AMS/SMT 2008: Nashville, TN

Alright, I guess it is my turn for not-so-much-live blogging from AMS. Now that I've made my public service announcement, recovered from two hours on the tarmac at Washington-Dulles, and have caught up on some sleep, I can offer a few thoughts and highlights.

Like Drew, I got there early (Wednesday), but alas, unlike Drew, did not meet with Rich Crawford. I ventured out to the streets of Nashville for dinner, alone and in conference attire, then turned right back around and ate at the hotel. Having been raised in Los Angeles, I've learned to trust my instincts. Something about being alone, sans cowboy boots and jeans, made me feel rather conspicuous. I will give the hotel restaurant props for their excellent hospitality.

Thursday morning I waited not-so-patiently for the registration desk to open so that I could obtain my name tag and bag, absolute necessities to complete my conference ensemble. I spoke with Al Hipkins who was really on top of things (enough so to suggest that we probably didn't need room for 100 people for the Haydn Society Meeting and I should let him know...). Then after text messaging my roommate (who was in Memphis enjoying the Civil Rights Museum), I plopped myself down in a chair at Starbucks and tried to look busy. I read through my program and programmed all the sessions I wanted to/had-the-best-of-intentions to attend into my PDA/superphone, and ordered another latte.

Thursday Afternoon
I ran into W. Dean Sutcfliffe and asked if he would announce (at the Haydn Session) that the time and place for the Haydn Society meeting were incorrect in the program. I went to the Haydn session at 2, made myself useful by helping pass out handouts (I had to do something secretarial), and settled in. I enjoyed all the papers, especially Elaine Sisman's. I mused upon how many opportunities one has to look at anatomical drawings in a musicology session (Sarah Day O'Connell's paper) and thoroughly enjoyed Peter Hoyt's offerings of English prints of clerics with windmills on their heads (yes, still in the Haydn session). I did wish to clone myself so that I could have been in the Messiaen session at the same time.

I joyfully greeted my roommate (safely arrived from Memphis) and we headed to the opening reception which resembled a swap meet with drinks. I scored a drink ticket from my wonderful chair, and proceeded to chat with my grad school cohorts. It was a strange feeling as four of us are now "Drs." and we all have some sort of employment.

Friday morning I missed the Convent Music session (sorry!) to go hear Michael Cuthbert and Giovanni Zanovello both give extraordinary papers at the "Discovering Repertories of Italian Sacred Music." My presence at a Med/Ren session did earn me the anticipated remark about my presence at a Med/Ren session, but I didn't mind this time. I did feel it was unfair to have Giovanni's paper on musical repertories of the Santissima Annunziata convent at the same time as the other "convent" session, but decided that unlike me, most people probably do not attend those sessions because of a strange fascination with nuns.

I hopped over to the Instrumental Eccentricities session to see my former grad school colleague Ed Johnson give a very fine paper on "The Death and Second Life of the Harpsichord." In addition, Ed also gets the award for best conference handout (this needs to be added to the awards handed out at the business meeting).

Things I missed with a high degree of guilt and/or dismay:

• Drew's paper (at least I missed it for another American music topic, but still...)

• Samantha Bassler's presentation (Scholars with Disabilities)

• More of a chance to chat with Elissa

• "From Broadway to the Concert Stage" session

• "Sacred or Profane? Popular Music and Religion in the United States" session

• The recognition of Ryan's Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship (GO RYAN!)---I did go to the business meeting but left right after all the AMS-50 presentations. I'm still digesting the triumphal fanfare that opened the meeting.

• "Political Polarities in the '30s" session (met the fate of many a Sunday session for me)

• Not seeing the 10-15 people to whom I said, "Let's catch up in Nashville!" HAH! Right.
  

Other Highlights:

• Coffee with Steve Fisher

• A successful Haydn Society of North America business meeting

• Late evenings at the bar with friends and colleagues

• People-watching in the lobby/bar

• A chance to celebrate Bill Prizer's birthday and Festschrift!!

• An extravagant and glorious birthday dinner with my undergrad mentor and his wife, and my dear friend/roomie

• A self-guided tour of Ryman Auditorium (the REAL Grand Ol' Opry)
  

• Fisk Jubilee Singers concert (fantastic!)

• The Norton reception and chatting with Steve Hoge

I will save my letter to United Airlines regarding my Washington-Dulles experience for another post.

Vacation Shots only a Musicologist Will Appreciate

When visiting the Grand Canyon two years ago, I was surprised to come upon this statue:
Not a great photo, I know. For those of you who may not be able to recognize "The Swedish Nightingale," that is Jenny Lind, the Swedish opera singer who toured the United States with PT Barnum in the 19th century. Now, Jenny gets her due--there is a Jenny Lind, California (an unincorporated community in Calaveras County); she is honored during a Barnum festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut, etc. But I wasn't expecting her to turn up at the Grand Canyon (her tour was on the East Coast), nor was I expecting to see this:
This past weekend, on our way back down to Boston from Cape Cod, we made an obligatory stop to see a lighthouse (The Highland Light in Truro, MA). Off in the distance, I see this mini-turret in the shrubbery. That is the Jenny Lind Tower. Well, of course, it is! Originally from the Fitchburg Train Depot, it was moved to this bizarre location in 1927. Legend has it that Jenny Lind sang on top of the tower to calm the angry crowd unable to get in to see her actual concert. Now immortalized in the fields next to a national lighthouse, golf course, and air force base, the tower is supposedly off-limits (due to the air force base). However, according to this site one can hike to the tower without getting shot (on my to-do list for our next visit).

I'm thinking a Jenny Lind Tour might be in order...any takers?

Picture Post

So, I know I didn't blog about the rest of our trip, so I thought I'd quickly summarize with this picture post. Yes, those blurry spots you see are dead insects on the windshield, of course.

Denver 5-2 to 5-4

Ok, well technically, Thornton, but close enough. Our drive to Colorado was absolutely spectacular. While I'm sure the residents of the area take those Rocky Mts. for granted, I couldn't snap enough photos of their majesty.

Rocky Mountain High

The drive from Utah gave me the opportunity to practice my mountain driving at a 6% grade...not something I had the chance to do in Santa Barbara. I'm actually ok with not doing it very often.


I almost wish we had stopped at this particular rest stop...very tempting:


Thanks for the gracious hospitality of my college roomate and her husband, we stayed in a lovely house with lovely people in Thornton, CO. Happy to have a break from driving, we spent a good portion of the day in Boulder at the Pearl Street Mall. I could not stop photographing the tulips. Spring had most definitely sprung!

We had such a nice visit with K and G and their cutie-pie of a son! (Shout-out to Bixby! ;-))

Now, we are in our second time zone change. The drive to Kansas City, MO was, well...mind-numbingly boring. Even throwing in some more cows would have helped...but the topography was...non-existent. I wasn't expecting much, so I guess I wasn't that disappointed. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised as I was with my first visit to Kansas City, MO. We are staying in the same hotel I stayed in for last year's visit to the Creston archive. It's a quick stay because we are out of here tomorrow and on our way to someplace near Chicago! After tomorrow, most of our drives will be 8 hours or less I believe. This makes me happy.

Zion National Park 5-1-07

Although it might seem glib to say that Zion National Park is the Grand Canyon turned upside down, those of you who know what the Grand Canyon means to me, will understand that this is not just a comment about the topography.

While we saw amazing rock facings at the GC last summer, they pale in comparison to Zion. My pictures won't do it justice, but I've selected a few. Like at the GC, I felt dwarfed, but this time, the huge walls of Navajo sandstone were almost comforting...as if we were simply nestled in the canyon.


But the neatest element of our Zion experience was the contrast of water with the semi-arid climate. Life was so very abundant. Even the rocks seem to be alive. It makes perfect sense why native American mythology is filled with stories about living mountains.

Springdale, which lies just at the foot of the park, runs a shuttle up to the park which is amazingly convenient and so much better than the situation prior to 2000, when cars and trucks could drive all the way up. Being a weekday, the park was very quiet and for the first couple of hours we saw very few people. We got up to the park about 8:30 and decided to tackle the Emerald Pools (a far more elegant name than the Algae Pools, which would be more accurate). The "hike" was rather moderate and even paved in some areas. The lowest of the three pools was the most beautiful, and the largest. The springline from the mountains create temporary waterfalls which sprinkle down and create these gorgeous and calming pools. On our way back down, we began to see more people which made us grateful that we had hit this most popular trail very early on.


After a brief snack and a visit to a gift shop, we went on the "Riverwalk." It was fairly clear that we were tuckered out from the last few weeks and it was starting to catch up with us. The "River Walk" is a very easy pleasant walk along the Virgin River toward the place where the canyon narrows. One of the highlights was having this guy close enough to touch:

We watched a fairly cheesy but informative 22 minute film on Zion NP and then took the shuttle back to the hotel. There is so much more we'd like to do, but it is going to have to wait for another trip. I'm assuming I'll find my energy again sometime in September.

I seem to have this knack for visiting national parks immediately after a significant loss. And I always find the experience incredibly healing. I know this must mean something. Hopefully I'm not missing my true calling as a park ranger...

Vegas, baby.

Four states in one day...not too shabby! Ok, so we basically cut the northeast corner of Arizona, but I'm going to let that count.

We hit the most important spot on the way to Vegas: The Mad Greek in Baker, California. I'm fairly sure there isn't a whole lot more in Baker, CA than the alleged "best gyro in the U.S.A." While the schlock factor was pretty high, we figured it was preparatory kitsch for Las Vegas. I have to say, the fresh strawberry shake was perfect since it was hotter than hell....I mean, Hades.

After our fill of Dionysian pleasures, we headed to Vegas. Our "trip to Vegas" probably registers a high "10" on the great scale of "lameness" but I don't care. After driving down the strip, we finally decided to park at the Luxor (covered parking lot) and check it out. We spent a total of $2 on the slot machines and came out with $2 less. I had a San Pellegrino and H had an iced tea. While I'm sure Vegas is much more exciting at night (and I'd actually like to go back with a few girlfriends), it really didn't do too much for me. I intellectually understand how gambling could be an addiction, but it really doesn't appeal to me. Of course daytime weekdays at casinos usually host the "regulars" who sit in front of the slot machines, their eyes glazed over...where they go, I don't know. All that said, it was pretty amazing to be in a place where people wander around spending money, losing money, making money and all with open beer bottles in their hands. I do regret not going in the evening so I could have seen things like the Bellagio fountains, so recommended by Barnet Bound. But Mandalay Bay and the Luxor were good enough samplings.

We rolled into Springdale, UT at around 8:30pm. We had an awesome dinner at the Spotted Dog Cafe (which was actually a rather elegant restaurant). Of course, with my sunflower seed-encrusted local trout, I felt obliged to try the local brew. And since this is Utah, that would be:

(Actually that's just what was on the glass...I had a local medium ale).

Tomorrow, Zion National Park!

Los Angeles 4/27 to 4/30

Stop One: Los Angeles

Home. Strange concept. Born and raised in LA, yet I feel very little attachment to it. In four years, Claremont felt more like "home" than Los Angeles ever did (and yes, I know lots of people who consider Claremont part of Los Angeles). But here I am referring to the city. Disregard these comments when we talk about my mother's house...that is "home" or at least what "home" means in this transitional stage of my life.

Home is where I can do laundry for free. Home is where I get fed and can sleep for free. Home is where I get hugs from my mother. Home is where my stepdad makes me a martini at the end of a very long day.

I have yet to start my "vacation." Today I pulled together a brand new cover letter (third job opportunity at the same institution demands originality). My mother just happened to have some beautiful linen ivory stock on hand so that was absolutely fortuitous. Our printer ran out of black ink (yes, we brought our printer with us!) so again, mom came to the rescue and I used hers. I updated my c.v. and will send it out to the dossier service tomorrow. These are all tasks I had not anticipated worrying about on my trip. But, opportunity, I realize, is RARELY convenient.

Part of me feels that we should have spent the weekend doing "LA" things. As it was, we did hit the first Trader Joe's that ever was (in Pasadena). I suppose that counts. But most of the weekend was spent revising the rest of our trip, pulling my job application together, shipping a box of stuff off to Somerville, and figuring out how to repack the car.

On the other hand, I did read an entire mystery novel from cover to cover--something I haven't done in a VERY long time. Well worth it. It was Peter Tremayne's Act of Mercy (1999). My mother and I both enjoy his Sister Fidelma series...what could be cooler than a 7th-c mystery-solving Irish nun?

And we're off...

Well, it did happen. The VERY LARGE semi did come and did pick up all our stuff. We packed the car up and headed down to Los Angeles.

But, not without complications (of course!)

Turns out Allied (corporate) vetoed our request for a preferred delivery date of May 12th (AFTER we had signed our agreement for the date of 5/12). Corporate didn't tell our sales rep and our sales rep didn't follow up with corporate. SO, our driver shows up with his semi and says "Alright, so we're dropping off in Boston on the 9th." Say WHAT????

So, guess who gets to cut their vacation short?

Evidently, "corporate" also didn't communicate that our apartment was on the second floor--so the stairs were a bit of a surprise to our driver and his brother (the only two movers).

But, after a very very very long day, we saw our stuff go off on the truck and oddly enough, I felt relieved. You might think watching all your worldly possessions disappear with a man you've only known for less than 24 hours might be unsettling, but at that point, I basically just wanted it to "go away." The scary part was all that was left in our apartment.

We didn't leave SB the next day until 7pm (which was ok because we missed Friday night rush hour). By some miracle (basically called Deetie and Hubby) we fit just about everything into Guinevere (our Volvo). We gave away everything we could and threw away a few items we might not have otherwise, and we were off.

We barely would have made our truck deadline if it weren't for JDT and DM who spent a good portion of the weekend AND the night before helping pack up all our stuff (which I still contend was procreating when we weren't looking).

Yesterday was hard. Goodbyes are terrible. I'm sure it will REALLY hit me once we leave California. But when we arrived in LA yesterday, my stepdad made us martinis as we unloaded the car and I could tell that I was already feeling seriously blah.

My time in SB defines the quintessential "love-hate relationship." I've got a lot to sort out in the coming weeks.

Pittsburgh, 3/2/07

Pittsburgh
Friday, March 2, 2007

NOTE: Unless you think I have some strange equilibrium problem wherein I take photos with the point of interest off to the far right, that is not the case.

I'm here at the joint conference of the Society for American Music and the Music Library Association and I'm having a great time. The highlight for today was a three hour tour of Oakland (an area of Pittsburgh where the U of Pitt is located) which included: The Carnegie Library, The Cathedral of Learning, The Stephen Foster Memorial and Heinz "Chapel" (you'll understand why I use the quotes when you see the photos below.

The Carnegie Library

The first thing I learned is that it is pronounced "car-NEG-gie" which is unfortunately a whole lot less elegant than the way most people pronounce it: "CAR-neg-gie." Despite the name, the edifice was impressive (NOT as aesthetically pleasing as the Boston Public Library) but impressive in its own right. We toured the Philadelphia room (home to genealogy records and local history resources) and the Music collection. One of the highlights was this tablecloth signed by such notables as Lorin Maazel, Koussevitsky, Bernstein, etc....the signatures were then embroidered (ingenious!). The music holdings of the library are very very impressive, especially when you consider it is a free library.


The Cathedral of Learning

If you want an impressive edifice, this tops the list. It is the second tallest educational building in the world (surpassed only by University of Moscow, I believe, which "cheated" by putting an antenna on top). In the 1930s, John Bowman, then Chancellor of U of Pitt, believed that the model for a university should be only a few buildings on a small amount of land, but built vertically (soaring and lofty educational aspirations and all....). It soon turned out not to be very practical (elevators between classes were nightmares), but is an absolute gem of neo-gothic architecture. Within the "cathedral" are classrooms known as the Nationality Classrooms. These rooms represent different ethnic and cultural groups from the Pittsburgh area and continue to be built today. We visited the Yugoslav, French, Norwegian, and Chinese Rooms. Most of the rooms are still used as actual classrooms, even though they are ill-equipped for any kind of media use. The new ones, currently proposed, will have A/V set ups (still in the style of the nationality). I've included some pictures, but be sure to check out the Wikipedia article that lists all the rooms.


Wall detail from the Yugoslav Room:


Ceiling detail from Chinese Room:


Stephen Foster Memorial

Pittsburgh is Stephen Foster Central. Right in front of the Cathedral of Learning is the Stephen Foster Memorial which is home to the Center for American Music. The memorial itself is small, but has an impressive display of sheet music, ephemera, and other wonderful items. The Stephen Foster Archive is host to an amazing collection.




Heinz Chapel

We ended our tour at the Heinz Memorial "Chapel." A gift from Mr. Ketchup himself, H.J. Heinz, to honor his mother in memoriam, the building far surpasses most ideas of "chapel." I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but I encourage an exploration of their website to read about the history. I will mention that one of the highlights of the experience was meeting "Digby" the senior docent of the chapel. We weren't able to take the tour due to a wedding rehearsal (I'm sure they were absolutely thrilled by our presence!) but we were able to walk down the side aisles and up into the choir loft. Digby entertained us in the narthex with several entertaining anecdotes and a personality that was more colorful than the stained glass windows!



It was a gorgeous, if windy, day for a tour. It only started to rain a bit when we reached Heinz Chapel. Mariana Whitmer, executive director of SAM, led the tour, which really made it all the more special (rather than some impersonal tour guide we didn't know). It was certainly the best tour I have experienced at a conference and I'm grateful that SAM set aside the time.