Monthly Archives: May 2016

A Day of Madness

By |

"A Day of Madness."  That is the subtitle for a famous play by Beaumarchais called "The Marriage of Figaro," on which Mozart built his beloved operatic masterpiece.   As stage director Matt Boresi helped me introduce our performance of Figaro this past Tuesday at Carthage, he cited that subtitle of the original play as a

Fond Farewells

By |

Sunday, the 8th of May,  was a day of farewells at Carthage-  although these are the best kind of farewells because they involve people who are not really going anywhere - but simply turning a page in order to enter a new chapter.  But both farewells are not without their pain ... not without an

Up State

By |

Some highlights from State Solo & Ensemble on Saturday,  May 7th at UW-Parkside .... This is always one of my favorite days of the whole year, even though it's also one of the wildest and most exhausting days of the year.  Usually I am accompanying more than 30 events,  and one year I actually played

Time to Turn the Page

By |

One of the hardest things for me about being a composer is the worry over whether or not the piece in question will be well received, both by the singers for whom it's written as well as for the audience or congregation who will be hearing it.  I think I'm still haunted by my very

The Flower Girl

By |

Today I found myself thinking back to a beautiful wedding last summer of Randi Dorholt, my first cousin once removed.  She was married on the grounds of a Lutheran bible camp just outside of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, beside a lake- but what I remember even more than the picturesque setting was the service itself and

Oh, Kaye!

By |

On Sunday, April 24th,  as I was leaving church at the end of second service,  I just happened to bump into Kaye Jensen,  who I had not talked too in quite some time.  (She has been a little bit under the weather,  so she had not made it to church in a while.)  It was

Happy Birthday, Mr. Figaro!

By |

A few minutes ago, Kathy and I were enjoying a quiet dinner together-  decompressing from a busy day which included church this morning and  Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal for her (the first rehearsal on the stage of the Racine Theater Guild plus a concert at Carthage for me.   All had gone well, so