different glasses. It's nice to communicate musically with adults. So, DCC sings for the conference attendees on Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. I really only have one complaint. No auditorium at all, for any of the choirs! It compares to taking a fine meal prepared by a great chef and rinsing the food off before you eat it. You just don't get the full effect. I don't have a great solution, though, so until I do, you won't hear that again. I hope the rest of my choir students show up for the 2:00 or 4:30 concert on Tuesday. The all-state students will really work hard to prepare the music and they'll make you proud by representing you so well. I pray they "connect" with the music, with the conductor, with the audience and with each other. :-)

Are you Irish?

St. Patrick's Day. What a wonderful day. We had mass at school today. The band played and the St. Mary's Men sang. We are doing the Latin mass parts. I think the student body is joining in. Hard to tell sometimes, but I look around and they are daring to make a joyful noise. After hearing the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral in Minnesota this past weekend, the students show a renewed interest in the beautiful chant. I took this picture in St. Paul on Sunday. Lux Aurumque, by Eric Whitacre, is our next challenge. The wind orchestra modeled it so well for us today. I have linked to a page that has a set of midi parts. Lux Aurumque midi parts. Hopefully students check their parts and come ready to learn.

A couple other things we have going on include the NDMEA All-State Choir on March 22-24 in Bismarck. Check the schedule out if you haven't seen one yet. Tickets are available for the concerts. They should be wonderful. Our Cathedral tri-school band is playing. The Dakota Chamber Chorale is singing for the teachers. I sing with them. Great adults that like to sing, conducted by Tom Porter.

Also, if you want to use edline, please go to the site and sign in.

Jazz Festival

Down St. Thomas Way, Two for the Road, and I Sing You Sing were our three charts for the Minnesota ACDA Star of the North vocal jazz festival. I am very proud of the SM Blues performance. The dedication and hard work that our students put in paid off. The adjudications were extremely educational and very worthwhile. I think we'll bring home a number of "games" that will help us swing the pendulum and get to where we need to be. We had 2 master classes and a performance by 2 college groups and the wonderful McNally Smith faculty. They were so enjoyable to see and hear. The facilities and faculty are top notch. Tonight we deserved a break and enjoyed the night off. It will be refreshing to get back with our new knowledge. It seems as though everyone has enjoyed the experience. We'll be home tomorrow evening - I get to take the students to St. Paul's Cathedral. We'll be attending 10 am mass. Hope you enjoy the photo.

McNally Smith Studio

Linus & Lucy and St. Thomas Way. Those are the two charts we recorded in studio #2. "Wow, we're better than I thought we were" was a comment I overheard this afternoon. I'll take you back through the day. The morning began with deluxe continental breakfast, followed by a visit to the mall of America. Rides in the Nickelodeon, the Bose and Apple stores, lunch, and quick window shopping were highlights of our MOA stop. Going from Bloomington to down town St Paul was a breeze for me. I am not driving. Michelle, Pat, and Aanders know how to handle themselves in the "big city" traffic. At McNally Smith, we were greeted by Jennifer Parker. What a treat. We had 2 master classes, a school tour, and then we spent time in studio #2. The sound board is state of the art. There are only 40 like it in the world. Wes & Steve treated us like money making professionals. The students got to listen to the tracks and make comments, suggestions, and then adjustments for the next takes. Our combo was treated with getting to record also. The photo is an inside shot of Steve supervising the session and the Blues in the studio. Great job guys! After the VIP day, we went to Dakota Jazz - downtown Minneapolis. Dinner was prepared quite well. I didn't have steak tonight. Just seafood. :-) ok... I also had dessert. It was a classy evening. Fat Kid Wednesdays opened for Haley Bonar. The jazz trio did some playing outside the box. Haley's lyrics were stimulating and her sound was free. You can check the club out on the web. We are now geared up to be the final group of the day for Saturday's festival. All is well.

Vocal Jazz in Minneapolis

The St. Mary's Blues & combo arrived in Minneapolis today. We attended a show at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. Dinner was tasty. I had steak. :-) We were served in the "attic" and then we were seated in the first 3 rows in the Fireside Theatre. Altar Boyz is a spoof on boy bands. A group of Catholic guys and one Jewish boy spread the good news. It's hillarious. Our students were laughing and having a great time. After the show, there was a "meet & greet" in the lobby. Someone shared that we were from a Catholic school. After a short conversation, the entire audience was enjoying a spontaneous performance of the Blues singing Java Jive. The performers loved it and the audience was anxious to find out who we were and where we were from. Nice job Blues. We are winding down in preparation for a super educational day at McNally Smith. I'll pen more later. Here is a link to the show we attended. Altar Boyz

Well, due to the advice of others and the necessity to communicate with my students after hours, I've decided to take the plunge. I'm feeling rather silly with how simple this is to accomplish. So, the goal and purpose of this blog is not really personal but for the purpose of letting everyone in to get what they need. I teach at St. Mary's Central High School and Cathedral Junior High. I have some awesome students. We just returned from the National ACDA convention in warm, welcoming, sunny OKC. The Memorial from the bomb site is so much more than I thought it would be. The photo is Christ weeping on the site of the former Catholic rectory. Kudos to Conspirare for the beautiful service at 9:02 on Thursday. If you want to see it, go to An Amazing Morning at the Memorial. Great convention all around. The next excursion includes the St. Mary's Blues (vocal jazz choir). We will be on the way to McNally Smith tomorrow. Life is busy and rewarding. I'm hoping to have the resources posted that my students need. I'm sure the learning curve is steep. So... hello out there.