Seein’ the DMV: Celebrating the Holidays 2025
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this has been a difficult year for my family. I’ve kept my travels close enough to the DMV that I could get back fairly quickly if needed. With the passing of my eldest sister’s husband in October, I’ve intentionally stayed close to home. Sometimes, though, we are blessed through difficult moments. My sister asked me to sing for the memorial service. I’d stepped away from public performing, but I couldn’t refuse her. The blessing I received was both spiritual — rediscovering that I still have the gift to sing, but I have to change the way I do it — and practical — a limited return to public performance. I am even considering giving a concert in late Spring 2026. More about this if it actually gets past the wishful thinking stage. Holiday Concerts in the DMV Most of November and December was…
Seein’ the DMV: Concerts and National Aquarium
Two Concerts I don’t normally post about musical concerts I attend because I don’t like to write reviews. However, I’m going to spend a little time touching on three concerts I attended in July, but the bulk of the post will cover my second visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Since my return to the DMV, I have taken as much advantage as I can of the stage events offered here. This summer, this has included concerts from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Summerfest schedule–an all-George Gershwin program and movie music by John Williams, plus the performance of Carl Orff”s Carmina Burana, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, soloists, Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. The Gershwin concert started what was a very busy week on Sunday, July 20. The program included his Cuban Overture, excerpts from the opera Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue,…
Seein’ the DMV: Birthday Concertizing and Baseball–September 2024
Two Concerts As I debated the title for this blog post, I realized that this was the first time in a while that birthday concertizing did not mean I was the performer. I miss performing, but the time had come, as it does for all, sooner or later. Anyway, I originally had lots of activity planned for my birthday week. I wasn’t feeling well and so decided to reevaluate the plan. Some things I was able to reschedule without any difficulty. One–a lecture featuring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on her newly released book, Lovely One–was such a difficult ticket to get that I had no trouble finding someone to take it. That left two concerts. I’m also grateful that my sister, who was originally going to join me, got a signed copy of the justice’s book for me. The first concert was the National Symphony Orchestra Echoes…