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Click on the attachment to hear an interview with Eric Townell recorded after our last concert in Shanghai.

After two days in Shanghai, I asked members of the Rochester Oratorio Society and their family members,

"What's the difference between Beijing and Shanghai?"

"[Shanghai] is a little more sophisticated and a little more grungy, altogether." - Jackie
"First, Shanghai's more cosmopolitan, don't you think? People dress in a more stylish way. And the other thing is this: it's WAY hotter. It feels like a sauna and a steam bath in the sun."
- Maryellen

This’ll be old news to most people but Bobby Henrie & the Goners are really great! I know. I need to get out more. I’m workin’ on it.

"If China is a dragon, Shanghai is its head."
- Deng Xiaping

The Rochester Oratorio Society caught an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai on Monday. After much merriment and a fitful sleep, I woke before dawn to watch the Chinese countryside. Low, brown houses, lush green fields, and white egrets stood motionless in the early morning mist.

As of last Thursday, I have started working from home and will continue to do so for the next few months. New into the realm of the home work environment, it has taken me a few days to arrange a set up that is comfortable and conducive to getting work done.

Forget about veal. Real cruelty involves a relatively sedentary life for 361 days of the year and then 4 days of non-stop dancing. My legs are killing me. The 2008 Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance wrapped up Sunday night. I can still feel the sunburn and the creekwater. I can still smell the potato pancakes and chicken satay. And I can still hear the music.

At this moment in time, two-thirds of the space in my refrigerator is occupied by zucchini.

So I probably won't be able to resist asking "Chef Carlo" what he would do in my situation. Carlo Simon Peretti spends a lot of time in the kitchen with local produce. The London native is the new Executive Chef at the New York Wine & Culinary Center. I'll interview him this week for our special summer edition of Need to Know.

Mason WilliamsOn Friday, July 18, Mason Williams visited us in the studio for a live session on Open Tunings. I had been somewhat aware of his contributions to the world of music, both with the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on television in the late 60's and his radio hit, "Classical Gas".

What I wasn't aware of is the range of his career, and deeper contributions to popular culture, and it's evolution.

John Doan & Mason Williams

On Monday morning, the Rochester Oratorio Society served as the greeting choir for the closing ceremony of the China International Chorus Festival. During the rehearsal, held backstage about ten minutes before we performed, conductor Eric Townell learned ROS had won third place, among 47 choirs. He seemed quite pleased.

Members of the Rochester Oratorio Society and their families spent a morning at the Panjiayuan Market, the largest flea market in China.

I asked some of the singers and their relatives, "What did you buy?"

"I bought a teapot in the shape of a lotus flower. It's green. The feet are little fish and the lid is the seedpod. All the little things move." -Sue