England Study Tour 1975 - 6

Thursday, June 19

Bob Scandrett must have given us a bit of a "talk" that morning! This was me, just short of age 25, rambling on about what was on my mind. I decided to put it here verbatim--there's a lot of youthful philosophizing, but it's a view to who I was at that point in time (and perhaps only interesting to me!). It's worth remembering how passionate I was at that stage in my life--something that luckily has survived, although it's waxed and waned a bit throughout my career.

Bob, your "sermon" this morning was much appreciated. It really is easy to become too critical. For the past two years or so I have been actively working at "revving up" my critical faculties, and it is hard to turn them off. It is also far too easy to compare yourself and your groups to others. I'm still in the midst of trying to push my standards higher and higher (and hopefully, my abilities). I'm constantly re-evaluating how I and my groups do things. Ideally, I want a performance both technically and emotionally perfect. Naturally, you never quite get there . . . and when you come close, your next few performances never seem quite so satisfying (or at least, so it seems). I know Roy mentioned once that after reaching a certain point or level of performance that the average performance didn't excite him much. The same things goes for the music we perform. Music by less than major composers can become much less interesting to us than the attention it really deserves. Of course every piece can't be a masterpiece and every performance can't be magnificent (I'm really diverging from your "sermon," but it feels good just to ramble on a bit).

"'Music for the people"--I really do believe that "good music" (if it really is good), well-programmed, and well-performed, can excite the average listener. I program my concerts very carefully (Gregg Smith--several years ago at that WWU summer workshop--really made me think about that) and that is fun for me to do. I can spend hours doodling out potential programs. I've had good success so far in terms of reaction to my programs--many people, hearing we were doing Bach's Mass in B Minor, said, 'But its sure long, isn't it?' I feel that the piece has such variety, connects dramatically so well, that it shouldn't seem long. We weren't as successful in sustaining the drama as I would have liked, but we came close. The reaction was very positive. Even my father, who's not especially sophisticated about music, said that the concert went very fast for him (I'm not quite sure why all of this came into my mind).

Thinking of Rilling also reminds me how lucky I am and have been in having many "teachers." Neil, of course, has been a tremendous influence. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be in music at all. When, during my junior year at Shorecrest HS, taking voice lessons from him, he suggested I might like to teach music, I was flabbergasted, I hadn't even considered it. He's been an influence all along, partly because of his own great curiosity. And of course, if it hadn't been for Neil, I wouldn't have met Bob Scandrett, which would also have impoverished me. Listening to Western's [WWU's] choirs has provided a helpful alternative to studying at the UW. I also owe a tremendous amount to Rod [Eichenberger], probably much more than I realize. Gregg Smith's workshop came at a time when I was semi-disgusted with music and thinking of dropping out. Smith really got me thinking--it was a tremendous influence at the time. It was also at this time I was considering transferring to Western--and most of the reason I didn't was that I got to know Rod much better at the party after the Gregg Smith workshop [Bob gave Rod and I the assignment to make the punch, which then became considerably more alcoholic!].

I'm glad in retrospect t hat I stayed at the UW. At the UW, I was still able to keep up with things going on at Western (because of Neil and people I knew attending Western). If I had gone to Western, however, I doubt that I would have kept up with things down in Seattle, and would have lost a lot. Also, I would have been "in competition" with Scott Andrews [Scott and I were in the same class, and had coincidentally gone to the same church in Seattle--see my profile of Helen Pedersen at Haller Lake Methodist] and probably (I being very non-aggressive then) would have backed off. Also, in Seattle I got church jobs very much easier.

The trip to Europe with the [UW] Chorale [in 1971] was also a huge learning experience, including the month and a half after the tour, seeing Ehmann, Rilling, Willcocks and others. The summer experience with Rilling in Eugene [Oregon Bach Festival in 1972] was a tremendous change. Rilling's approach to rehearsal, conducting techniques, etc., were almost the exact opposite of Rod's (and closer to what fits my personality best). [I've thought since then that the experience with Rilling was so positive, because I began to realize that I didn't have to be Rod to be successful--I could find a way within my own personality.] I also found that Rilling does not compromise his goals--he demands that things be the way he wants them and quietly, but persistently, he gradually gets what he wants, or close to it.

Nancy [Zylstra] also played a big role. She had developed a much more critical ear than I, which forced me to listen more, and more critically to my own and other's efforts. She also (as an instrumentalist) interested me in instrumental music and started my interest in learning how to get results out of orchestras. Listening to the University Symphony rehearsals [see an earlier post on Samuel Krachmalnick], I started to really enjoy and understand orchestral music.

Backing up a bit: after getting to know Rod better, I hung around his office a lot, mostly listening to the talk between him, Larry Marsh, Bruce Brown, Ted Ashizawa, and others. From this, I absorbed an incredible amount. Rod also had stack upon stack of sample copies, reference copies, etc., which had collected or sent to him by publishers. He asked me if I would file them, and in return, I could keep any duplicates he had. In doing this, I not only acquired the beginnings of a library of scores, but started learning the basic repertoire. Even if I didn't know the piece, I usually knew that it existed. [If, for example, I filed a piece by Hindemith, I'd look through the file to see what else Hindemith had written] . The various grad students were also a help in learning various things singing in their recital choirs, etc. [I think I sang in almost all the grad recitals at that time--it also taught me to sight-read].

I auditioned (after a quarter spent observing) for Sam Krachmalnick's graduate orchestral conducting class and have learned a tremendous amount from it. Working on Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms symphonies and Carmen [the recitatives] really opens up your viewpoint towards choral music.

The groups I have conducted: the two church choirs, the Thalia/Aeolian Singers [the two chamber choirs that became Seattle Pro Musica], and the Bach Ensemble have given me marvelous experiences. I've learned something from just about every rehearsal and performance and have kept Nancy up many a night analyzing why the rehearsal failed or succeeded.

Looking back, there has been an improvement since my first efforts. I hope, too, that this experience [in England] and others keep pushing me, that I never become too satisfied with what I do, that there's always something more to learn, something that can be done just a little bit better.

A few days later, after re-reading the above:

This is a few days later, reading this over. I don't really know why the tour or your "sermon" set all this off, but it's kind of interesting for me. Thinking further about the whole issue of criticism, however, I feel that when listening to others I particularly need to be developing my ear for flaws, comparing, listening as if I had to do the corrections. I don't think it's really spoiled my enjoyment of any of the concerts, or made me close my mind to what I might hear. There is such a fine line that you must ride--I hope I can "straddle the fence" so as to get the best of both and not the worst!

[Back to Thursday the 19th]

One of the things arranged for the day was a reading session at Novello. A number of evenings were free, so to a certain extent we could plan what we'd like most to do. London being London, there were always many choices! So a group of us went to Covent Garden that evening for a performance of Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, with George Solti conducting.

In the first act I was bored stiff--simply couldn't get into the music or over the fact that we were at the very top of the opera house (upper slips)--in the second act I really started to enjoy it, however--the music really is marvelous and the singing was very good [the cast included James King, Heather Harper, Helga Dernesch, Donald McIntyre, and Robert Tear]--very large orchestra, including extra brass (in the upper stalls) and 10 french horns (4 doubling Wagner tubas)--music is interesting" sometimes sounds like Wagner, at others exactly like Mahler--watching Solti (which I did with the opera glasses all evening--we were right on top of him) was fascinating--he is very good--clear and expressive, perhaps sometimes too angular, but totally in command--he doesn't allow much time for stretching out a phrase, the motion is always forward--the drama and long line are foremost (particularly necessary in an opera this long: 6:30 to 10:30 PM with two half-hour intervals)--enjoyed the whole evening very much.

England Study Tour 1975 - 5

Tuesday, June 17

To Canterbury -- the ruins of the Abbey of St. Francis--they were extremely interesting, giving a ground plan, as it were, of how a cathedral is built . . . Canterbury Cathedral is absolutely amazing--I could easily have spent much more time there--their exhibit on the restoration of the cathedral both stone and glass are being eaten away by pollutants) was fascinating--I wish I had money to pay for it all.

Concert with the Deller Consort--it's hard to react to this concert--[Alfred] Deller is a legend to me--the renaissance pieces are very individually prhased, with very sudden crescendos to bring out moving parts--I felt like the music suffered, we being as close to them as we were [as I remember, the concert was in a room or building, not too large, off the Cathedral]--it seemed like it would have worked much better in a place like the cathedral--also, the music seems to me to be better listened to at a distance--the music does not seem like 'personalized' music, but music which should happen during worship--nice performance of the Purcell funeral music--Deller, Honor Shepherd, and Maurice Bevan [soprano and baritone who were long associated with Deller and his consort] are all still singing marvelously--I was particularly impressed with Deller: he sounded better to me than he has recently on records--he stilll has a very full, open sound and amazing control--it's nice to know singers can maintain their voices that long (probably only by singing every day, however).

The Machaut [Mass] was very interesting--I'm really going to have to study it seriously when I get back--the performance was exciting--there were times when the rhythmic accentuations seemed wrong (particularly word-acccents in the Gloria and Credo)--I'll have to ask what edition Deller used, and what kind of re-barring he has done--I'll also have to talk some more to Randy McCarty (director of the Western Wynde Consort in Seattle) about that Berkeley group--he says there's an early music group there which performs everything from original notations (individual parts) without barlines--he said it made an incredible difference in the rhythmic freedom of the music--it might be an interesting experiment to try with a a movement of Byrd 4-part Mass when we do it this fall--I could copy out individual parts without bar lines (checking with the original parts) and see if we could even perform it that way--should be interesting--I'll also be interested to hear Halsey's recording session of the Byrd with instruments. [I didn't try the Byrd with individual parts, but later with Palestrina Sicut Cervus--it was OK, but a group of singers would have to spend considerable time working this way, particularly with similar part books and notation as originals, not simply transcriptions of older notation, to make it truly effective]

Wednesday, June 18

Watched a session with [John] Aldiss in the morning with the Chamber Choir of the Guildhall College--unfortunately, most of the men were gone due to exams--it was very disappointing--Aldiss didn't seem interestat at all and unprepared--he didn't know how he wanted Italian double and triple vowels in Monteverdi divided, etc.--seemed to be searching for something to rehearse--didn't get much out of it--I really wish we could see him in a different situation (such as with his professional choir)

[the above was with the group--afternoon and evening were just Nancy and me]

Then to BBC for a live broadcast--guitarist doing some Spanish renaissance pieces and Villa Lobos (beautiful pieces)--and clarinetist and pianists doing Paul [Patterson's] clarinet piece and Brahms' f# minor sonata--Paul's piece very good, very lively--more 'traditional' than I expected--then to the Royal Academy where Paul teaches, he showed us around--very interesting--approximately 800 music students there--about the same at 3 other music schools in London: Royal College, Guildhall, and Trinity (where Roy [Wales] went to school)--We then watched Roy rehearse Webern's Concerto for Nine Instruments, very interesting, extremely difficult--I think I'll have to get the cantatas to study.

In the evening to the Dutch Ballet [contemporary]--I don't really know what to say: the grace, strength, and beauty of the performance was outstanding--I hope we can see some ballet when we get home.

I should note that I wasn't quite 25 when I went on this study tour. However, I founded Seattle Pro Musica (or the group which would become Pro Musica) in 1973, when I was 23. After one season with my chamber choir, I started a group called the Bach Ensemble, which included both singers and instrumentalists. We did a different Bach cantata once a month. At the end of that 2nd season, we combined both groups to do Bach's Mass in B Minor, and incorporated as Seattle Pro Musica the same summer of this tour.

England Study Tour 1975 - 4

Saturday, June 14
Some of us spent the morning at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In the afternoon we attended Louis Halsey's rehearsal, which began with a Mozart concert aria (Wendy Eathorne, soprano). The concert was in the evening. I wasn't especially impressed with Halsey's conducting technique, but thought the orchestra good. "The horn player (Ifor James) was the savior of the evening--beautiful tone, very exciting playing--he was very relaxed, seemed like he was just up there to enjoy himself--not a hint of the nervousness that afflicts most hornists--even missing a few notes in the final movement didn't seem to bother him, he just played right on (actually, I'm talking about the concert now, rather than the rehearsal). Anyway, he played marvelously." I wasn't as impressed with the chorus, but noted that perhaps they were suffering from comparison to the just-heard Schütz Choir and Christ Church Choir.

Sunday, June 15
Today a trip to Wye for the Stour Festival to hear David Munrow's Early Music Consort at 3 PM. Munrow was an early music pioneer who we just managed to hear live--as he committed suicide in 1976.

This was a fascinating program:

a piece with recorder and drone by Munrow absolutely incredibly played--the runs were so fast they were hard to follow in the church acoustic--that's probably the effect intended, however, Rick recorded it--I'd really like a copy [I don't have one]--then renaissance dances for broken consort, all very well played (and danceable--if I do any of this kind of music, I'll have to enroll in a renaissance dance class)--a baroque guitar suite--beautifully played--James Tyler's virtuosity is stunning (on lute, guitar, and banjo)--he looks all the time like your typical banjo player: a smile on his face the whole time--he was fun to watch as well as listen to--the violinist played a Biber passacaglia--the piece itself went on a bit long--Biber seemed to want to show every possible thing that one could do over those 4 notes--he played very well, but I couldn't help but compare every baroque fiddle player I hear to Eduard Melkus--his performance of the Biber Mystery Sonatas in Eugene [in 1972 at the Oregon Bach Festival] was eye-opening . . . the second half of the concert followed with a selection of rags arranged by Tyler for guitar, two banjos, violin, bass viol, and bassoon (David Munrow played a French bassoon!)--they were well done and a lot of fun--especially enjoyable was a rendition of one of Brahms Hungarian Dances on the banjo by Tyler--all-in-all an incredibly enjoyable concert.

Monday, June 16
"Touring all day--to Pevensy Castle (fascinating!) and Brighton (not-so-fascinating)--the King's summer home at Brighton, however, very interesting--I just can't understand that kind of opulence in a concrete way"

England Study Tour 1975 - 3

June 13
We went to Oxford to observe Simon Preston rehearse and hear Evengsong at Christ Church. We first walked around, admiring the beautiful Colleges, and I also spent about $150 on music at Blackwells.

Preston and his choir were wonderful:

very impressed--singing absolutely marvelous--sound gorgeous, musicianship impeccable, interpretation very exciting--the singing very vigourous--it's amazing what Preston gets out of the boys--musically he makes incredible damands upon them--always stopping and asking them questions--I would have been terrified, but they all seem to take in in stride--he really gets on individuals ('Why are you singing so flat? I talked about that this morning. Get it up there!'), but they also seem to take that in stride . . . Preston always on them about phrasing, pitch, precision, tone quality ('warmer now'), etc.--they sing absolutely beautifully--one of the hightlightss of the tour so far--it will be fascinating to hear King's and St. John's after this.

That evening, back in London, I went with Nancy to visit Roy Wales. We'd met Roy when he came to the University of Washington to do doctoral work in the 1973-74 year (he'd met Rod Eichenberger at a festival in NY and came as a Fulbright Scholar) and got to know him quite well. Roy had a fascinating background and had already done an enormous amount when he came to the UW, having founded the London Student Chorale (later London Chorale), which was made up of students from the various London universities and he attracted singers at first with great tours during breaks. It gradually became a well-known choir, which he conducted for 17 years. He'd already conducted one of the London orchestras and had organized a major Penderecki festival, conducting his St. Luke Passion. I learned a lot from Roy at that time--he conducted the UW Chorale during one quarter when Rod was on sabbatical and I also sang in his doctoral recital (Haydn Creation). Roy has been an entrepreneur from the beginning. When he returned to England he took a position at the University of Warwick (more about that later in the England tour), then in Australia (Queensland Conservatory). Back to England for other work, including establishing the British version of ACDA (ABCD) and later another organization (British Choral Institute), along with the English Concert Orchestra and Choir. I last saw him at the 1993 IFCM conference in Rotterdamm.

When we met Roy for dinner at a curry place, his good friend, the composer Paul Patterson, came along. "Roy is very well, seems to be keeping very busy--we will meet him and Paul at the BBC for a broadcast on Wednesday and then for lunch--Paul is very interesting and looks and talks a bit like Ringo Starr--doesn't at all seem like a composer who has 18 performances of his works this month--he seems to be getting everything published as well--anyway, we really enjoyed the evening."

England Study Tour 1975 - 2

June 10, 1975
Sightseeing most of this day (Piccadilly, Soho, Oxford Square, Hyde Park), along with looking for music at Schott's and Boosey and Hawkes. I noted that I couldn't find much of what I wanted at Schott's (Hindemith and Tippett).

That evening I heard a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the London Symphony Orchestra Choir: Beethoven Egmont, Surinach Piano Concerto (with Alicia de Larrocha), and Carmina Burana, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos conducting. I noted that jet-lag made it hard to concentrate during the Surinach (kept nodding off), but that Carmina was a very exciting reading and that I liked de Burgos' conducting. I only noted the soprano's name, April Cantelo, and that she was fine except for the "Dulcissime," where she didn't have the top notes. Cantelo had a varied career, sang with Alfred Deller a lot, and was married for a period of time to conductor Colin Davis.

June 11
More sightseeing in the morning and the group had an interview with Roger Norrington at his home (amazing that Bob arranged this!). My notes don't say much, since I said I made a tape--I have NO idea where that went, unfortunately!--but I noted that he didn't seem to have any idea what we wanted, that he wanted to make it clear that he was not primarily a choral conductor (he was already conducting Kent Opera at this time), was very confident, and really feels he has the best choir in London. With that, I looked forward to hearing him in rehearsal with his choir the next day! I also remember him talking about the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers, which he was preparing--that he'd done what he called the "circus" version with all sorts of extra instrumental doubling, larger choir, etc., but that he'd done a tour with it in Italy with a small group of singers and instrumentalists and felt that was the way it should be done.

That evening heard a program of Spanish music from 1300 and Italian music from 1600 at the Purcell Room at the Royal Festival Hall (players not noted, but lute, recorder, flute, cello, rebec, violin, drum, and two sopranos). I said the lutenist and recorder player were excellent, but that one of the sopranos had incredible pitch problems. I thought it was in line with a very good university performance at home.

June 12
Went to two Norrington rehearsals with his Heinrich Schütz Choir (from 10 AM-1 PM and 7-10 PM). They were rehearsing the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers for a performance at the Aldeburgh Festival--these were the first and second rehearsals and the other two would be at Aldeburgh with the instrumentalists. Norrington had already mentioned that most of his singers were coming from a group of recording sessions of an opera--and that variety and flexibility were very much a part of a London free-lance singer's life. He'd also said his booker got him the top singers in London and I don't doubt that! I noted, "The singers (all pros) are incredible. Norrington likes a very aggressive sound, hard attacks. He is extremely energetic with a conducting technique that's wild, but expressive. I'd like to see him with an orchestra to see if he changes working with the instruments. The professional singers really are amazing--their ability to sight read, mark a score and then do what they have marked, and concentration ability are outstanding."

I then said that I had perhaps only two singers in my choir who could do this--but that after a month or so of the kind of schedule and demands put on these singers they'd have no problem. I then wrote more about what the possibilities might be to move my choir more in this direction--even though none of my singers would be able to sing full-time as the London singers could.

This is one of the perennial problems for a professional ensemble singer in this country: how do you make a living? How can our ensembles develop in this direction when they can't spend the amount of time singing that European professional ensembles can? It hasn't been answered yet!

Personal History -- England Study Tour

One of the things I'm most thankful for is the fantastic people who've inspired me and influenced me.

I mentioned in another post that I was lucky to have some great mentors early in my career.

Neil Lieurance was a student teacher at my high school during my sophomore year, took a non-music job there my junior year (but accompanied the small ensemble, and I also started to take voice lessons from him at that time), and then took over the choral program my senior year. Since he was working on a master’s degree at Western Washington University in the summers, I got to know Robert Scandrett, who headed the choral program there, and attended several summer workshops with clinicians such as Gregg Smith, Günther Graulich (editor/owner of Carus Verlag) and Louis Halsey (a fine conductor in his own right, but probably best known now as the father of conductor Simon Halsey—who’s been Simon Rattle’s choral conductor since the beginning of Rattle’s career in Birmingham). All-in-all fabulous experiences, but compared to the study tour Bob organized, they don't compare!

Bob is an enormously talented musician, still active at University Congregational Church in Seattle, after retiring from being Director of Choral Activities at Western Washington University, where he was Professor of Music from 1967-1990.

He was also director of the Seattle Symphony Chorale from 1976 to 1989 (I followed in that position from 1990-94), founded and directed the New Whatcom Choral Society (Bellingham) for 12 years, was Minister of Music at University Presbyterian Church from 1957-67 (it was a major program with regular performances of major works) and has been associated with the German publishing house Carus Verlag as editor and consultant since 1985 (with wonderful editions of Scarlatti, among others). He graduated from the University of Washington with a Ph.D. in musicology. Also a talented pianist, I remember hearing him accompany a performance of Die Winterreise at one point. He's also a composer and arranger--Kathryn and I were proud to include his setting of Psalm 91 at our wedding.

In 1975 Bob organized an amazing choral study tour of England and I was lucky enough to be included. Others on that trip that I've later worked with included Neil Lieurance, Susan Erickson, Linda Scheuffele, Nancy Zylstra, Richard Nace, and Rick Asher. The trip (as you'll see) took an extraordinary amount of work to organize--in some ways much more than a traditional choir tour. It involved attending rehearsals, meeting with conductors (we met with Roger Norrington in his home), services, concerts, reading sessions at publishing houses, etc. We also had free time, which I usually managed to fill with yet more music. This was just an incredible experience.

I'll do brief posts for the next couple weeks talking about what we were doing each day, plus short excerpts from the diary I kept (although in re-reading it I'm thinking, "Ah the arrogance of youth!"). However, it'll give a flavor (or flavour) of what this trip was like.

We left on June 8 and arrived late the morning of June 9. That evening we attended a rehearsal of the Louis Halsey Singers at St. Giles Church, Cripplegate. Halsey, born in 1929, had attended Cambridge, where he sang in the King's College Choir. He was working at the BBC as a producer when we visited, had first achieved notice with his Elizabethan Singers, and later with the Louis Halsey Singers. I don't think any of their recordings are available anymore, but I remember clean ensemble, nice phrasing, and a fresh vocal sound. He also edited and arranged for a number of Christmas carol books. Halsey later took a position at the University of Illinois, but only stayed briefly.

That night he was rehearsing the Haydn Missa Cellensis, some Tavener motets and a piece by Michael Tippett (there would be a Mozart Horn concerto on the program as well). The choir was mostly amateur, but with a few pros called in for the last rehearsal or so (the British term at that time--maybe still--for these extra hired singers was "stiffeners," which we found quite amusing). The alto section was made up of 3 female altos and 2 countertenors. He normally had only four rehearsals for each concert (the Brits are well known for superb sight-reading ability), which inspired me at that time to get my singers to do more and work faster.

Consequently, I programmed a very ambitious season with my Seattle Pro Musica groups the following year with the goal of moving in that direction: my chamber choir opened the season with the CPE Bach Magnificat and Handel's Dixit Dominus; the Christmas concert included Tippett's Magnificat, Distler's Singet Frisch und Wohlgemut, and Poulenc's Christmas motets; in February a program of Romantic era music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Wolf; an April performance of the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers (with period instruments); and a June concert with Bach's Lobet dem Herrn, the Debussy Trois Chansons, and Purcell's Come Ye Sons of Art. The Bach Ensemble did it's usual Bach cantata the first Sunday of each month, and a new small ensemble did a debut program with the Byrd 4-part Mass and Bernstein's Choruses from 'The Lark'. I think I was crazy (and imagine my singers did, too)!

At any rate, an enjoyable beginning to the trip. As you'll see later, besides being ambitious to have my singers work faster, I was influenced by the repertoire I heard as well.

Big Change!

A big change in my professional life is a new position as Professor of Music at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX (north of Dallas).

The story starts last year in Sweden. As many of you know, Kathryn and I attended Robert Sund's retirement celebrations in Uppsala. While there I met Jerry McCoy for the first time in person. We'd both known and admired each other's work for a long time, have close friends in common (not only Robert, but Bruce Browne and others), but just hadn't met personally. We both arrived the day before festivities began, so ended up having dinner together. We had a great time, hit it off, and in the course of things, Jerry mentioned that UNT would have a choral job opening up next year which could be interesting. We didn't talk further of it or correspond after that, but I kept it in the back of my mind and watched for the job announcement.

The position is the result of two different retirements: Henry (Hal) Gibbons, who's taught choral music at UNT since 1980, this past year; and the retirement of Lyle Nordstrom, who heads UNT's very fine early music program, at the end of this coming academic year.

Lyle has built an enviable program, with the ability to put together a full 18th century baroque orchestra (playing at A=415 or 396, depending on repertoire) or sackbuts and cornetti (playing at A=465), or many other periods as well (the collection owned by the university includes over 250 instruments now). Lyle also has conducted the Collegium Singers, a 24-voice ensemble that performs on their own, as well as with the Baroque Orchestra. Works have ranged from medieval and renaissance masterworks to Biber's Requiem, and the oratorios of Handel. Members of that ensemble come from the other choral ensembles at the school, as well as graduate students in voice, early music, or other areas.

So the new position includes conducting two ensembles: the chamber choir Hal has conducted, doing a wide variety of repertoire from all periods; and the Collegium Singers, who will specialize in period performance. With the Collegium Singers this year, for example, there will be an all-Vivaldi program in the fall (the Collegium Singers will do either Dixit Dominus or Beatus Vir, both for double choir & double string orchestra) and a classical program with new faculty member, Christoph Hammer, who is a new faculty member teaching harpsichord and fortepiano (a Mozart Missa Brevis will be on that program). Lyle will do a program of music by "Italians in Germany" in February, with some participation by the Collegium Singers, and May 1 will conduct Bach's Mass in B Minor as his "swan song" at UNT, which will include some notable former students from Lyle's 40 years of teaching at various institutions.

The rest of my load will include a variety of courses: this year a graduate conducting class in the fall and the final undergraduate conducting class for music education majors in the spring, and the choral literature sequence in the following year. Of course, I'll be involved along with Jerry mentoring and evaluating their fine MA and DMA conducting students in recitals, exams, papers, etc.

All in all, it makes for a great mix of activities. I've been out of regular academic work since I left PLU in 2001 (although enjoyed enormously two guest professorships at CCM/University of Cincinnati in the fall of 2006 and this past May). I have to say that while I've loved my professional activities during that period (and the marvelous opportunities that have come through my own ensembles, guest conducting, and two fantastic times in Sweden), I've missed teaching. I've missed both the contact with students and their energy, and regular daily contact with fantastically talented and knowledgeable colleagues.

I'm not giving up Pro Coro Canada! I still remain Artistic Director and have two more years left on my contract. I'll do three concerts this season (instead of four), but look forward to continued work with this wonderful group of singers.

However, I'm excited about all the possibilities that come with our move to Denton. Kathryn and I spent last week in Denton with Jerry and Julie McCoy, arranging housing, setting up our move, meeting with Lyle and Hal, lots of brainstorming with Jerry, and beginning what will be a very intense process leading up to a move around August 1. I think Jerry and I and Alan McClung (who heads up choral music education and conducts the Concert Choir) will make a great team. It'll be an exciting time!