This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
This tour has been a little odd, geographically, in that we flew pretty much as far west in North America as we could, made our way steadily east until we hit the Florida Pan-Handle, and then worked our way back west until we hit California - from where I now write.This is one of those states where Englishmen feel slightly more at home, in some ways. There is a lot of fresh food, a good sea breeze, and the folk are fairly outward-looking in many ways. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being in all the US states (my darling wife is a good Southern Belle) but coming from an island as we do, this feels somehow closer to what we're used to.I fondly remember a holiday I spent in the Napa and Sonoma valleys a few years ago, visiting a rather wonderful restaurant (The French Laundry in Yountville) and experiencing the local flavours of food and wine. This trip is most definitely work rather than pleasure, but I'm enjoying the memories and meeting more local people - who seem to be very musical and excited that we're here, which is a good thing :)The last week of a long tour brings mixed emotions; I'm looking forward to being home, as well as remembering the concerts we've done so far and focusing on the ones still to perform. In short, it's a bit of a cocktail! We have worked with some amazing ensembles so far - not least in BYU over the past couple of days - but are looking forward to our final show in San Jose, when we get to perform various collaborative works in the beautiful Basilica. The variety is really endless! During this trip we have performed at least four different programmes, each one bringing different emotions and styles of music to the fore. If I had to pick a favourite piece, it would be the Spanish Renaissance motet, "Gentil Senora Mia" by Juan Vasquez. That man must have really know love to write in such an incredible way, and each time I perform it I feel a huge emotional pull. The art is the process of communicating that to an audience, and that's something that I've struggled with over the years. In the end, I think it's about sincerity of performance; if you as a performer feel enough and are able to send those emotions out into an audience, they receive the emotion and can feel the music properly.We've worked a lot on performance with various student groups on this tour, and that really is the fundamental message: ensure you communicate the text and sentiment of a piece of music so that your audience understands the message. Without that communication, the music makes no sense - no matter how "correct" the performance. All you singers out there, take note!
