Civil Ceremony

Magnus and I got married in a civil ceremony on Saturday, May 27! We had stepped up our plans to do that considerably in order to facilitate getting my visa for the UK. We had thought the ceremony would be very brief, especially since we weren't exchanging rings or anything, but it ended up being almost an hour and quite lovely as a result of a few things. First, my friend Pamela came to Bussolengo from Frankfurt to be my witness. Since she speaks no Italian at all, we needed a translator. Manon, Magnus' sister, served as Interpreter. She did a great job, but it made the whole thing twice as long. Second, the man who married us read a poem, on married couples, by Khalil Gibran from his book The Prophet (the English version was then read by Manon). It's a beautiful poem and I'll try to post it here soon. He then gave a little sermon of sorts (translated by Manon), sharing his thoughts on the meaning of the poem. It was lovely.

Oops! I got a little ahead of myself! The day started at the crack of dawn - Magnus and I, Manon and M's mother, Franca had an appointment at the hairdresser's at 7:30! It was a struggle, but we weren't too late. And the place was already full, basically!!! We were there till almost 10:30! I got a color rinse, got my hair cut and styled and it looked great - quite cute with an up-flip. We raced home and got dressed - the ceremony was at 11:30!!! Pam came over and we took a few quiet minutes where she presented me with what my Prosperity girls (she, Sandra and Caroline) had prepared for me on my wedding day: They had made a collection of many things old, and or blue (which were, of course, borrowed) and Pamela had bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers (which served as the thing "new") from all of them! It was so sweet and really touched my heart. It was the perfect thing in the hecticness of the morning.

I'm not positive, but I believe we actually made it to the city hall on time, Magnus and I. And believe it or not, it was Magnus' father who we waited for! In addition to Magnus, Pamela and I in attendance were: Franca and Luigino (M's mom and dad), Manon (sister), Magnus' nonna Gina (grandmother), Magnus' witness, boyhood friend Raffaele and his wife Anna. I wish my family could have been there.

After the wedding we drove to Villa Amistà,which is a 5 Star hotel and spa near Bussolengo in the Valpolicella wine region. As you'll see, it is incredibly beautiful. Recently restored and decorated with modern art and design furnishings. It's a stunning combination.

Normally the restaurant isn't open at lunchtime on Saturdays, however, Magnus' mother told them I was a famous singer, wanting to celebrate somewhere where I could go incognito! Isn't that a hoot?!? Unfortunately, I didn't know until we'd been there about a half hour or I would have played it up a bit! LOL! As it was, I noticed the staff looking at me kind of intently, but chalked it up to them being solicitous to the bridal couple! But they were too discreet and and no one asked for an autograph. Darn. :-)

Here's a link (copy it into your browser) to a of Magnus and I at the Villa:

fotos.web.de/divadiane/Civil_ceremony

The meal was spectacular! At the dessert Magnus and I cut it together as if it were a wedding cake, but before we did that, Magnus presented me with a new "engagement" ring! He'd bought a beautiful, classically set diamond ring while he was in Hong Kong. I was completely surprised and very moved. He had asked me what my ring size was while he was there, but then dissembled by saying they hadn't had anything he liked in my size! I can't really be upset with him for being such a bald-faced liar!!!

We got a tour of the hotel facilities, and saw a few of the fancier rooms. They are so colorfully and fancifully decorated it seemed as though you were in a child's playroom - delightful!

Later on that evening Manon had arranged for some friends and cousins to meet for Prosecco at a place near Lake Garda. After that, we went to a Disco, which was fun. We (and everyone else) sang and danced to Italian hits. We got home around 4 am! Pamela had to be at the airport at around 6:45, so we got about 2 hours of shut-eye before taking her there. Even though it was short, I'm so glad she was there.

Monthly Teaching

Once a month I'm going back to Germany to teach over the weekend. I'm so blessed by dedicated students! They seemed genuinely devastated when I told them I was moving to the UK and then genuinely eager that I come back to teach them periodically. I won't be doing this forever, but it's a good thing to do to maintain ties and perhaps I'll be able to do some singing every once in a while!

So far, it's worked very well, that I've come on Thursday, taught on Friday and Saturday and again on Monday and Tuesday. The church of Christ the King (CtK), in Frankfurt - the church I've attended since arriving in Frankfurt in 1997 - generously gives me space to teach on these long weekends. Generally, I give each of my pupils 2 lessons over the course of the 4 days. It's like a mini-seminar for them.

While I'm in Frankfurt (Ffm) I stay with friends. I still have lots of them here and it's great fun to see them and spend time with them. Usually, my Prosperity group meets for a few hours of meditation and energy work. It's also great that I'm in Ffm over the weekend so that I get to go to CtK and sing with the choir, my buddies. I've been around so often since I moved though (almost more often than after I moved to Oftersheim), that they haven't really had a chance to miss me!

Moved to London

Yes, I've moved to London and everything is topsy turvy here... Well, life has been a bit turbulent, what with moving, going back and forth now to Germany to teach monthly, organizing the wedding(s) etc. I haven't had much time to worry about a career here in London, so I don't have much in that respect to write about.

I did, however find a good teacher, one I can collaborate with on the improvement and training of my voice as well as getting me up to par for auditioning here.

Magnus and I will be getting married in a civil ceremony on May 27 (and later on Sept. 1 in church) and after that, I will hopefully have time and mental space to get the ball rolling.

Elysium in Ordo Virtutum

By some wonderful coincidence all the members of Elysium were hired to sing in a repeat production of Hildegard von Bingen's "Ordo Virtutum" with musical director Stefan Morent. Stage director Enrico Masseroli was also part of it as well as most of the singers that took part last time. 2 singers joined us, Rebecca Bain as Anima, who I've performed with before in Sequentia's production of OV and Katherine Ross, who I'd never met before, but who made a wonderful Humilitas. Amy was hired to replace one of the singers who couldn't do it and so it was like a big, happy family reunion! We performed as part of the concert series "Vocal music along the Romanesque Road" (Vokalmusik entlang der Romanischen Strasse) during the summer festival in Rhineland-Palatine (Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz). We were in a beautiful romanesque church in a place about as far out in the boondocks as you can get in western Germany - Offenbach-Hundheim. A tiny village where the shops are hardly ever open and almost never when we had time to go in them and which had only 3 restaurants. But it was a pleasant enough 4 days. We were busy anyway!

We managed to put the whole thing together after having last performed this version of it 4 years ago in San Diego. It was hard work, but the end result was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! I think Enrico has an amazing eye for space and movement (not surprising since he's a dancer), but he prefers to do everything on the spot and try things out first. We didn't really have enough time to do that method justice, so it was a bit nerve wracking. I was doubly nervous - I don't know how it happened but I had a ton of spoken text which I had to deliver memorized (since it was staged). And that's not one of my fortes! However, by the grace of God, I didn't forget anything, and feel like I did a pretty good job! Magnus came to the performance and was moved. He thought that the staging was beautiful, using the space (around the altar) wonderfully. He likes Hildegard's music too.

After the concert, we took Anna with us and returned to Oftersheim (home). We flew to Italy the next day! More in another post.

Cistercian Elysium

OK, now that my busy performing period is over I'm just as busy as I was before! Don't ask me what I'm doing - it doesn't seem like much. Teaching and travelling that's it basically.

However, I will attempt to catch up on the last few gigs and interesting things that have been happening lately.

Elysium had a concert in early September in Heiligengrabe again. (Allegra, Amy and I had performed there without Anna in May) We performed the same program but this time we had Anna with us, which is much better, plus the rest of us had done the program once already, so it was that much more together. We had a few days of rehearsals in which we integrated Anna and added a new piece. The concert was part of a bigger event this time - the opening of the museum on the convent premises. The church was full - full of politicians and cultural ambassadors. Before our performance there were 5 (!) speeches by various important people. It was nice to perform for a big audience but I could have lived without sitting in the back of the cold church for 45 minutes before beginning! Oh well. The performance went really well and I really enjoy that program. I think we might expand it into a full-length program for us. We performed with an organist in Heiligengrabe and only had to have about 30 minutes of music for ourselves.

After the performance there was a reception where we met several interesting people from various cultural offices. One man was particularly keen on having us record the program at the convent to sell there as a promotional thing for the convent. I'm not sure what's going on with that now, I hope it comes to fruition!

Bad Blogger!

OK, it's been a million years since I posted to my own blog! Since the last post in March I've been pretty wrapped up in moving and getting settled in my new life.

Magnus and I moved to a small town near Heidelberg mid-March. However, by mid-May I had only spent all of 8 days in the new apartment! I had a few concerts (Telemann - St. Luke's Passion, Hildegard with the Schola from Dillenburg, Lady Chapel Singers in Frankfurt and Rome 2x, Monteverdi and Schütz in Wiesbaden), we went to Bussolengo for Easter and to Rome as well, I went to Canterbury, England with a group from church. Plus, I began my new teaching schedule, which is to teach two days a week in Frankfurt. Ideally, I would go up on Tuesday morning and come back on Wednesday night. However, that has rarely been the case. I still do quite a few things in Frankfurt (church, Prosperity, book club) and those activities have brought me to Frankfurt to stay longer than just the planned 2 days!

Since mid-May I've had a concert outside of Berlin with Elysium (minus Anna), moved out of my apartment in Frankfurt officially and began teaching at the Christ the King. I am on the Search Committee for a new Director of Music at the church and a few weeks ago we were really busy with meetings and auditions which unfortunately weren't successful. We have to start the whole process over again! Sigh.

Now I have a quiet period until September when all hell breaks loose! Magnus left for a 7 week stint in the US and Canada on July 9, so home will be kind of empty. But once he gets back then I have another concert outside of Berlin with Elysium (this time with Anna), we will be going to a friend's wedding in Puglia in Italy with a bit of vacation before hand, and the Ordo Virtutum with Stefan Morent is being revived for a concert at the Festival Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz. October takes me back to Dillenburg for a concert of a Mass put together of parts by various Bachs.

That's all for now!

USA Trip Part 1 - Wisconsin/Iowa

What a whirlwind!

I've been in the US for most of the past 4 weeks, visiting
family, singing, singing and singing. Now that I'm back in
Germany I've been singing (!) and moving house. More
about that in a subsequent post - first things first!

I flew first to Philadelphia and spent only a night there.
The Lady Chapel Singers graciously covers my travel
expenses, but only to Philadelphia. I flew on to Madison,
using frequent flyer miles, the next morning.

I had one of the most embarrassing things ever happen
to me that night in Philadelphia. I was staying in the
guest apartment in Lisa and Charles building (as usual)
and I went up and went to bed pretty early, I guess
around 10pm). I set my alarm for 6:30 because my flight
was early and I was to have breakfast with Lisa. I got up
when it rang, took a shower, got everything packed up
again, and went down to their apartment. I knocked and
knocked, no answer. Finally, Charles came to the door,
which was the final clue that something was amiss,
because he should have been gone to work already. It
turned out that I'd forgotten to change the time on my
alarm and it was only 1:00 am! Omigod! I was mortified.
Needless to say, I went back upstairs, set my alarm to
the correct time, got back into bed and slept another 5
hours!

In Wisconsin it was business as usual, I called all my
friends to see who had time to spend with me. I saw
Naomi, my longes friend, she came over for dinner. I
went to Julie and Mike's for dinner (who had nearly
forgotten me!) and spent some time with their 3 beautiful
little girls. Mom and I spent a day together. We heard a
recital given by a voice faculty candidate at the UW and
afterwards we went to the Union for coffee with my
favorite music history professor and now friend Charlie
Dill. We went to Ward Brodt Music House where I
bought a new metronome (thank you Tom and Barb!) and
we went to see the move Ray at the 2nd run theater. We
had a great time. I had a fabulous homemade breakfast
at Kathy the Mezzo's, catching up with her. I never did
speak with Wendy personally :-( Next time I hope.

My dad and I took two days and drove to Ruthven and
Spencer, Iowa (north western Iowa) to visit my
grandmother. Recently, following some bad spells with
her health, she'd been moved to a nursing home in the
town she's lived in most of her life, Ruthven. It's just like
a hospital, and she can't really do anything independently
anymore which is just awful for my Gram. But she
looked pretty well, if a lot thinner than I last saw her. She
was in pretty good spirits but it seemed like a terrible
effort for her to even just speak. She says she sleeps a
lot. Not as much as her roommate (who I guess is
always sleeping) but still a lot. She just seems worn out,
but not as depressed as usual. She still has her feisty
streak, which is good to see, but she's gotten much more
cuddly.

Next installment:
USA Trip Part 2 - Philadelphia part 1 and NYC