Singing: American Cathedral Choir

Way back in June, when we found out we would be moving to Paris, I wrote to the Choir Director at the American Cathedral here, because it had occurred to me that I could sing with a top-notch choir again on a regular basis. At that time, I thought we would be in Paris in September already. Ha! We finally showed up in Paris at the end of November and didn't even make it to a church service until late January.

I know a member of the choir, Bill Ickes, who had also encouraged me to join the choir and he wasn't there the first two times we attended services, but the next time he was and he introduced me to the choir director, Zachary Ullery. By that time, it was already close to Easter and so we agreed that I would be in touch after Easter so he could hear me. It took me a little longer to get in touch because I was super busy preparing to sing Mozart's Requiem in Dillenburg and I was traveling every weekend in April.

Finally, 2 Sundays ago (May 2013) we were at church and so Bill reintroduced me to Zach. He didn't appear to remember me, but we made arrangements to meet prior to the choir's regular rehearsal in 2 week's time. That was last Thursday. I appeared at the appointed hour, wondering how to get inside the church. Luckily, some construction workers and people who looked like they belonged to the church staff or similar came out and let me inside. Zach took me through some vocaleses and had me sight-read a few things, including Anglican Chant. Oh no! I hadn't done Anglican Chant since my days at Christ the King in Frankfurt and while I know how it works, I was never very masterful at sight-reading it. Well, it went pretty well despite that, and so did the other sight-reading he had me do. I was relatively pleased, because for me, it's a matter of practice, and I've been woefully out of practice sight-reading in the last few years.

He invited me to join the rehearsal by way of continuing the audition. I met the other
members during the break (complete with red wine, baguette, cheese and sausage!) and they were excited to hear I'd likely be around for a couple of years. I guess some people show up and are only staying in Paris for a few months.

I must have passed the test because Zach said I could join them on Sunday (Pentecost). We sang Tallis' "If ye Love Me", Gibbons' "Song 44" and Grayston Ives' "Listen Sweet Dove". Lovely music. My two closest Mom-friends, Francesca and Elisabetta, came and sat with Magnus while Dante went to Sunday School. The choir sits in the (unsuprisingly uncomfortable) choir stalls at the front of the nave and we get all gussied up in cassocks and surpluses!

All in all it was a lovely experience and I will enjoy singing with them on a regular basis. Next week is a big celebration instating the new Dean and Rector, Lucinda Laird and in two weeks the choir sings Evensong! Yippee! I love Evensong.

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Amazing Stories: Reviews: Inhuman / Edible Zoo

With that uninspired title (That was the working title of the post and I simply forgot to come up with something more interesting), I've published my next set of reviews for Amazing Stories. This time - Zombies and exotic animal fare.

I've reviewed collections by two Science Fiction Poetry Association members: Inhuman: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse, by Joshua Gage and The Edible Zoo, by David C. Kopaska-Merkel. The latter is a collection of poetry for children, silly in the manner of Dr. Seuss.

Here's a teaser:

OK, imagine yourself witnessing the dawn of a zombie apocalypse, then as the Living Dead begin to outnumber the Living Living and then as the surviving uninfected band together (or not, as the case may be). What kind of horrors would you see? Joshua Gage, a poet specializing in the short short forms, has plentiful suggestions as well as a few looks through the eyes of a zombie.

This slim volume is broken into four sections, or acts and really does tell a dramatic story. It contains only haiku, of which Gage is a master (not that I’m much of an expert but It Is Said). Gage edited the 2011 and 2012 Dwarf Stars Anthology produced by the Science Fiction Poetry Association and showcases the best poetry under 10 lines. I talked a little bit about haiku/scifaiku in my last post when I reviewed Cthulhu Haiku and Other Mythos Madness. To be honest, I was slightly distracted by all the poetry that was NOT haiku in that collection, but in this one there are no such distractions and you really get a sense of what haiku is and can do, even with the mono-theme of ZOMBIES.

 Please head over to the Amazing Stories website (here) for the full review! I hope you enjoy!

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Amazing Stories: Review: Cthulhu Haiku and Other Mythos Madness

 My latest review of a volume of Speculative Poetry went up today (three cheers for timeliness!)! It's of a volume of poetry, mostly haiku and other short poetry and fiction based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It came out several months ago, but I always said I would do a proper review (such as I'm capable of) one day.

Here's a teaser:

I mentioned Cthulhu Haiku and Other Mythos Madness, edited by Lester Smith (popcorn press) in a previous post, promising to review in full here in the future. The future has arrived.

First let me give you a little history. Cthulhu Haiku was a Kickstarter project, the first that I backed as a matter of fact. It was mentioned on SF Signal in their Crowdfunding Roundup column. The publisher, Popcorn Press is in Wisconsin and I like to support things from my home State. The theme also immediately made me think of one of my favorite poets alive, Ann K. Schwader, who is a celebrated Lovecraftian poet (see her collection of weird poetry Twisted in Dream), so I wrote her an email to make sure she was aware of the project. She wrote back thanking me for the heads-up (she hadn’t been aware, after all) and that she’d submitted a couple of weird poems and they’d been accepted for the volume! That was that, I jumped in and backed the project. In addition to “Cthulhu Haiku and Other Mythos Madness” I also received e-book copies of the 3 previous volumes in the “series” (a Halloween publication): “Hungry Dead”, 2010; “Vampyr Verse”, 2011; and “Halloween Haiku”, 2011. PLUS a wonderful full color ebook of “The Very Hungry Cthulhupillar” by Ben Mund and Signal Fire Press. It is not intended for young children!

Now, I have read precious little of H.P. Lovecraft’s actual fiction. I’ve probably read more Lovecraftian poetry and fiction by other people than by the man himself. The problem with doing it this way, is that most of it assumes that you’ve read Lovecraft widely and know to whom and what the various terms apply. Not having done that might leave you a little puzzled, with plenty flying over your head unaware of the significance....
To read more please head over to Amazing Stories here.

Enjoy! And listen to the audio all the way to the end. The last poem, by David C. Kopaska-Merkel is a stitch!

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Concert: Mozart - Requiem and J.S. Bach - Easter Oratorio in Dillenburg

I flew back to Germany this past weekend to sing in one of my old haunts - Dillenburg. My relationship as a singer with this church is largely due to my experience in singing the music of Hildegard von Bingen. I was contacted by Joachim Dreher, the church musician of the Catholic Church - Herz-Jesu-Kirche, through a recommendation (thanks Edmund!). He wanted to perform a program of music by Hildegard with a newly formed women's Schola-choir and he wanted a soloist. This was in 1998, the 900th anniversary of Hildegard's birth. I spent much of that year on tour doing Hildegard's liturgical drama "Ordo Virtutum" with the ensemble for medieval music Sequentia, so I was primed. I let Joachim know that I also did other styles and he promptly hired me to do Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. That was the beginning of a long series of projects we did together, which broke down when I moved to London with Magnus. I guess back then we all considered London too far away to return to Dillenburg for concerts!

When Joachim decided to reprise the Hildegard concert in 2011, he got in touch to ask if I could do it too. That was the famous concert I appeared in Dillenburg to do a whole year early! See my blog entry "If I only had a brain!" for the full story. Anyway, that project opened up the lines of communication between Joachim and I again and after a 5 year hiatus I began performing in Dillenburg again. I jumped in for a soprano who'd canceled a few months before a performance of a Bach Mass pastiche and when I heard Joachim saying he was entertaining doing a big Mozart project I jumped to tell him that I adore singing Mozart and have been told I have the perfect voice and style for it.

In 2012, just after we discovered that we'd be moving to Paris before the end of the year, Joachim contacted me about singing in 2 concerts in 2013. It took me about 2 seconds to consider if I could afford to travel back to Dillenburg to sing Mozart's Requiem and Bach's Easter Oratorio. It's a valid question, since travel costs are not assumed by the church. Those would come out of my paycheck, I'm afraid. Traveling can be quite inexpensive within Europe if you book well in advance. No problem there.

Enough history! So I'm in Frankfurt spending the night there with my dear friend Pamela and her family and I discover early before leaving for Dillenburg that I've left my concert dress shoes in Paris. Ugh. A few phone calls later I realize I'm going to have to duck out after rehearsal to buy a pair, unless someone in Dillenburg can come up with a pair to borrow that fit!

Rehearsal was weird. I was weird. I guess I was too preoccupied with the shoe question to concentrate and I fail to sing the first 2 phrase bit that I sing in the Requiem correctly even once. Arrrgh! And I call myself a professional. Double Arrrrrrgh!

I rushed off to the only shoe store in central Dillenburg before they closed for the weekend at 1pm. I was there by 12:25 and by 12:35 I had a pair of not exactly inexpensive, new, super comfy black, leather wedge concert shoes. Great for winter/cold weather concerts, since my other shoes are more suited to summery weather. Yippee!

The afternoon rehearsal went much better, thank goodness! I enjoyed spending some time talking with Sybille Kampheus, the alto soloist in our downtime, which was considerable.

I spent the night with one of the women singing in the choir who sang with the Hildegard Schola throughout the years and who has always been very dear. She treated me like a queen and I enjoyed sleeping through the night with a certain small person joining me and proceeding to keep me awake.

After a brief "dress rehearsal" was the concert. True to the nature of the occasional concert-goer, the church was filled to the brim! Nice to sing for a large audience, but people! Be a little more adventurous! There's a lot of beautiful music to hear live!!!

This concert was stellar from top to bottom. The usual Bezirkskantorei (area church choir) was augmented by the school choir of one of the local high schools. The orchestra, "L'arpa festante", on period instruments was of the highest quality. Natural trumpets, trombones of various sizes, timpani and even bassett horns! It was a delight to sing with them and the other soloist (Sybille Kampheus, Hans-Jörg Mammel and Paul Theis) as well. Very high quality. Joachim had put a lot of research into which version of the Requiem he wanted to perform and came up with a hybrid mixture of mostly the Levin extrapolation with a bit of Süßmayr and Druce and his own arrangement of the Amen. It was bombastic!

The orchestra played a piece by contemporary composer Arvo Pärt - "Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten", which was quite lovely and atmospheric. And wonder of wonders, Hans-Jörg Mammel played contra-bass for it! I had no idea. He's very well known as a tenor soloist, but as a bassist? - Not so much.

Bach's Easter Oratorio was no slouch either. After a brief discussion I was allowed to sing the early version text of my aria, since nothing, absolutely zero else was different. I don't know what got into Bach to change the text in such a way in a later version as to make it nearly impossible to sing the B section with out suffocating. The earlier version text has difficult vowels, but at least there is more space to breathe than between two 16th notes!

It was great fun all in all and I think the school choir enjoyed themselves as well. Especially when they could relax and do the last choral piece of the Easter Oratorio as an encore. It brought tears to my eyes. Really.

I'm looking forward to the next concert in Dillenburg - in September with a program of Mozart's Credomesse (a repeat for me) and CPE Bach's Magnificat (a first for me).

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Amazing Stories: Lovers, Killers, Red Riding Hood and Cinderella

Hello everyone!

I've been very lax with keeping you up to date on my activities. It seems, when I get busy, that I get so busy I don't have time to write blog posts! And this is what the last few weeks have been like! I think I'll write separate posts over the next few days, just to keep you on your toes!

First, I'll inform those of you who don't follow my FaceBook or Twitter posts of a new blog article on Amazing Stories Magazine. I apologize for having simply forgotten to write here about it. It's much easier to write something brief for FaceBook or Twitter in a timely manner, but infinitely inferior for posterity's sake!

My most recent reviews for ASM went up on 12 April 2013:

"Lovers, Killers, Red Riding Hood and Cinderella"

Hello folks! And welcome to my little spot on the interwebs. Thanks for joining me! April is National Poetry Month (in the USA). I wish it weren’t always in April. This is a very busy time of year for me as a singer (I usually sing concerts before and/or after Easter) and for my family. We travel at Easter, usually to another country (this time Italy) and now that my son is in pre-school we also have the usual school activities associated with Easter/Spring. ANYhoo, I’m off on a tangent. I merely wanted to say that I don’t have the time I’d like to dedicate to even more poetry. But here we are. I wanted to give you reviews of 3 collections, but time and space have limited me to two. But oh, these are fit to blow your mind! Mary Turzillo’s Stoker Award nominated “Lovers and Killers” and F. J. Bergmann’s chapbook “Out of the Black Forest”. Here we have two collections, which include many poems that derive a basis in Greek mythology, modern sciences and fairy tales. I woud dare say that one collection leans toward the scientific and the other towards the fantastic.

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Mary Turzillo is a writer and poet whose work has repeatedly crossed my radar over the past year. Her poem “The Legend of the Emperor’s Space Suit (A Tale of Consensus Reality)” took third place in the long poem category of the 2012 Rhysling Awards. I podcasted it and the other 5 winning and placing poems. (You can listen to it here.) I’ve read much of her poetry that she’s had published this past year online and in print. She published a collection of reprints and original poetry in the volume Lovers and Killers. In addition to its being on the final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for excellence in a poetry collection, one of the poems within (as well as two published “Galatea” – read here- and “Going Viral” – Star*Line) “Tohoku Tsunami” has been nominated for the 2013 Rhysling Award. Listen to Tohoku Tsunami below. Her novellet “Mars is No Place for Children” won a Nebula Award and it and her novel An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl are both recommended reading on the Internalional Space Station. As a side note: she is married to another of my favorite SF poets, Geoffrey A. Landis. The brilliance comes as a pair!

To read more (i.e. the actual reviews please head over to Amazing Stories Mag


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Amazing Stories - Interview with Bruce Boston Part 2

The second half of my interview with Bruce Boston is published today. Here's a teaser...

In the last installment I began an interview with Bruce Boston, the first Grandmaster of Science Fiction Poetry as granted by the SFPA in 1999. I introduced him and he told us a bit about his life as a successful poet. We talked about his most recent publications – Anthropomorphisms and Notes from the Shadow City (a collaboration with Gary William Crawford). If you missed the first part, you can catch up here!

Diane Severson for Amazing Stories Magazine (ASM): You have two new collections forthcoming in the next year, both from Dark Renaissance Books: Dark Roads, Selected Long Poems, 1971 – 2012, due out in a few months, and Tales of the Mutant Rain Forest, a collaborative project with Robert Frazier, due in late 2013 or early 2014.

Dark Roads, contains, well, the title says it all. Long poems, if we take the Rhysling Award categories as our basis, are those fifty lines or longer? The poems you sent me as a preview are all well beyond fifty lines. I think they are all over a hundred lines even. Are these longer poems different from short poems in some qualitative way, or just quantitatively? Why did you decide to make these long poems when you were writing them? Or did it just happen? Why did you choose to collect them in one volume? Have they all been published in previous collections or are they scattered around the SF magazines and the Internet?

Bruce Boston (BB): Yes, I used the categories of the Rhysling Awards as the standard for defining length. I believe the shortest poem in the collection is just over fifty lines and the longest is over five hundred lines.

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To read more please go to Amazing Stories: Interview with Bruce Boston Part 2

For your listening pleasure I've also included readings of two poems, one each from his forthcoming publications. Enjoy!

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Amazing Stories: Interviews galore!

This Friday your cup runneth over in all things interview.

First, my own next blog posting on Amazing Stories is the first of a two-part interview with Bruce Boston. Boston is a house-hold name among SF poets, but outside that circle and the horror writer's circle possibly unknown. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Bruce Boston. Among speculative poets and those who read it, he’s a well-known name. But just in case YOU are not familiar with him, here’s a brief biography of the Man (gleaned from his own website):

Since this is an interview I’ll let him speak for himself – Tell us a little about yourself, your history.

I was born of Catholic and Jewish heritage in Chicago in 1943, and grew up in Southern California in an era of rock and roll, the Cold War, and the Space Race. From
1961-2001, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, attending and graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, while active in the psychedelia and political protests of the 1960s.

I've worked in a variety of occupations, including computer programmer, college professor, technical writer, book designer, movie projectionist, gardener, and furniture
mover. I now live in Ocala, Florida, once known as The City of Trees, with my wife, writer-artist Marge Simon and the ghosts of two cats.

Boston’s fiction and poetry have appeared in hundreds of magazines – in both print, online and audio. I, myself, was first introduced to his poetry through StarShipSofa.com, for which I recorded a number of them. He’s won too many awards to list here, but suffice it to say he has won the important ones record numbers of times. He became the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s first Grand Master in 1999. He has published over 50 books and chapbooks, many of them available as ebooks. In addition to writing he is also a visual artist, having produced cover and internal art for his own books and for others. He is book editor for Dark Regions Press and speculative fiction and poetry editor for Pedestal Magazine. If you would like more detailed information on his life, publications and appearances, including links to more interviews, head on over to his website. He does an admirable job of keeping it up to date.

I hope your interest has been piqued! Please go and read the actual interview part of the interview at Amazing Stories Mag: Interview: Bruce Boston .

The second interview is of me, myself and I! I'm the second blogger from Amazing Stories to be interviewed. I was supposed to be the first, but someone else got his act together sooner. So, here we are. Fran Friel, one of the staff bloggers for ASM has been given the task of interviewing all of the other staff bloggers for your reading pleasure. She, herself, is an award winning horror writer and one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure to meet through Amazing Stories. You can read all about me here.