Lara's Gift and more

What a crazy, full week it has been!  First there was Sunday's wonderful Vinaccesi Ensemble concert at Congregation Netivot Shalom--thanks again to our fans, friends and the terrific folks at CNS--then I turned in the translation to another fabulous Thea Stilton graphic novel, the third in the series, tonight did the subtitles to help out Verismo Opera in their current production of Rigoletto, and went to the Merola Master Class taught by conductor John DeMain--all the while continuing to look for a car to replace my beloved 96 Audi A4 that someone smashed into :(, among myriad other things.

In the meantime, a shout-out and a small plug for my friend Annemarie O'Brien, who's YA novel Lara's Gift, just released by Knopf, has earned a starred Kirkus Review. Check out the trailer here! To celebrate the release of Lara's Gift, blogger and editor Deborah Halverson is giving away a free edit here.  Wondering what Deborah Halverson has to do with Annemarie and why she's doing this?  Well, check out that link and you'll get the full scoop ;).  Congrats and kudos, Annemarie!

And a few updates... The Vinaccesi Ensemble will next be at SF Music Day, Live + Free, Oct. 20, in a program of Latin American Baroque music.  Fun researching this new and interesting rep.  For instance, did you know that the first Latin American opera is from 1701?  And that there's a wealth of music from the continent in that period that seldom gets heard?  More later, but check out the recently updated website!

The Jewish Music & Poetry Project's next performance is at Noontime Concerts in SF on Sept. 10, in a program of Zemlinsky, Mendelssohn, Gershwin, and more.   This just two days after I join the The Handel Opera Project and a number of wonderful singers for a program of Mozart, Handel, and Bach, on Sept. 8 in Berkeley.  Check it out!

What I'm reading: Genie Wishes, Wolf Hall, hopefully Lara's Gift soon :)
What I'm listening to:  Fabulous songs from the '40's by Joseph Kosma; more songs by Zemlinsky; Verdi's Rigoletto (see above).
What I'm working on: Handel's Allor ch'io dissi addio for THOP, Zemlinsky, Wolf, and Garner, and Kosma, Vandor, and Justus for the JMPP's upcoming Eastern European tour--and more. Whew!