Kitty Corner

Because Livejournal (reasonably) lists blogs in reverse chronological order - i.e. newest first. A guide to the Festival 500 mega-blog, with links. :)

pre-post! :) (from just after we got home)

post 1: the trip there

post 2: massed and Come Solo choirs

frustration entry (locked)

post 3: the guest artists - Indonesian Children Youth Cordana Choir and Rajaton

post 4: World of Music concerts

post 5: the workshops

video of the Indonesian choir doing "Rampai Aceh"

post 6: fooooooood!!!!!

post 7: more food, and the Memorial University Botanical Garden

photos of the Memorial University Botanical Garden

post 8: The Rooms (museum, art gallery and archives of St. John's)

post 9: Signal Hill and our final supper

photos of Signal Hill

I have more pictures that I can post. Soon - maybe later tonight? For now, the last of the blog writing I did while in St. John's (or in the airplane coming home).

( The final bits )

Overall, the trip was so worth it. So glad we came.

Some pictures from MUN Botanical Garden. :) (the photographer order: mine, Rob's, mine, mine, Rob's)

( Pictures )

So I've talked (at length!!!) about the festival.  Yes, it was the primary reason we were here.  No, it did not occupy every waking minute. :P  Food and activities.

( Food! )

Last entry about the festival itself. Half of the reason I enjoyed Festival 500 so much the first time (10 years ago) was the music. Half was the workshops. The music was amazing - such talented choirs! And singing Carmina Burana in the massed choir was awesome!!! But the workshops added another dimension to the experience through their variety and quality. I don't remember most of them. One I'm reminded of because there's an obituary in the current program for the clinician - Horace Boyer. He did a workshop on African American music that I found both absolutely fascinating and deeply moving, especially when he had us singing the music (to teach how to authentically sing it - authentic both in the sense of how African Americans would, and in the sense of true to ourselves.)

( workshops! )

Utter awesomeness. :)

Continuing the Festival 500 mega-blog entry. *g*

Another wonderful experience was the East Meets West concert on Sunday night. Another extra ticket performance, but it was $25/ticket and SO worth it!!!! We had the two guest artists, Rajaton and the Indonesian Children Youth Cordana Choir performing. OMG. Those kids are AMAZING!!!!! (CBC video from the concert) In Indonesia, as in Africa, music is not separate from movement; to them to learn to sing apart from dancing is a very artificial separation. That said, the level of both singing and dancing in that group is phenomenal. Also, in Indonesian dance, every gesture has meaning, every look has significance. Flawless performance, from what we could see. And not easy movements… Also, they must be masters of the lightning costume change. Each song was from a different island of Indonesia (~1000 islands, and more water than land in the country!) and they wore the costume typical of the area their songs came from. Their director considers them cultural ambassadors - both to other parts of Indonesia, and to the world. They learn songs from all of the major religious traditions of the country and perform them in the hopes that in learning about each other, cultures will learn to live in peace together. It was a profound message to finish their set on.

After the break was Rajaton's turn. Rajaton is a Finnish a capella group whose name means "boundless." Their first North American tour included Festival 500, and they consider St. John's to be a home away from home. Really fun people, excellent performers, and from what I hear great clinicians. I was so sad to miss the oral percussion workshop… Oh, and their bass could cover Crash Test Dummies. (for a different generation, he would fit right in with the Russian basses.) They sing original music, Finnish folk music, and (famously) ABBA covers. Their richness of sound really impressed me. Granted they use mikes, but in one song they somehow managed to convey the sense of having dropped all the instruments suddenly to do an a capella verse - stark and lonely. I don't think I'd listen to their music at home, but their choreography and stage presence make theirs a compelling show to attend. If they ever come to Edmonton, I'm SO there!!!

later addition: Butterfly is arguably Rajaton's most popular non-Abba song.

And so the mega blog entry begins. When I first started this, I had no idea how long it would become and so planned it as a pair of entries - one open and one locked. At this point, it's a series of open entries, and the locked entry or entries will be written soon. The rest of this entry was started on Friday night in St. John's.


Just about to leave St. John's, and not a single blog entry. Too busy, or too tired, or too frustrated, or got home waaaaay too late to think about blogging. So this set (and the second entry or set, which will be locked) will have to do. Be warned, it's long. Very full, intense week, and this is also my own record of it.

Oh, the reason I'm here: Festival 500! (international, non-competitive choral festival. Draws choirs from all over the world, including Argentina, Indonesia, Sweden and South Africa, to count some from this year's crowd. Of course loads from the Maritimes, especially St. John's, and a significant number from the US. Pictures are posted (publicly) on the Festival 500 Facebook page.

( Read more... )

I've been locking the Toronto entries while in Toronto (to not advertise I was out of town), but we're back now so I've unlocked them. :)

For those who are interested:
first full day in Toronto
the one and only really bad restaurant experience - at our hotel restaurant, no less
the happy experience that made up for it
more food, plus the ROM
public lecture, and another museum
Wednesday's adventures and addendum
the ballet!

Also, first thing I did when we got back?  Weed the garden.  Before the luggage was even out of the car.  It just felt so good to get in there...  Fortunately, Papa came and watered it for me while we were gone, so it looks fabulous. :)  The peas were definitely ready for the trellis to be put in. :)  The stupid leaky eavestrough completely killed all the blue jay beans, though. :(  They just couldn't handle that kind of pounding. :(  But the dragon's tongue beans look pretty good. :)  And the herbs look fabulous! :)

Last night we went to Big Daddy's for supper.  Yum!!!  We both had the prix fixe menu, but Rob had a glass of wine and I had some fresh oysters on the half shell.  I started with just two - the waitress' favourites, as I had no way to choose between "caribou" and "lime twist" (IIRC on the second).  So I had one Kumomoto and one French Kiss (no I didn't make that name up).  The FK was good, but the Kumomoto... ahhhh, that's what an oyster is supposed to taste like!  So I got two more. :)  The rest of the meal was also excellent. :)  Fantastic seafood chowder, jambalaya, seafood salad, and fudge-sauce brownies.  And great service. :)  Good end to the trip. :)

Oh, and the flight home was kid central, but well-behaved kids!  And we played peek-a-boo with the adorable little boy in the seat in front of us. :)  And supper at my parents' before coming home, so we didn't need to cook or hit yet another restaurant...  All good. :)

For those who don't get the Oliver reference, here's a YouTube video. :)  Fortunately, I'm in the position of the rich men, not the orphans. :P

( Read more... )

I'm in love with the strawberry orange juice at Over Easy.  It's fresh pressed orange juice with crushed strawberries.  So delicious!!!

( Today's food, so far. )

A quick note about yesterday.  We saw the ROM, but I was a bit museumed out and had a hard time focussing my attention on the exhibits.  Very cool Japan/China/Korea exhibit on the main floor, though. :)  And I LOVE their bat cave!  The rock collection is truly impressive.  Wish there was more information in it, but the basics (type of rock, where it's found) was there.  I want to know what it's used for, which cultures valued it, why it's important.  And I was _really_ disappointed that the turquoise sign made no mention of the Navajo!  Still, awesome, awesome rock collection.  Go see it. :)

Last night we had supper at La Rotisserie.  Yay Where magazine!  Very good food.  Lemon cake that would make my mom so very happy.  Glad we went.  And I found that while I still think lamb is way better without mint, fresh mint leaves macerated in lamb juices are heavenly.  Go figure.  I do not pretend to understand. :P