May Flowers… and Transitions
I haven’t posted recently because, other than visiting family over the Christmas holidays, I’ve relied on virtual interactions. This has also been due to living at my home computer writing my second book. It’s taken over a decade to research and compile contents for the project–actually, I took four years away from that project to write and get So You Want to Sing Spirituals published. However, I finally got the final edits and indexing to the publisher in March. As I write this post, I’m approximately six weeks away from getting the hot-off-the-presses book in my hands. If all goes as I hope, this hovering around the homestead should change in May. In addition to the book release on the 18th, I’m scheduled to present at the annual conference of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections in Pittsburgh that very weekend (perfect timing, IMO–which never humble). In fact, if all…
Business First–AAASA Conference
Usually when I drive, I am free to take as much “stuff” as I want and leave at my convenience. However, I had scheduled a hair appointment in Des Moines because I wanted it to look its best for my presentation. I somehow managed to get out late yet still arrive only ten minutes late despite the heavy traffic. Amanda did her usual great job, and I asked her not to comb it out in the hope that would help my hair hold up until my scheduled time Saturday morning. Wishful thinking, I know, but I had to give it a shot. Anyway, although the drive from Grinnell to Costa Mesa, California, calls for more than a day to cover the approximately 1741 miles, almost all of the trip is on interstates with speed limits up to 80 miles an hour the further west one drives. Plus, I was travelling…
A Bit of Business, A Bit of Fun
This “how many national parks can I visit in a week” trip has been on my radar for quite a while. I finally have a shot of actually doing it! The trip is now part business and part pleasure. I am scheduled to give a lecture on the development of concert spirituals during the Harlem Renaissance as part of the African American Art Song Alliance conference at University of California, Irvine. I’m also planning to put the word out about the two books that I’ve written in the five years since the last conference and hope I can drum up some interest in them. After the conference, if all goes as planned, the marathon vacation begins. I have reserved a space on a boat to go whale watching in the Pacific and the usual Hollywood tour, plus I’m hoping to catch up with a couple of friends out there. I…
Some Backtracking–Ann Arbor, Detroit and Motown
(Blogger’s note: the trip mentioned below occurred several months before I finally got around to posting about it. Sorry about that.) In October 2019, I published my first book, So You Want to Sing Spirituals. Just the month before the book was set to be released, I was invited to the University of Michigan to be a panelist during their African American Classical Music History conference in Ann Arbor. The theme was, “Reflecting on the past…Reaching toward the future, II” The four-day conference was a wonderful opportunity to touch bases with colleagues, both those I’d worked with previously and a host of folks who I’d “met” on social media, in the small world of classical music. And the program, led by host Dr. Louise Toppin and Videmus, was jammed-packed with events throughout. This was also close to my XXth birthday, so one of my nieces invited me to stay with…