a reunion of sorts (event invitation for old and new friends)

So it has been about three years since most of us have graduated. I think it is about time we all get together for a nostalgic hurrah at ye ol’ watering hole. On Thursday, the 21st day of May, this year of 2009, Julia Goetzen will be visiting the Bay Area for a four day sojourn, the longest since abandoning the yay for Southern California. I discovered this when Peter, after having heard from Omer, told me over a (somebody else’s) Crixa Cakes, in Berkeley. I guess that’s the path of information flow these days.



Anyways, after brainstorming possible get-together ideas with Julie, we’ve decided to kick off her visit with a celebratory reunion of sorts at Beckett’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, in Berkeley. Coincidentally, an awesome band will be playing that night, Whiskey Hill. They play blues, funk, Motown and Jazz. A good friend I know, from UC Berkeley's Gospel Choir, is the saxophonist for the band. They’re tres legit.



Hopefully you guys can make it. Here’s the info:

[from facebook event]

A Reunion of Sorts

...because four years weren't enough.

Host:	Robert and Julie
Type:	Party - Bar Night/Pub Crawl
Network:	Global

Start Time:	21 May 2009 at 21:00
End Time:	22 May 2009 at 01:00
Location:	Beckett's Irish Pub & Restaurant
Street:	2271 Shattuck Avenue
Town/City:	Berkeley, CA
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Phone:	5105413730
Email:	zarkazstic@gmail.com

mozart's quickie - ave verum corpus

Tonight, I will be singing with two ensembles of which I am part, UC Men's Chorale and the Alumni Chorus of UC Berkeley, for the donor/retirement dinner for Robert Cole, the departing musical director of CAL Performances. I am much grateful for the opportunity to sing for him again (once before for CAL Performances' centennial). Cole, who will also conduct, chose Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus as his swan song. He heralds it as one of the greatest and most beautiful pieces of music written. I agree, and I would find it hard-pressed to encounter anyone who group up listening to western music to not find it so after listening. Below is a recording; of course, digital recordings contain very little of the live performance's aura, but this can give you an idea.



Among many features of this piece, I find its length most remarkable. The oscillation between the quiet moments and its swells, the archs of its phrases and the moments of scalar transcendence are all scored fluidly within a minute-and-a-half.