ROS

My score of Carmina Burana is pretty gross. Coffee-stained, marked up, dog-eared. Once I left it on the kitchen counter and made enchiladas, so it even sports a few tomato stains. I’ve been using it for about a decade, and I think I’ve performed Carl Orff's work about eight times.

Maybe I’ll trade it in someday and start with a fresh copy. But for now, this one is a well-loved map of a favorite country. A smutronstalle. A wild strawberry place.

I sang Carmina Burana with the Rochester Phil and Rochester Oratorio Society last May, and that concert will air on Monday, September 1st at 8:00 p.m. on Classical 91.5 FM.

Being a radiohead, I love the sound of sound, you know? Recorded sound. In this case, I admit the broadcast has nothing on the live experience. But it’s still worth a listen.

Eric Townell, Music Director of the Rochester Oratorio Society, just announced he’s forming a new choral group called RESONANZ. (I’m not sure how to say this. REH-sonance? Reso-NAHNZ? Reso-NAANZ? He's spelling it with all caps.)

He’ll be holding auditions on Monday, September 8th.

It’ll be a 40-voice choir, roughly the same size as the Lyric Chorale, the Bach Festival Chorus, the Eastman Chorale, the Irondequoit Chorale, the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus, the Rochester Women's Community Chorus, and the Gregory Kunde singers.

“Its purpose will be twofold,” he wrote to Rochester Oratorio Society members in an e-mail. “a) to increase the ROS's earned income through singing for hire, and b) to increase public awareness of ROS by performing a fresh mix of lighter music, seasonal music, Americana and event-specific music in non-traditional concert settings.”

Townell says two people have made leading contributions to fund the start-up, the music has been ordered, the room reserved, and the gigs lined up. The mind boggles. He's a busy guy.

Click here to hear conductor Eric Townell and myself talk about the Rochester Oratorio Society's recent trip to China. The show, recorded August 1st, was hosted by WXXI's Peter Iglinski. It's about 50 minutes long.

Still jet-lagged. My body's convinced morning is night. My mind's still racing, thinking, processing. After so much stimulation, I'm starting to crash. I sleep like the dead.

On our last morning in Shanghai, I found myself in the hotel lobby with a dozen or so Rochester singers waiting for the bus to the airport. With our suitcases collected by the glass revolving door, others drifted into the gift shop or hotel Internet center. Three of four Chinese businessmen sat smoking and chatting on their cells. The Chinese smoke pretty much wherever they want. Bored, I wandered over to a baby grand piano draped in a red velvet cover. I pulled the ruffled fabric away and sat down in front of a heavily lacquered, black Yamaha. I touched a few keys. Perfectly in tune.

As far as I know, members of the Rochester Oratorio Society have either returned home safely from China or set off on independent journeys. One alto flew to Japan to spend time with her husband who’s doing research there. I flew home with a small group of singers. We called ourselves “The Shanghai Thirteen.”

If you’ve been following this blog, you may recall that I experienced a moment of irrational fear before leaving the States. I remembered it while I was in China and laughed at myself.

Click on the attachment below to hear the first run-through of "Flying Petals," a Chinese song. The Rochester Oratorio Society is singing in rehearsal here with the Shanghai Symphonic Choir at the Shanghai Conservatory. The soloist is a member of ROS. At the end, you'll hear a burst of spontaneous applause.

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