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It was 17th of March,  and life-as-we-know-it was grinding to a halt and the fearsome specter of COVID-19 was looming over all of us.   It felt like this new threat was lurking everywhere,  and it was really only within the four walls of one's own home that you truly felt safe - or at least

It is difficult to fathom that Kathy Fischer has left us. It scarcely seems possible - and yet it's true.  For those of you not blessed to have known her,  Kathy was a long-time member of Holy Communion,  wife of long-time organist Randy Fischer, a deeply-admired and much-loved public school teacher until her retirement some

This is the story of the hatching of a little one-act opera called Birds of a Feather: a Magic Flute Sequel .... as well as the story of a talented student who is no longer with us who nevertheless served as its  central inspiration. First, let me say that the notion of fashioning some kind

Yesterday was a very challenging day.  In the morning, I sang for the funeral of the father of a very good friend - and ten minutes after the end of the service, I learned that a dear friend from Holy Communion had died earlier that morning after a long, valiant fight with cancer (the second

Last weekend, I had two operatic experiences that were poles apart from each other . . . and that jarring juxtaposition was a perfect way to underscore just how extraordinarily broad the expressive scope of opera really is.  One was one of the sweetest, most tender operas ever composed- the other was one of the

A week ago Saturday,  I had the opportunity to experience 'polar opposites' in the world of opera ....  two productions that could not have been more drastically different from each other.   And spoiler alert: I loved them both .... which only underscores one reason why I love opera so much:  because it is an art

The motto of the United States Marine Corps is "The Few, The Proud," and at the moment that seems like a very apt motto for Carthage's Opera Workshop as well.  For a combination of reasons, there are only two students enrolled this semester in  workshop - a situation which nearly led to workshop being cancelled. 

The renowned singer Jessye Norman passed away on September 30th of this year.   In her fascinating memoir Stand Up Straight and Sing she says something about how much she loved the month of September- in part because it was the month in which she was born, and also because September is also a time when

I am thinking today about Ellie, our first golden retriever, who came into our lives back in 2003 - was an irreplaceable part of our home for 15 years - and then left us on August 23, 2018 ... one year ago today. In some ways, it is a sad anniversary - because it's the

As I am sitting down to write this, it is the 50th anniversary of Woodstock.  I've been able to record interviews with four different people who attended Woodstock,  and one theme which came up repeatedly in those conversations was how profoundly important music was to people in those unsettling and even frightening times.  Whether you