passages

In my second visit to a state capitol in as many months, I went to Wisconsin last weekend to work with the Festival Choir of Madison on the premiere of Passages: Songs on Octavio Paz. They did an absolutely amazing job with these pieces and, as they are a fairly extensive revision of a previous work, I'm convinced I made the right decision to revisit the song cycle. Maestro Drew Collins is a force of nature with that choir and he is going to make a lot of proverbial hay in town with these 40 singers. It's his first season as Artistic Director but, judging from the concert, you would never know it. Here he is desperately trying to fly as the choir sings:















We went out for dinner after the Friday night rehearsal to talk shop and nerd out with Jesse Chandler-Dreher from Edgerton High School (he'll come up later) about choral music. I wish I could remember the bistro we went to because, despite this poorly-lit picture, this pesto chicken was amazing.















As a member of the Nordic Choir back in my undergrad days, I stayed in a lot of "interesting" places during choir tour. (Nothing beats the German lady in Boynton Beach, Florida whose breakfast table was a wicker contraption made out to look like a balloon gondola complete with a 4-feet-tall, moustache-sporting pilot that creeped the hell out of me.) The choir members that I stayed with in Madison gave me one of the more memorable ones I've ever had.

John and Nancy Foss are 2 of the most amazing people I've ever had the privilege to stay with. They were housing the maestro in the other spare bedroom so, after we all woke up on Saturday morning, there was a tremendous discussion over some coffee and homemade cranberry pie that I won't soon forget. One of their sons is a puppeteer out in California who is currently constructing a puppet version of Kanye West for his next video. That being said, I had a few "roommates." Santa Claus was on the nightstand next to the bed.

Then these 2 were facing the foot of the bed. I know it's totally wussy, but I had to put a shirt over the big one's face before I could go to bed. It was just too creepy.

After a walk around the neighborhood the next morning and some more choral talk, Drew and I headed into town to run some errands. We settled at The Old Fashioned in the afternoon where he wrote some notes and I read the Times.

I had the French Onion Soup with Gruyère cheese and a side of badly-composed picture.

The restaurant and the concert venue were in the Capitol square on the isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. It's a very beautiful area.

Closeup on the branches. The buds are just starting to come out here in the Midwest.

Jess Chandler-Dreher and the Edgerton High School Choir were included on the program along with the FCM. I had the chance to work with them on The Boy Who Picked Up His Feet to Fly before they performed it during the concert and, aside from my piece, they also sang a beautiful performance of Jesse's I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose which was really wonderful. He set an Emily Dickinson text that I'd never heard and I don't know a publishing company that wouldn't want it. Jesse's a totally cool guy and that school district is lucky to have him.

Post-concert was back at The Old Fashioned. What visit to "America's Dairyland" would be complete without beer...

...and cheese. They had these amazing plates made up of local cheeses. No better way to finish out my time in Wisconsin's capitol.