Hallelujah Chorus

Want to see something that made me cry?  Tears of joy, that is.  This YouTube is five minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

When I was in college, our school performed Handel's Messiah every December.  What was different about this was that the entire school participated, well, those that wanted to, anyway.  Some of the students were music majors, but the vast majority of us were not.  Yet, we all came together for these performances.

My first year I didn't know the music or what was going on, but I gamely participated.  Years 2, 3, and 4, I knew what was coming and greatly looked forward to the practices and performances.  What a special piece of music...anytime, anyplace!  Thank you, Mr. Handel.

A Musical Weekend

While we were at Cape Disappointment State Park last week, I was surprised to see how many of the yurts were rented.  I snapped some pictures of some of the empty ones.

This yurt is located near the tsunami warning siren.

 

We've never been to this park when the siren has gone off. 

One of the reasons for camping at this park was to attend the 26th annual Water Music Festival in Ilwaco, which is always held the third weekend in October.  The concerts were held at two venues, Hilltop Auditorium which is part of the high school, and the Inn at Harbour Village, a historic chapel turned into a bed and breakfast and event center.  In 1928, this was a Presbyterian church.  It was fully renovated and now offers ten guest rooms and a venue for weddings, concerts, etc.

I attended all five concerts, which featured everything from "baroque to ballads, and beyond".  I am already looking forward to attending this festival again next October.  In the meantime, the group is offering a "Tuba Christmas" concert in December which sounds like a lot of fun. 

A Rainy Day

This morning we planned to go for a bike ride, but when we stepped outside the motorhome, it had begun raining a fine mist.  We changed our plans to a walk around the campground.  As we walked, the mist turned heavier, almost looking like snow.  It wasn't snowing and the temperature was in the high fifties but we got quite wet by the time we got back. 

We went out on a couple of errands and then came back and had a quiet afternoon inside.  Around 5 pm, the rain had stopped and the sites were starting to dry up.  The sun tried to come out but didn't quite make it.  We took advantage of the dry weather and went on the same walk we took this morning in the rain.

The Cape Disappointment campgrounds are arranged in loops, with ten sites in each loop.  This picture is looking towards the back loop.  There isn't much fall color here yet. 

Each loop has trees in the middle of the loop.  Children like to play and hide in the trees.

How would you like to tow this little Smart Car? I wonder why it carries two spare tires?  The vehicle towing it was a small Winnebago View.

Friday morning Dave will head back to Vancouver to referee a high school varsity football game and two youth football games on Saturday.  I will attend the first concert of this weekend's Water Music Festival in Ilwaco.   A chamber ensemble will perform "Mozart's Magic Flutes".

Elevated Coffee

Saturday night Dave and I drove into NE Portland to listen to Tim play bass with his band, Cody Weathers and the Men Mama Warned You About.  They play at different venues around the Portland area.  This gig was held at Elevated Coffee on Martin Luther King Boulevard.  That area, which used to be kind of seedy, has been renovated during the last few years and now it’s an up and coming area with coffee shops, restaurants, and comedy clubs. 

The Men:  Tim, Cody, and Evan

A funky old bus parked outside the coffee shop

Restaurant located next to Elevated Coffee

A comedy club across the courtyard

Flame dancer outside the comedy club

Portland Festival Symphony, Part 2

Saturday night’s Portland Festival Symphony concert included a performance by Michael Allen Harrison on piano.  The first piece he played was familiar to us.  Our son, Tim, played in Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony for eight years.  They recorded one of Michael Allen Harrison’s original compositions, “Remembrance”.  This piece was commissioned by the United Nations and performed there by Michael and violinist Aaron Meyer.  This performance brought back many memories of that time.

Michael Allen Harrison

From a review:  “Remembrance” is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Israel’s independence and to the lives lost during the Holocaust. Performed with Aaron Meyer on violin and The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, the piece has a deeply emotional and tragic feeling, but also suggests triumph and moving forward.  Click here to listen to a preview of “Remembrance”.

Michael went on to play a medley of some of his other pieces.  After intermission, the symphony, which had opened the concert with another one of our favorites, John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”, went on to play Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”.  This symphony is another one of our favorites, and was one of the first pieces that Tim played with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS), when he was just 10 years old.  Lajos Balogh is also the music director of MYS.

Every Portland Festival Symphony concert ends with a playing of Haydn’s “Toy Symphony”.  Children are invited to come up and get a free instrument and play along with the orchestra.  Yes, it’s chaotic, but it’s a pleasure to hear those children excited about being part of the concert. 

Maestro Lajos Balogh with some future musicians

Portland Festival Symphony (PFS) is one of our favorite orchestras.  PFS, founded by conductor, Lajos Balogh, has been giving free concerts in various Portland parks since 1981.  Maestro Balogh grew up in Hungary where classical music was familiar to everyone.  When he moved to the United States, he wanted to provide the people here with that same musical familiarity.  So he started PFS and it’s still going strong. 

Saturday night’s concert was held in Cathedral Park.   I learned this about the park: “The site which now bears the name Cathedral Park is steeped in history. It is believed to be one of the 14 Lewis and Clark landing sites in the Vancouver-Portland area: William Clark and eight men camped there on April 2, 1806. This spot had been a fishing and camping site for many area Indian tribes.

In 1847, the founder of St. Johns, James John, settled on the site and operated a ferry to Linnton across the Willamette River. In 1931, the St. Johns Bridge was built on the site with 400-ft towers and a main span of 1,207 feet. It is the only steel suspension bridge in Portland and is designated as an official historical landmark.”

I enjoy listening to classical music any time, but it’s especially nice to hear it on a warm summer night outdoors in a park.  We take a picnic dinner with us and sit out on lawn chairs.  No need to dress up for these concerts! 

A historical site and great music to listen to…what could be better!

TuneGlue Music Map

Click here to try TuneGlue Music Map.  It shows relationships between musical artists or bands, allowing you to plug in the name of an artist you like at which point it will find some recommendations of others you may enjoy.

Type the name of the artist in the upper righthand corner.  When the name appears on the screen, click on it and hit "expand". 

I need this kind of utility to find new books and authors to read!