International Women's Day

...from Berkeley



Happy International Women's Day!

The official UN theme for 2016 is "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality" and the International Women's Day website encourages us all to Pledge for Parity (#PledgeforParity for the twitterati and instagramati). The TMI from the IWD's website reads: "Celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievement of women. Yet let's also be aware progress has slowed in may places across the world, so urgent action is needed to accelerate gender parity. Leaders across the world are pledging to take action as champions of gender parity."


Looking back, the theme for 2015 was "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!"  What a lovely picture it would be for the whole human race were empowered.

In 2014, "Equality for Women is Progress for All."  A near-tautology that is so very true.

And 2013? "A Promise Is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence Against Women." Sadly, this is still only a dream not yet close to being achieved.

To some extent it both gladdens and saddens me that we set aside a day to celebrate roughly half the human race: gladdens, because celebrating women is, indeed, a wonderful thing to do; saddens, because the need to celebrate a segment of the population implies that it is still underappreciated, underpaid, undervalued, and--in parts of the world--downtrodden.  Gladdens, because it's great to set aside a whole day to think about women and their importance to their world; saddens, because, well, it's just one day, right?  Why not celebrate women year round?

What I'm reading: poetry by Paul Celan; sadly I have now finished the published Inspector Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James mysteries by Deborah Crombie and must wait until she publishes her next one sometime this year.

What I'm listening to: Mozart opera overtures, and the wonderful repertory sung by all the young singers. I evaluated over the past three weeks. Their music continues to resound in my ears and my mind.

What I'm working on: songs by Hans Winterberg and Mein blaues Klavier by David Garner

Yosemite and Hanukkah

...from Yosemite

Yosemite

Yosemite and Hanukkah?  Huh?  Is there some kind of mysterious, previously unknown connection here? Was John Muir secretly Jewish? 

Nope.

My family!

The only connection is that they both involve family time, that they both are related to holidays in one way or another, and that we were in Yosemite for a family trip this weekend, right before the beginning of Hanukkah.

The valley was lovely, cool and crisp, with patches of snow and ice on the ground, snow on the distant peaks, blue skies and sun. Glacier Point and Tioga Pass were closed, as is usual at this time of year, and Crane Flat was closed for renovation.  But we didn't mind: we were headed to the Ahwahnee Hotel, where we sampled potential dishes for an upcoming wedding. (Not mine, my son's.) The food was uniformly delicious; the service excellent.  We took a little walk afterwards, just as the sky began to gray and the late afternoon winter air chilled. It was wonderful.

At this time of year, the Ahwahnee is decorated for Christmas, with banners up for the annual Bracebridge dinners that start in a week and Christmas trees scattered all over the place (literally. I counted at least 3).  For us, coming to the Valley was truly a trip down memory lane, as we took family trips to Yosemite once or twice a year with our son, and many times before he was born.  

But going back to Hanukkah and Yosemite... After a light lunch on Sunday at Slim's Koffee Shak (emphasis on light as we were still stuffed from the yummy Saturday afternoon tasting and the delicious dinner at South Gate Brewery), traffic was easy enough Sunday that we were home before sunset, in time to light a candle or two.

To all who celebrate the Festival of Lights, a very Happy Hanukkah!

In the shameless plug department, if you're in Berkeley on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m., there should be a lovely Christmas concert at the First Church of Christ Scientist (the beautiful Maybeck church at the corner of Dwight and Bowditch), with seasonal and other selections from works that include Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Vespers, and by Hildegard von Bingen. The musicians will be soprano Eliza O'Malley, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Baker, violinist Michael Jones, cellist Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, organist William Ludtke, and moi, your blogger, 

What I'm reading: Dante's Inferno (for an upcoming translation; more on this another day ;)); When She Named Fire (a fascinating anthology of modern poetry by American women); Map to Everywhere

What I'm working on: The December 13 concert rep (soprano solos from Mozart's Vespers and Bach's Magnificat, carols &seasonal hymns), Handel's Tolomeo.

What I'm listening to: Meistersinger (fabulous production live last week at SFO), Les Troyens (from YouTube and another get SFO production last season), and Handel's Tolomeo), lots of chamber music for the Barbara Fritz Chamber Music Award applications.

SF Music Day Live+Free

...from SF 

Several weeks ago I ushered for a wonderful annual musical event put on by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music: SF Music Day Live + Free.  As the name suggests, it's a day of musical events that are 100% free to the public.  The SFFCM curates it, with a focused theme each year, and some 30-40 chamber ensembles perform classical music, crossover repertory, new music, and jazz, a half hour show each, with breaks along the way and a food truck or two serving snacks outside. This year it ran from noon to nearly 11 p.m.

It's been at various venues, but this year it was at the newly remodeled Herbst Theater (which I only caught a glimpse of from the inside, as I was mostly enjoying greeting duty)--a terrific venue. And there were raves about the music making from the many happy concert goers in the crowd.

What a wonderful event! (Full disclosure: E4TT is honored to be a fiscally sponsored affiliate of SFFCM, and I think they do such great work for chamber music in the community).

And for a plug: if you're near Berkeley on Dec. 13 at 2:00 p.m., don't miss the Christmas concert at the First Church of Christ Scientist on Dwight at College, a beautiful historical Maybeck building.  Bach, Mozart, Handel, Hildegard von Bingen, and seasonal favorites, with 2 sopranos, 1 mezzo, violin, cello and organ.

What I'm reading:Seymour Chwast's adaptation of Dante's Divine Comedy; Handbook of Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskel.

What I'm working on: Handel's Tolomeo, Mozart, Bach, songs by Germaine Tailleferre

What I'm listening to: Bach, Berlioz, and more Bach...'tis the season, not that Bach is ever out of season...and Wagner: tomorrow I'm hearing Die Meistersinger at SFO.

Music and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving hymn

One of the joys of living in the SF Bay Area is the wealth of musical events. On a given weekend, there's early music, new music, chamber music, world class orchestral music, jazz, pop, experimental music. The list goes on...and on...and on...and...

How's a thoughtful person to choose?

Sometimes the piece or the composer will be the draw for me, and most typically I go to hear one of my friends perform or see one of their works played. Yet so often, for me, my own performances and rehearsals make it impossible to go to anything at all, which makes for an interesting blend of guilt for not being able to support my friends and colleagues (which I really like to do), happiness that I'm busily working, and excitement for said friends and colleagues. Still two out of three positive emotions ain't bad and balances out the guilt somewhat...

As we head into Thanksgiving week in a few days, it's a moment for me to be grateful that I'm lucky enough to live in such a culturally rich part of the country. This, too, can drown out the guilt, although it  can never drown out my thoughts and concern for those suffering in Paris and other parts of the world.

I'm grateful, as well, for the wonderful annual retreat I just attended with creative friends--a retreat I almost wasn't able to attend this year until the stars realigned themselves at the next-to-last minute.

For my family, it's a day of cooking and clan time--joyfully large groups of relatives converging with large pots, pans, and serving dishes and said convergence spread over several yummy days of family togetherness.  More on this next post...

Thinking of music, there are so many pieces for many holidays, but what about Thanksgiving? The only piece I know of is "We Gather Together," a Thanksgiving hymn in the U.S. that actually comes from the Netherlands, from around 1600, and was first published in the 1620s. With words were grafted onto a traditional folk tune, it is said to commemorate a Dutch victory in battle over the Spanish.  There is more than one story for how it made its way to the New World and to American hymnals. Interesting how a folk+war tune then becomes a Thanksgiving hymn in our hemisphere.  There may be some kind of social commentary not so deeply buried there.

What about you? Do you know other pieces of music associated with Thanksgiving?

What I'm reading: Rywka's Diary: the writings of a Jewish girl from the Lodz ghetto found at Auschwitz in 1945; I'll Give You the Sun.

What I'm working on: solos from the Bach Magnificat and Mozart Vespers for my upcoming Christmas concert on December 13,  plus Handel's Tolomeo, Debussy, and Boulanger for January.

What I'm listening to: Other than "We Gather Together," Handel and Boulanger.