Loudly sing cuckoo.”  For those who may not be up on their Middle English, that’s the opening line for a traditional round, and possibly one of the oldest works of written musical counterpoint or polyphony.

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Scott Horton
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

We’re in the middle of graduation season once again, and our own Chorus School graduation and spring concert will take place this Friday night. Generally, I love Elgar’s music, but how and why did his “Pomp and Circumstance” march become the anthem of all graduations?

This post is a little later than usual, mainly because I had an impromptu root canal late yesterday.  I have just two words for this – NOT FUN.  This was a new procedure for me, and I can now imagine a little more vividly what it might feel like to be abducted and operated on by aliens.  What helped me through the experience, surprisingly, was the cheesy 1970s and 80s pop muzak being piped into the dentist’s office.  Mentally desperate for somewhere else to go while the aliens put all manner of unpleasant devices in my mouth, I latched onto song fragments tha

Our Alumnae Chorus gave its spring concert on Sunday evening.  The theme was “Women’s Experiences of War,” and the program included, among many other works, a movement from the piece Anne Frank, A Living Voice that SFGC commissioned in 2004.  Just before the Anne Frank piece, the ensemble performed a work I’d never heard before, and briefly shared the story of Margaret Dryburgh, a British missionary held with thousands of other women in a Japanese prison camp on Sumatra during WWII.  Dryburgh and another captive, Norah Chambers, combined their

I read with great interest in today’s New York Times that Lincoln Center will launch a new festival of performances next fall, titled “White Light.”  In addition to the festival’s spectacular line up of artists, and the deeply thematic programming (including several vocal and choral works!!), what struck me was that it had been a while since I’d heard someone in the performing arts business talk so honestly and openly about the motivation for and meaning of their work.

This past Saturday was a fundraiser concert for the Chorus School’s Levels I and II.   SFGC board members make opening remarks at these events, and this year’s board speaker was Natasha Hoehn, who is not only a board member, but also an alumna.  In speaking about the profoundly positive influence SFGC has had on her life, and her development as a young woman, Natasha acknowledged the role of our Chorus School Director, Beth Avakian, whom she described as “her mentor and friend.”

Taking on challenges and learning new tasks isn’t always comfortable or fun at first.  But, as I learned last Saturday, a little perseverance and confidence in one’s skill level can make all the difference, leading to a sense of accomplishment and even a degree of pride and pleasure.

Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, our big newspaper of the week was the Sunday edition of the Modesto Bee.  Sometime in my pre-teen years, my parents also began subscribing to the Sunday edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.  In those days, it was an excellent paper and a dose of the real world for us.  I would spend hours poring over the pink section and what seemed to be an endless smorgasbord of music and performance opportunities available in “the city.”