A Musical Portrayal of the Human Experience
Jung-Ho Pak, conductor
Barbara Quintiliani, soprano
Jayne Sleder, mezzo soprano
Chatham Chorale and Falmouth Chorale

Saturday, May 5th, 2012, 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 6th, 2012, 3:00 PM

Barnstable Performing Arts Center
744 Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601

More information and tickets available here.

More details about the performance will be announced here.

Featuring Rachel Arnold (cello) and Ashley Addington (flute)
Naomi Gurt Lind, soprano
Aaron Larget-Caplan (guitar)

http://shoebei.wordpress.com/

Church of the Advent, Beacon Hill, Boston
30 Brimmer Street
Boston, MA
(The Church Library is on the corner of Mt. Vernon and Brimmer Streets.)
Directions can be found here.

January

Snow, snow, and more snow! I think we got around 40 inches in January alone. I think I had at least 4 days of teaching to reschedule due to the snow. By the end of the month, there were snow many piles everywhere that it was hard to find places to shovel the new snow.

An empty Davis Square in the middle of a snow storm

February

February cat picture since I couldn't find any others.

March

Greg and I traveled to Austin in the middle of the month as he attended SXSW Interactive and I helped Carmen with some wedding details.  I got to see her new house for the very first time and we went on a quest to satisfy our thirst for authentic Mexican food (which is not found in Boston!).  I flew back to Boston to two intense weeks of outreach quintet concerts, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, and Sound Icon’s inaugural concert.

Austin Java downtown near City Hall

Dropping Greg off at SXSW

April

April was spent recovering from March and getting ready for May! I spent time planning Carmen’s Bridal Luncheon and consulting on wedding details.  The only pictures from this month are of the cat.

Dolce is excited that all the snow is gone because she can go outside again for "walks" on her leash.

May

Carmen and Alan got married on Saturday, May 7th at The Terrace Club in Dripping Springs (outside Austin).  I spent the entire week in Austin helping her with details for the big day.

Bridal Luncheon at Tres Amigos

The Terrace Club, Dripping Springs, TX

Carmen and Alan's First Dance

Two weeks later, we flew to Chicago to visit Nate and Cindy and other friends!  You can read my full recap of that trip here.

Bean Reflections

 June

My wonderful flute teacher up in Boston, Robert Willoughby, turned 90 and a celebration concert was performed in his honor. It was incredibly special to see all of his former students take the stage to play at the celebration.

Taken after my performance on Robert Willoughby's 90th Birthday Concert, June 5, 2011, New Castle Congregational Church, New Castle, New Hampshire

Shortly after, I finished up the teaching semester and headed off to Switzerland to join eighth blackbird at a new music festival.  I met some new friends, played good music, and soaked up the beautiful Swiss countryside.

View of Lake Geneva from Chexbres Village

L-R David Trum (composer, me, Megan Ihnen (mezzo-soprano), Kerrith Livengood (flute/composer), and Nick Photinos (cello)

July

I flew back to Boston after an unexpected extra day in Paris thanks to Air France maintenance strikes and was happily reunited with Greg and my kitty. I taught a week-long flute camp to a bunch of really great kids.  Mid-week during lunch, one of my flutists ran to come get me because a giant snapping turtle appeared in the creek by their lunch area. At first, I really didn’t believe that it would be a giant snapping turtle but they were correct!  I hadn’t been outside a minute when the giant snapping turtle floated up to the surface and clamped down on a normal-sized turtle that had been nicknamed “Sheldon Jr.” earlier that week.  You can watch a video clip to gauge the snapping turtle’s size.  This was taken after Sheldon Jr. was turtle-napped.

Click here for video of giant turtle.

Who says art therapy doesn’t work?  I found this drawing on one of the bulletin boards at the end of the day.

Art Therapy soothes turtle attack memories.

My old roomie, Lindsey, came to visit Boston for a few days. We hit up the beach at Plum Island, drank cocktails at Top of the Hub, rode the Swan Boats, picked blueberries, and caught up on everything that has been happening in our lives.

Blueberry picking with Lindsey

August

This month featured a visit from Carmen and Kathryn where I took my 3rd trip of the season to Rockport.  We also went to Wingaersheek Beach for the first time.

Carmen's "Lobster" at Roy Moore Lobster Company in Rockport

September

The school year aka “teaching time” and performance season started up again!  I’ll spare you the cute cat picture for this month.

October

Greg’s entire family came to visit in October. We took our visitors on a trip to Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Halibut Point State Park, Essex, and the Topsfield State Fair to see the giant pumpkins. We also took the obligatory Freedom Trail Tour, walked the Public Gardens, watched the 2011 Honkfest Parade, and visited Harvard Square during Oktoberfest.

Extreme Gardening - The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Progress

Obligatory Texas Longhorn Picture at the Topsfield State Fair

I thought this was a very creative sign to discourage smoking in the barns.

Harvard Square T with Cindy

October ended with a visit from my mom (sadly no pictures) and several concerts.

November

Just as the New England winter weather was starting to sneak in, we escaped to Florida for a family vacation with my parents and sister.  We left on a cruise ship out of Ft. Lauderdale and docked at San Juan, PR, St. Marteen, St. Thomas, and a private Bahamas Island owned by Princess Cruises.

Ocean View from El Morro Fort, San Juan, PR

"Old" San Juan - aka Tourist Central

On the Catamaran "Party Boat"

Pre-snorkeling sunscreen application.

Kayaking in Magens Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Goofing around in the Bahamas with my sister

One of the many beautiful sunsets seen from the boat.

December

Although the plan was to spend a quiet Christmas in Boston, we flew to Washington, D.C. for 2 days to spend Christmas with my extended family and visit with my Grandfather.

Wishing everyone all the best for a prosperous and lively 2012!

http://www.rockethub.com/projects/4144-spindrift-commissioning-guild-2012

Spindrift Commissioning Guild is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of Spindrift Commissioning Guild must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Your support fuels a commission fee for the composer, fees for the musicians for recording the music, and money to press the CD, make initial copies of the printed scores, and produce a few T-shirts and tote bags. 6% covers the fiscal sponsorship fee. Additional money will support a concert and recording sessions for other pieces in the queue.

More details are available on the link above! Thanks for supporting this project!

Monday, November 14th, 2011, 8:00 PM
Tufts University, Granoff Music Center
Distler Performance Hall
Free!

More information here.

Bruce Hangen, Conductor
Irina Muresanu, violin soloist

Saturday, November 19th, 7:30 PM
Littleton High School Performing Arts Center
56 King Street
Littleton, MA

Tickets and more information are available here.

Bearskin's Neck in Rockport

Boats in Rockport Harbor

The view of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine from the Ocean Lookout at Halibut Point State Park

We spent the morning walking in Rockport, exploring the old Granite Quarry in Halibut State Park, and checking out antique stores in Essex. My favorite part of the day was our spontaneous visit to the famous Topsfield Fair. A few years ago, we watched a documentary called Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence on giant pumpkins (check out more information here) and since then, I’ve had a secret obsession with going to the Topsfield Fair to watch the Giant Pumpkin Contest. I had already researched the Topsfield Fair as a possibility for a visit on our excursion and since we were only a few miles away and looking for something do to in the afternoon, we headed on over.

Giant Pumpkins!

Close-up of the giant pumpkins.

Pumpkin vs. Man.

Weighing of the Pumpkins.

When we left, the largest pumpkin had weighed in at 660 pounds! The eventual winner weighed in at 1,668.5 pounds. A story about the winner is here. Before they weighed the pumpkins, they weighed and measured other vegetables in what was called “Xtreme Gardening”. The winners were a 160-pound watermelon, 14-pound rutabaga, 124-inch tall Gourd, and a 4-pound tomato. The giant pumpkins were pretty amazing to see and it was fun to sit in the stands and overhear all of the Giant Pumpkin farmers sitting close to use talk about how they grow their pumpkins.

Bruce Hangen, Conductor
Sergey Schepkin, piano soloist

Saturday, October 22nd, 7:30 PM
Littleton High School Performing Arts Center
56 King Street
Littleton, MA

Tickets and more information are available here.

Friday, February 3rd, 2012, 8:00 PM
Institute of Contemporary Art
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA

In Vain is presented by Sound Icon for the first time in Boston. Haas’ marriage of a visceral, mind-bending soundscape with a visual environment that includes extended periods of complete darkness offers an unparalleled, immersive experience. The Institute of Contemporary Art is one of Boston’s architectural marvels, and provides a perfect setting for Haas’ masterwork.

Buy tickets here.