New York-Burleigh Spring 2017 – Singin' One's Journeys

April 5, 2017 by traveler 0

New York-Burleigh Spring 2017

They Say the Neon Lights Are Bright

Between the late night before and the day's cold weather, my mother, sister and I got a slow start on Saturday morning. My sister and I had already decided to forego the tour of the Statue of Liberty that had been scheduled in favor of a few extra hours of sleep and of keeping our mother company. When we finally arose, we decided to prepare to vacate our current room and, since breakfast there yesterday had been less than desired, we'd would check out and eat at a nearby restaurant. The check out, breakfast and relocation to our new abode for the day were uneventful. So, as the afternoon progressed, I spent my time texting and finally calling one of my former host daughters from the college where I work. She was now living in the city, and I was hoping we could spend a few hours together before my scheduled departure. Fortunately, she was able to come to the hotel, and we had a lovely time catching up. Then, when she said she had nothing else planned for the evening, we decided to have dinner together at a restaurant on Times Square.

While the temps were still on the cool side, the rain had gone by the time we jammed ourselves into an Uber car and rode to Times Square. The restaurant was called Bubba Gump and was a seafood joint with a "Forrest Gump" theme. My sister had selected it because she knows that I try to inhale as much seafood as I can whenever I'm on a coast. It must be pretty popular because the place was SRO with folks waiting to eat. The wait wasn't bad, and the food and service was quite good. One could even order one of their specialty drinks in a lighted glass. We had a nice time, but unfortunately, we didn't allow ourselves much time to eat before the 8: 00 p.m. start of the show we were to attend.

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Yes, we had wanted to see "Hamilton," but with ticket prices starting at $734, that wasn't going to happen (besides, I'm perfectly willing to wait until the tour comes to Des Moines where the tickets won't be so budget busting). Instead, we went to ": //beautifulonbroadway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beautiful," a musical based on the life of singer-songwriter Carole King. I had no idea that she had collaborated on so many popular songs from the 1960's. It was so tempting to sing along, and in fact, the cast invited the audience to join in for a recap at the end of the show.

[gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="645,646"] We had scheduled nothing for Sunday morning, and we wouldn't need to leave for the airport (me) or train station (my mother and sister) until mid-afternoon. Thank goodness for the free time because it allowed us a last opportunity to spend a few hours together before parting company. And I certainly didn't mind the much less adventurous flight back to Cedar Rapids.

All of the pictures from the weekend are uploaded on my : //www.flickr.com/x/t/0094009/photos/singinone/sets/72157682926464726/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Flickr account.

Overall, it was a great weekend!!

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April 3, 2017 by traveler 0

New York-Burleigh Spring 2017

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on Ma Head

I didn't mention previously that, in preparation for this trip--during which I expected to present publicly, I'd gone to the trouble having my hair done just before I left Iowa. I also didn't mention that the TSA had pulled my bottle of styling mousse out of my carry-on bag because the bottle was too big to make it through inspection. If only I'd packed an umbrella instead of the bottle of mousse! Anyway, Friday morning was spent in the hotel resting and chatting with my mother and sister. We decided to order breakfast room service (I can still hear the reverb of the cha-ching's from *that* one)--an experiment none of us wanted to repeat (when I write the Tripadvisor review, you'll see why). This did allow me the day to convert my notes into a coherent presentation for the evening's Burleigh Society program. I also had plenty of time to roll my hair using an improvised solution to my departed mousse and to dress appropriately for the event. I should have asked my sister to take a picture before I left, because... ...the storm washed my hairdo completely away. The very same storm--with its heavy winds and rain--that had visited Iowa on Wednesday and made travel through Chicago interesting on Thursday was now in New York. I had a leather coat, which did a fine job protecting my outfit, but my head was completely exposed. Usually, I do my hair and makeup on site as my way of relaxing before the program, so I have no idea why I chose to go a different route this time. The results were pretty much inevitable, and no amount of combing was going to bring the curls--or any other style suitable for a professional performance for that matter--back. Oh well, as they say, "the show must go on."

The : //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/HTBSTributeProgramOrder.pdf">Harry T. Burleigh Tribute Program was wide-ranging, and all who either performed or lectured --including the congregational singing of Burleigh's version of "Walk Together Children," contributed strongly to its success (I'll have to leave it to others to access my part in the proceeding). However, for me, three things parts of the program were most memorable.

Following the welcome came a performance on a foot-pump organ. After I saw all the work the organist put into her performance, I went onto YouTube to see if there was: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBCYN0nxGF4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> a video about a similar instrument. I don't know if the instrument used on the video was the same as that used in the program, but the organist, Artis Wodehouse, was the performer during both. I do wish I'd seen the video before the program because I'd have appreciated her outstanding performance even more than I did.

: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/One-Year-Cover-231x300.jpg" alt="" width="231" height="300" />Second, a young member of St. Georges read a biography about Burleigh written by another youngster. The astonishing thing was that the A+ graded paper was written fifteen years after Burleigh's death by a young person who had clearly learned to admire the late composer. And the third thing that was most striking to me was my first hearing of the performance of "One Year," a song written by Burleigh during War World I. What I found even more impressive to me as a singer myself was that the baritone, Steven Kirby, had sat for more than an hour before delivering that affecting performance.

And, of course, it was wonderful hearing Jean Snyder, my roomie at the AAASA conference just last February, share a little of her wealth of knowledge about Burleigh with her presentation about the singer-composer's relationship with St. Georges Church. Overall, though, I must extend kudos to all who performed or presented that evening!

Fortunately, the program was surprisingly well attended considering the cold, torrential rainfall that dampened the evening. I believe that much of that was due to the organizational skills of the : //www.burleighsociety.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Burleigh Society (Marti Newland and Lynne Foote), the appreciation that members of St. Georges Episcopal Church still have for composer Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949), as well as the talented presenters the society had invited to be involved in the program.

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The program was live-streamed and is now available online at : //www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KncSSsGrUM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KncSSsGrUM. I understandably avoided standing for the pictures that were taken afterwards.

The generous feeding of the soul that evening was then following by a major meal to feed the body. The presenters and other guests, including my mother and sister, were treated to a sumptuous, not-soon-to-be-forgotten feast!

: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0094.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="488" />

We got back to the hotel around 2 a.m., and my sister and I immediately decided that, between the terrible weather that was forecast to continue until the afternoon and the early hour we would have to arise to make the 8: 30 a.m. tour--plus we really didn't want to leave our mother alone, we would be better off cancelling our tour appointment for this trip.

So, we all settled in for a good morning's sleep.

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April 3, 2017 by traveler 0

New York-Burleigh Spring 2017

Headin’ to New York

I reached the Cedar Rapids airport on Thursday morning. Most memorable about the drive was seeing two different semis stuck in the highway median and a third badly damaged from where it had gone into a ditch on the side of the highway. They served as a reminder of the severity of the storm that had whipped it way through Iowa the day before. The reminder was reinforced when I found out that Chicago O'Hare was delaying flights going into that airport because they were now in the midst of that same storm--btw, this storm will be a recurring theme of this trip. After a two-hour delay, we were finally allowed to depart Cedar Rapids. The flight was uneventful, but the delay caused me to miss my connection to New York LaGuardia. The flight from Chicago to New York was packed with folks who, like me, had missed earlier flights, and it was so turbulent that the attendants were unable to serve refreshments. So, instead of reaching the hotel in time to have a nice dinner with the organizers of the Burleigh Society program scheduled for the next evening, followed by spending the rest of that evening with my mother and sister--who were coming to New York by train, I arrived around 9 p.m. and settled for leftover macaroni for dinner. Still, I'm thankful that my trip was safe and that I would be involved in a weekend doing many things that I enjoy doing. Stand by for more....

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March 16, 2017 by traveler 0

New York-Burleigh Spring 2017

New York, New York…

Now, this is the kind of trip I like, a combination of business and pleasure.

First, business. I'm scheduled to present during the : //www.eventbrite.com/e/harry-t-burleighs-annual-service-of-negro-spirituals-at-st-georges-church-a-tribute-tickets-31140514116?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=esfb&utm-source=fb&utm-term=listing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Harry T. Burleigh's Annual Service of Negro Spirituals at St. George's Church on Friday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. The address is 4 Rutherford Place, New York City. The program is free and open to the public. More information available by clicking the link above.

Then, I--joined by my mother, one of my sisters, and my "host daughter"--become a tourist. How much of NYC can we see in one day? Let's find out... Sunday's wide open. If there's a friend in the area who wants to get together for lunch or something, let me know.

BTW, my apologies for not blogging about my recent trips to Irvine, California, for the African American Art Song Alliance conference nor for the Music Library Association conference in Orlando, Florida. There's plenty I could have said, especially about the AAASA conference. Perhaps at some point I'd backtrack and share some of my thoughts about it.

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