Strings the Thing

A couple of weeks ago, our violin teacher contacted me to ask whether she and the other instructors at their annual strings camp would be able to play some of my Summerland Suite as part of their faculty concert. I've attended the faculty concert the last couple of years and it's always top notch -- high-end performances and an interesting, varied list of music -- so of course I was stoked.

As exciting as it was to be part of the quartet playing the songs at Red Rooster last year, this was an opportunity to simply listen to my music played by professionals. The first thrill was opening the program and seeing J.Hiebert sandwiched between J.S.Bach and L.Beethoven. The second was hearing March, October and May played for an appreciate audience at the Shatford Centre, six minutes of joy for me:



My reaction by song:

• March -- Lightning fast! I love intensity of the increased pace, but it was hard for the group to stay in synch at that tempo. My hunch is that pulling it back slower maybe 10% would have great impact and better synchronization. That critique aside, I was euphoric hearing Calvin pour himself into this one.
  
• October -- I wish I'd written a more interesting second-violin part for this, as John didn't have much to work with. This one was the most like our original rendition -- a straight-up version that I enjoyed very much. Nice bassline work with the cello.
  
• May -- Another reinterpretation that turned a rollicking fiddle anthem into a lilting, melodic tune with a richer, mellower vibe than I had envisioned. Loved it!

Special thanks to Liz Lupton, Joel Stobbe, John Suderman, and Calvin Dyck for bringing the music to life!

Grasshead

I know, I know...grass is not the most compelling photographic subject for normal people, but this set is really coming together. In mosaic form like this, the whole has more impact than the parts. As I found with ice, the more you look, the more you see...even the most mundane, everyday subject yields beauty and wonder. I feel like some of the things I've learned with each new subject are transferable to new subjects, which is really exciting from an artistic perspective. It makes me wonder what the next subject of choice might be.

Ivy the Greek

Despite a raging thunderstorm, apparently sent by an angry Zeus, Ivy's Greek-gods-themed party was a big hit. One minute of video evidence below: