The Seattle Choral Company Presents Handel with a Mozart Twist!

Discover Handel's Messiah . . . anew!

The Seattle Choral Company continues their 25th Anniversary Year this holiday season with Mozart's Messiah, featuring Handel's beloved oratorio, Messiah, as re-orchestrated by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
SCC Artistic Director, Fred Coleman, will conduct the eighty voices of the Seattle Choral Company along with full orchestra and eight vocal soloists.

Mozart Encounters Handel

"This version of Messiah is a revelation. It gives us a glimpse of Handel's era from the vantage point of the next generation. It is literally one great composer's encounter with another. Mozart's reworked orchestration succeeds because he is a masterful composer, who added his signature to Handel's genius with restraint and reverence," said SCC Artistic Director, Fred Coleman. "Don't miss this chance to hear some refreshing new flavors added to traditional holiday fare."

Click to hear sound samples from "Messiah, K. 572"

Don't Delay!
Buy your tickets now!

Saturday / Dec. 9, 2006 / 7:30pm
Meany Theater

Sunday / Dec. 10, 2006 / 2:00pm
Meany Theater
Reserved seating.
For more details,
call the SCC at
(206) 363-1100
or go to
www.seattlechoralcompany.org
Group discounts are available.
Email your questions to:
tickets@seattlechoralcompany.org

Purchase tickets with
no added fees!
Visit our web site at:
www.seattlechoralcompany.org

Tickets for the Seattle Choral Company's 25th Season are now available.
Subscriptions & Information: SeattleChoralCompany.org
Single tickets: Brown Paper Tickets.

From powerful, large-scale masterworks to intimate, reflective a cappella, our new season salutes both performers and supporters who have brought us to this milestone year, so that we could look forward to our next quarter-century.

SingTango! Songs and Dances of Argentina

During the past century, Argentina's invention, the tango, took root all over the world, working its way from the smoky brothels of Buenos Aires to Europe's most glamorous nightclubs. In the hands of a master like Astor Piazzolla, the tango was reinvented as serious concert music. Yet while the tango is certainly Argentina's musical gift to the world, it is just one dimension of this country's musical riches.
Our 25th Anniversary Season opens with vital and exuberant choral music from Argentina-where new music emerges from European, African and local cultures, driven by musicians from jazz, rock and classical backgrounds.

Featuring music by
Astor Piazzolla"The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires""Libertango"
Carlos Guastavino"Coros Indianas, Suite No. 1""Se equivocó la paloma"
Carlos Rausch"El Tango""La Milonga"

Immerse yourself in the passion of the tango!

Saturday / November 4, 2006 / 8:00pm Town Hall Seattle
Sunday / November 5, 2006 / 3:00pm Meydenbauer Theater, Bellevue
Non-reserved seating.

Mozart's Messiah, K572

Discover Handel's Messiah . . . anew!

Forty seven years after Messiah premiered in Dublin, Handel's English masterpiece was placed in the hands of Mozart. His task? To present Messiah before a Viennese audience of his day.
With the greatest respect for Handel's craftsmanship and genius, Mozart added his own touches, intensifying Handel's original with an enriched orchestration that is unmistakably Mozart.
Hearing Messiah as interpreted by Mozart makes this beloved music new to us once again.
Don't miss this special holiday concert event!

Messiah, K. 572
Composed by George Frideric Handel
Arranged by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The year 2006 marks the 250th Birthday Anniversary of W. A. Mozart.

Saturday / December 9, 2006 / 7:30pm

Sunday / December 10, 2006 / 2:00pm

Meany Theater, U of W

Reserved seating.

My Spirit Soars: America's Choral Music Today

The Seattle Choral Company proudly presents music by three of America's most prominent living choral composers.

Morten Lauridsen:"Lux Aeterna"
A native of Washington State, Morten Lauridsen is now considered one of America's finest and most beloved composers whose music is heart-felt and radiant. Critics were jubilant after our May 2000 performance of his Lux Aeterna, and we are excited to revisit this 1997 masterpiece for our anniversary season.
"Lauridsen delivers bouts of light and shade that dapple the senses with a grace that the biblical "multitude of the heavenly host" might envy." (CNN.com/February 8, 2006)

Eric Whitacre:

"Her Sacred Spirit Soars""Water Night""Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine"
At age 36, Eric Whitacre is one of the bright stars in contemporary concert music The Los Angeles Times praised his compositions as "works of unearthly beauty and imagination, (with) electric, chilling harmonies," while the Philadelphia Inquirer has called him "the hottest thing in choral music."

Bern Herbolsheimer:

World Premiere to Be Announced
The Seattle Weekly stated, "No Seattle composer has a more assured and polished craft than Bern Herbolsheimer. His choral writing-and there's a lot of it-is luminous and subtle."
Be with us when a newly commissioned major work by this treasured Northwest composer will be unveiled!
Saturday / March 3, 2007 / 8:00pm
Sunday / March 4, 2007 / 3:00pm
Saint Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
Non-reserved seating.

Silver Anniversary Gala Salute

A Gala Celebration!
Join the Seattle Choral Company at Benaroya Hall in June for a celebration of twenty five wonderful years of music making!
With a cast of soloists and full orchestra we'll bring you memories of past performances with selections from our favorite masterworks.

Handel Zadok the Priest
J.S. Bach Sleepers Awake
Mozart Requiem
Haydn The Creation
Mendelssohn Elijah
Berlioz Te Deum
Verdi Messa di Requiem
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
Johann Strauss, Jr. Die Fledermaus
Carl Orff Carmina Burana
Filmscore excerpts by John Williams & songs by Cole Porter
Come celebrate 25 years with us.
Sunday / June 3, 2007 / 3:00pm Benaroya Hall
Reserved seating.

UK Travelogue

We recently returned from a trip to the UK, and I've written a pretty extensive travelogue on my main Blog.

Please use these links to read all about it:

Part 1, Edinburgh
Part 2, Around Scotland
Part 3, York
Part 4, London
UK Observations

Tickets Available for the Seattle Choral Company's 24th Season

The Seattle Choral Company has announced plans for its 24th concert season.

There will be 4 concerts this season (December, February, March and June), with two performances of each concert. This season includes everything from familiar Christmas Carols to a celebration of African American composers, to a trip to the Baltic Homeland and more!

More information about the season can be found, and tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets.

If you're interested in a concert series subscription, please contact the SCC at 206-363-1100, or email tickets@seattlechoralcompany.org.

Trish, Hans & Phil at Bake's Place

Trish, Hans, & Phil (of which the Sweetie is a member - I'll let you guess which one ;-)) will be playing at Bake's Place in Issaquah this Saturday, July 9th. Dinner is served at 7 and the show starts at 8.

For more info, see Bake's Place's website. Reservations are recommended.

Seattle Choral Company Presents Music from the Royal Chapel at Versailles

The Seattle Choral Company concludes their twenty-third season on May 21 at 8:00 pm with a concert program devoted to sacred music of the French baroque―“Pleasures of the Sun King: Music from the Royal Chapel at Versailles” at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1245 10th Ave E (on Capitol Hill).
Three Grand Motets by Michel-Richard de Lalande will be featured on the program: “De profundis clamavi, S23,” “Sacris solemniis, S74,” and “Venite, exultemus, S58.”
Tickets are available for $20 (general), $15 (senior), and $8 (child & student up to age 25). Seating is non-reserved. Group rates are available for parties of ten or more. Groups of twenty or more from charitable or educational organizations may receive a 50% discount on tickets.
For ticket reservations or for more information, please call the Seattle Choral Company Ticketline at (206) 363-1100 or visit the Seattle Choral Company’s Web Page http://www.seattlechoralcompany.org.

The South Park Me 

New Blog on LiveJournal

Well, because "everyone's doing it." I created a Blog on LiveJournal. Please visit me at http://kathdem.livejournal.com.

I may come back here. Or not. I don't know.

Life on the road

Last week, Phil played for 3 nights at the Silver Reef Casino in lovely Ferndale, WA.

Wait, lemme back up.

My husband Phil is a jazz bassist. In addition to working full time at Microsoft, he plays a lot of nights/weekends. Some of these gigs are paid, some are not. So, when one comes along that pays reasonably well, he considers it.

Phil plays with a number of different groups. The one that played at Silver Reef is Trish, Hans, and Phil, which, you guessed it, consists of him, the vocalist Trish, and the pianist Hans. They've played together for about 10 years. Phil and Hans both write arrangements, as well as sing and play, and Trish is the lead vocalist. They also have great chemistry on stage and make the crowd laugh quite a bit. If you want to read more about Phil's music, see: Phil's Music.

So, anyway, Trish, who usually plays these casino gigs with other groups, arranged for 4 gigs in a row, 1 Tuesday afternoon at the Northern Lights Casino, and then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights at Silver Reef.

OK, so now you know what the hell I'm talking about...

Phil took the 3 days off, and while in Ferndale, we stayed at the Super 8. When Trish was describing where it was she said "It's near the Denny's and the McDonalds." Phil's response was "When I was on the road, I'd dream for a place like that."

So, I had high hopes

When we got to the Super 8, Phil tried to give them a credit card to pay for any incidentals. The response? "Um, well, we don't really have any incidentals."

OK, so this isn't the Plaza.

Next stop, our room. It was, well, bare. I have never before been in a room where there was NO ALARM CLOCK!!! I mean, seriously, is an alarm clock an amenity? Forget hair dryers or shower caps or shoe mitts or shampoo and conditioner, but NO ALARM CLOCK????

Well, I got over that. But then, Phil tried to take a bath. There was no stopper in the bathtub. So, the next morning, in addition for asking for two more pillows (aside: why do they only put two pillows on king sized beds? this seems to happen in every hotel, and we always have to ask for more) we said "there's no stopper in our bathtub."

No lie, the droid at the counter says "uh huh," and just looks at us, like 'of course, there's no stopper in your bathtub - next?' So, Phil follows it up with "well, I'd like to take a bath." She made a note.

Nothing ever happened with that note. We never got a stopper for the tub.

Phil resorted to shoving one of their (2) washcloths in the drain.

I haven't even mentioned the fact that for some reason we were given a room for people with disabilities. So, if our phone rang, so did a light on the wall, and the bathroom had about 16 different bars to grab.

Phil says "so, how do you like life on the road?"

Even with all of that, I have to say I liked being able to read, watch TV, and play computer solitaire without worrying about what chores I was missing.

Forget Super 8 - how pathetic am I?

 

Last day with guests

I will be so glad to get my house back. In general, my guests are low maintenance, but it doesn't matter how low maintenance someone is, after 5 weeks, it's enough.

I try really hard to keep things in order around here. In general, it's hard for me to stay organized. It doesn't come easily. So, when I have others about mucking things up it makes it even harder. The kitchen is a prime example. They say they want to "help," that I've done too much. Fine. So, when they try to cook, they spend the next hour or so asking me questions every 5 minutes. They don't know where things are, they don't know how they work (our entire house is a technological mystery), and they can't reach things in the cabinets.

Oh, and then they want to "clean." Well, we have the Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawers. These are not your typcial dishwashers. They require some understanding to use correctly. My MIL will "load" them, and then leave them. She won't start them, and then forget to tell me. And, she loads them incorrectly. You can fit about twice as much in each one than she does. So, I've basically told her that if she wants to "help," she needs to watch the video for the dishwasher (which she won't do). Ok, so then she tries to handwash stuff. Well, she doesn't see very well, and so the stuff doesn't get clean, so I have to do it again anyway.

Oh, and these two have tremendous life experience. They've done wonderful things. Just because I understand how to search for and buy things on the Internet and run all the techie stuff in my house does not mean that I am better, smarter, or more together. I just means that I understand my house.

Right now I'm sitting upstairs hiding as they're preparing dinner. I've left my husband in charge of answering all questions. I'm tired of the confusion. I want my quiet house back.

The truth about computers

Believe it or not, while I was at Microsoft, I actually learned a lot about people (or rather, customers).

Ready?

* Every person has innate skills.
* Every person also has innate blindspots or things s/he is bad at.
* When someone is innately good at something, s/he has a difficult time figuring out why someone else doesn't just "get it."
* There are some people, let's call them smart people, who, even when they don't innately understand something, will take initiative to learn to do something they feel is important.
* There are some people, let's call them stupid people, who think that if they don't immediately understand something, then that "thing" (program, book, crossword puzzle, movie, etc.) is "dumb," or "wrong."
* When you produce something to be used by millions and millions of people, there are bound to be people who don't understand it and/or who can't figure out how to use it correctly.
* There is bound to be a portion of this population that is stupid.

First of all, let me say the thing that I wanted desperately to say when I was at MS. SOME PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

Now, for the rest of the population, here's the thing. There is not one worthwhile thing in our lives that we don't have to learn to do. Reading, writing, eating good food, drinking good wine, smoking a fine cigar, turning on the TV, sex, relationships, playing poker, doing the laundry, driving a car, mowing the lawn: these are all things which require one to LEARN how to do them.

Why, then, I ask you, are there so many people who otherwise do not appear to be stupid people who walk up to a computer and want it to do everything they are thinking without them having to learn anything?

Why, why, why?

And, the crime of it is that so much time and an energy is wasted catering to these people who just plain refuse to learn or who are afraid to learn. I simply cannot tell you how many meetings I had, usability studies I sat through, revisions we made - all trying to cater to the lowest common denominator.

A fellow program manager actually said to me once of the "next" operating system (the one that never shipped)should be "as easy to operate as a toaster." A TOASTER??? Good God. A toaster, for one thing, cannot allow one to write a Blog :-) (or balance a checkbook, or send email to a friend, or buy books on the Internet, or look up a recipe for Chicken Provencal, etc.).

This does not mean, of course, that things cannot be easier, or more logical, or better. But, as someone who for most of my life has just "gotten it," I've always had a hard time understanding all the anxiety, angst, strum and drang, that people go through trying to figure out computers. Jesus people - they're just big dumb machines that are awaiting instruction from you so they can do as they're told.

So, here's the truth about computers (by computers I mean a personal computer that has various software packages):

Computers are tools with which you can accomplish things faster, better, and smarter than you could manually; they can also provide entertainment and communication. Period. They are not evil beings that are trying to hurt you. They are not impossibly hard to use.

And here's the truth about you:

If you don't want to use them, then don't. It is not the rest of the world's problem or responsibility to make things easier for you. It is your responsibility to decide to learn. You may learn differently than other people. You may have different expectations than other people. That does not make you right and them wrong - it just makes you different.

OK, I feel better now. I think.

President? Me???

I've had guests in town since June 2nd. That's 27 days. They're here until July 6th. And, I have to say all of this B&B type activity can be tiring!

My guests are my mother-in-law and her best friend. We have plenty of bedrooms and space, so it's no problem, but it is really odd having people around when I'm not used to it. Plus, I'm pretty fussy, so I don't really want them loading the dishwasher or using the washing machine, so their efforts to help are limited (when they do help, it frequently ends up being even more work for me).

Today, we headed off at about 12:30 to drop off a collection of junk (stuffed animals, one poster, and a casette recorder) at the Seattle Choral Company for the annual Rummage Sale. Fred, the director, pulled me aside to talk for a few minutes. It turns out that the current membership president has recommended me to take over as membership president.

Me.


So, first of all, I've barely talked to the current MP. I had no idea she even really knows who I am. Next, I wouldn't say that I've been the most gung ho member of the choir - I'm not a section leader or anything.

But...


I'm thinking, given that I'm currently unemployed, this might be a good thing for me to do. It would be an opportunity to lead others (which always looks good on a resume). In addition, it would be a good networking opportunity when and if I ever decide what it is I should be doing.


So, I'm thinking about it.

We spent the day in Ballard. Ballard's hard to describe. It's scandanavian in origin, but has lots of cute little shops and such. We had a great time, and then fought the traffic home.

President.

Hmmmm

"They" say I should write...

so, I am. A majority of the time, when I tell a friend, relative, or acquaintance that I'm searching for my passion, they tell me to write. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be writing, but I thought I'd start here.

It's a terrible thing not knowing what your passion is. There are, of course, many wonderful things about life - but the question is is there anything I could spend hours doing and be happy about it?

Moreover, can I make money at it?

In any case, it's late. And if there is one thing I can do for hours, it's sleep. I *love* a good sleep. I've read many famous & productive people who say that sleep is a waste of time - but sometimes I feel more productive in dreams than I do in my waking life.

So, it's off to bed. Perchance to dream.